Lao Dance Presentation at Charter Oak Cultural Center, 2012
SubjectPortrait of
Manola Sidara
(Laotian)
PhotographerPhotographed by
Manola Sidara
(Laotian)
Date2012
Mediumborn digital photography
ClassificationsGraphics
Credit LineConnecticut Cultural Heritage Arts Program collections
CopyrightCopyright Held By Manola Sidara
Object number2015.196.424.1-.317
DescriptionPhotographs of a Lao Dance Presentation at the Charter Oak Cultural Center in Hartford, Connecticut in 2012. The event was a dance presentation by students in a dance group from a class taught by Manola Sidara in Lao folk dance. Manola taught the students and other dance teachers in the community. The photos were taken by a photographer engaged by Manola Sidara.
(.1-.175) Images of children participating in the dance group wearing in traditional folk clothing. Images of teachers and volunteers helping the group. Images of audience members and the dancers onstage. Images of preparations for the performance including views of the hairstyling process. In (.44-.45) Manola Sidara instucts the dancers. Manola Sidara is pictured in (.71-.72).
(.176-.179) Images of Manola Sidara with a young woman playing the lannat, a Lao xylophone.
(.180-.219) Images of the children from the dance group wearing traditional folk clothing and getting ready for the performance.
(.220-.317) Images of the children from the dance group wearing traditional folk clothing and dancing.
NotesSubject Note: For several years in the mid-2010s Manola Sidara organized classes in Laotian folk dance that were held at Charter Oak Cultural Center in Hartford. These classes involved students of many age groups and from many ethnic backgrounds. Teachers included Manola, older dancers from the Lao Narthasin Dance Group, and other adults including Ann (Amphone) Cunningham along with parents who volunteered to assist the classes. The students presented their learning at gala events at Charter Oak Cultural Center.(.1-.175) Images of children participating in the dance group wearing in traditional folk clothing. Images of teachers and volunteers helping the group. Images of audience members and the dancers onstage. Images of preparations for the performance including views of the hairstyling process. In (.44-.45) Manola Sidara instucts the dancers. Manola Sidara is pictured in (.71-.72).
(.176-.179) Images of Manola Sidara with a young woman playing the lannat, a Lao xylophone.
(.180-.219) Images of the children from the dance group wearing traditional folk clothing and getting ready for the performance.
(.220-.317) Images of the children from the dance group wearing traditional folk clothing and dancing.
Biographical Note: Manola Sidara is a Lao dance educator and community activist whose life has been devoted to serving her community. Born in 1969 in Vientiane, Laos, Manola joined the National Dance School at the age of five, along with her sister. After her family fled Laos, she continued learning traditional dance with master dancer Sone Norasing in Colorado until moving to Connecticut in 1989. From her grandmother and aunts Manola learned to make pah khuane, the ornaments of bamboo leaves and flowers which are part of every Lao ceremony and celebration in both temple and home. She worked as a wedding consultant, organizing all the arrangements for traditional Lao weddings, and became known as a brilliant cake decorator. Manola helped to produce the exhibit The Ties That Bind: Southeast Asian Wedding Traditions at the Institute for Community Research (ICR) in 1995. In 1999-2000 she served as the Bilingual Program Assistant at Garfield School in Bridgeport, teaching ESOL, computers, and cultural awareness to elementary school children both Lao and Latino. Manola taught traditional dance at the Lao Saturday School in New Britain from its inception. With her high-school age students from the school, Manola formed the Lao Narthasin Dance Troupe, instructing the members in classical Laotian dance, folk dances of different ethnic groups in Laos, and traditional values and manners such as respectful behavior, honoring elders, and service to the family and community. The dance group, which has performed throughout Connecticut and Rhode Island at cultural centers and Lao temples, now includes a third generation of dancers. From 1998 to 2001 Manola was the New Britain Coordinator for the Urban Artists Initiative, a statewide training program run by the Connecticut Commission on the Arts and the Institute for Community Research. In 2001 Manola received an award from the Lao Association of CT at New Year for her work with the Lao Narthasin dancers and was selected as a CT Commission on the Arts Master Teaching Artist. In 2011 Manola coordinated the community oral history project After the Trauma: Holocaust Survivors and Laotian Refugees Confront the Past, displayed at the University of Hartford. Manola is also known as a master chef at East West Grille, her award-winning and beloved Lao-Thai restaurant on New Park Avenue in Hartford from 2000-2019, and the East-West Grille Food Truck. Manola is very active in assisting the Lao Temple in Morris, CT, with cultural programming, social service, and providing food for the monks and their ceremonies. For Manola, her tireless activities in dance, education, ceremonial decorations, and cooking all promote wellness, spirituality, bonding, and healing.
Biographical Note: Lao Narthasin of Connecticut is a group of young Lao-Americans who study and perform traditional folk and classical dances from the southeast Asian country of Laos. Most of these dancers were born in the United States to parents who immigrated here from Laos. They study Lao language and culture in special classes offered by the organization Lao-American Culture of Connecticut in cities such as New Britain, East Hartford, and Bridgeport where many Lao are now living. The Lao Narthasin dance group developed out of the Lao community's desire to preserve its heritage in America. Members of the company, who reside in cities throughout Connecticut, are trained by experienced instructors from notable Lao dance families. The founder of the group, Manola Sidara, is a Lao dance educator and community activist whose life has been devoted to serving her community. Born in 1969 in Vientiane, Laos, Manola joined the National Dance School at the age of five, along with her sister. After her family fled Laos, she continued learning traditional dance with master dancer Sone Norasing in Colorado until moving to Connecticut in 1989. Lao Narthasin now includes a third generation of dancers, and instructors include former students such as dancer Nancy Sayarath. Dance traditions in Laos are either classical, performed at the royal palace, or based in the rural folk cultures of the over sixty ethnic groups in Laos. Lao Narthasin performs both dance genres. Dances include the Hoyn Phon Yhia Welcome Dance where fresh flowers are offered to guests, and the Pow Lao Dance, featuring dancers from different tribal groups. The graceful movements made by the dancers reflect qualities of beauty, respect, and politeness so valued in Laotian culture. Hand gestures also tell stories in the dances, with subtle movements symbolic of spiritual beings such as deities ascending in the heavens. Many of the dances celebrate community festivals - the rice harvest, water festival, New Year, or the Fireworks Festival bringing prosperity and good fortune. Lao Narthasin wears many different authentic costumes appropriate to each special dance. The group often performs at festivals and ceremonies at temples in Connecticut and Rhode Island.
Additional audio, video, and photographic materials exist in the archive relating to this community and its artists.
Cataloging Note: This project was made possible in part by the Institute of Museum and Library Services MA-245929-OMS-20.
Status
Not on view
