NEW ARCHANGEL DANCERS

The next event during Alaska Day weeklong festivities that we attended was the New

Archangel Dancers season finale. They perform all summer long here in town for the 

thousands of tourists that visit but they save their favorite performance for the locals, 

which was Monday night.

I took a lot of pictures but the lighting was very bright on stage and very dark in the

audience, so my camera was working very hard to take photos. The costume colors

were spectacular and the dancing was amazing!

Here is a bit of history on this all-women dance troupe:

Over 130 years ago Sitka was owned by Russia and was known as 

New Archangel, Capital of Russian America. Taking their name from

 history, the New Archangel Dancers organized in 1969 to preserve a

 part of Sitka's Russian History through the art of dance. The original 

troupe formed with eight dancers and put on four performances their 

first season for visitors to Sitka. The initial four dances performed 

by the group came from a variety of sources including a children's 

book of Russian songs and dances and Bishop Theodosius, who was 

stationed at the Russian Orthodox Church in Sitka at that time.

The New Archangel Dancers continually promote Alaska as a visitor 

destination by sharing knowledge of Sitka's Russian History and 

their pride in Alaska. None of the New Archangel Dancers are 

professional dancers nor do they have Russian lineage.

The Dancers' success and notoriety have been enhanced by regular

 guest performances at the opening of new Alaska Airlines terminals, 

at Alaska Governors' inaugural celebrations, and at various dance 

festivals, tourism trade shows, conferences and public events. In 

addition to performing throughout the "lower 48" the dancers have 

performed to enthusiastic audiences in Hawaii, Japan, Russia, 

Mexico and the Caribbean.

The next Alaska Day event we will be attending is the 9th Army 

Band concert. They are pretty awesome--I may have to switch to a 

video camera so I can share...