[Press Release] : Special attractions on the festival’s Courthouse Square and literary arts stages

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FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
September 16, 2008

CONTACT: Kay McCarthy
Cultural Program Specialist
(573) 874-6387

Special attractions on the festival’s Courthouse Square and literary
arts stages	
								
	(COLUMBIA, MO) - The 2008 Columbia Festival of the Arts will
feature All Dance: All Day on Saturday, Sept. 27. Highlight of the
day-long schedule of diverse dance performances will be the groups
Dancing Wheels and I Am Kenny J.
	Dancing Wheels, from Cleveland, Ohio, is an integrated
professional dance company comprised of professional dancers with and
without disabilities, including numerous wheelchair dancers. The company
was founded in 1980 by Mary Verdi-Fletcher, who is considered a pioneer
in the field of integrated dance. Dancing Wheels will also perform a
full concert in the Missouri Theatre Center for the Arts on Sunday,
Sept. 28, at 7 p.m. For more information and tickets to the Sunday
evening performance, call (573) 875-0600.
	I Am Kenny J, from Burlington, N.J., will bring a 10-member
performance team to the festival’s Courthouse Square and children’s
stages. The group will involve festival-goers of all ages in their
performances of hip-hop and funk dancing.
	The Literary Arts Stage, located in the County Commission
Chambers of the Boone County Government Center, will feature readings by
Missouri’s first Poet Laureate, Walter Bargen of Ashland, Mo. Matt
Mason, a touring poet and featured performer of the Mid-America Arts
Alliance (MAAA) from Omaha, Neb., will perform on the Courthouse Square
and Literary Arts Stage. While in Columbia, Mason will also conduct
poetry workshops at Hickman and Rock Bridge high schools. 
	The appearances of Dancing Wheels and I Am Kenny J are made
possible by the Convention and Tourism Bureau’s Tourism Development
Fund. Mason’s performances and in-school workshops are supported by a
grant from the MAAA.
	This weekend-long celebration of the arts is the signature event
of the city’s Office of Cultural Affairs. Admission to the festival is
free. The festival also includes a full performing arts schedule, a
visual art fair, a youth art exhibit, displays by area arts
organizations and food vendors.
	The Columbia Festival of the Arts is a program of the City of
Columbia Office of Cultural Affairs. Financial assistance has been
provided by Boone County National Bank, CenturyTel, Columbia Convention
& Visitors Bureau Tourism Development Fund, Columbia Daily Tribune,
Columbia Home and Lifestyle Magazine, Commerce Bank, Dave Griggs’
Flooring America, Days Inn and Travelodge, Deck the Walls, KBIA 91.3,
KOMU 8 and Mid-Missouri CW, MFA Oil, Missouri Arts Council, Mid-America
Arts Alliance, National Endowment for the Arts and the Regency Hotel
Downtown.

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