Welcome to On the Radar, where we preview up-and-coming arts events to mark your calendar for. Traditional college student dances include booty shaking, bumping, grinding and generally getting jiggy to the tune of Autotune-enhanced hit singles. Not so for The Tamburitzans, a company of full-time Duquesne University students who keep Europe's folk traditions alive and (literally) kicking this weekend at the Tarpon Springs Performing Arts Center.
You won’t hear the bassy boom of the Black Eyed Peas, either; instead, delight in centuries-long musical traditions that employ the lute-like tambura; the gadulka, played with a bow; and the cimbalom, a kind of hammered dulcimer. Performers sing in a plethora of languages and dialects representing countries like Armenia, Bosnia, Bulgaria, Croatia, the Czech Republic, Georgia, Greece, Hungary, Romania, Russia, Serbia and Ukraine. The troupe is lauded for its attention to authentic details, from its folk dances to the more than 400 historically accurate stage costumes. Jan. 2-3, 7:30 p.m. Sat., 3 p.m. Sun., Tarpon Springs Performing Arts Center, 324 Pine St., Tarpon Springs, $23-$26, tarponarts.org.
This article appears in Dec 16-22, 2009.