Local musician, Preston Gunderson has been a long time friend of the Land of the Loon Festival. His mother has been involved for over 25 years, and has brought him along on many of the background adventures of running an open-aired outside festival. Preston has played his original music and some covers throughout the years. He recently released a new CD: "While I Was Gone", and has numerious tunes available on iTunes; "Green", "Forever and Tomorrow", to name two. He is a light-hearted performer and has some amazing original music that he is excited to share with his audiences! Don't miss his show on Saturday, June 15th!
Jerry Frasier has been a friend of, and long time entertainer at the Land of the Loon. He brings humor along with his fabulous magic show. Part of the Festival days you will find him in the children's area bringing lots of laughs and creating lots of magic, along with his balloon animals, that the children always look forward to.
SHELTERED REALITY -- Founded in 1996, Sheltered Reality (SR) is a nonprofit musical organization whose performing membership spans all ages (currently as young as 4 and as old as 76!!). However, the majority of the members are youth aged 7-18 who come from practice sites located in Arizona, Illinois, Iowa, Kansas, Kentucky, Minnesota, Missouri, North Dakota, Nebraska, Ohio, South Dakota, Tennessee, Utah, Wisconsin, and Wyoming (with more sites and states to come). SR believes that Music can have Meaning, yet be a blast at the same time! SR performances use the power of percussion set to music, as well as high energy choreography, to engage and then motivate audiences to realize that any person, at any age in life, can dream and succeed. Success is first demonstrated through audience drum lessons followed by one or more audience participation songs; these always prove to be fun for audience members of all ages. However, SR then uses stories of hardship and triumph, as well as a sequence of Steps of Success to teach personal empowerment, character building, and ultimately translate the drum-playing success into something much more important: success in changing the world, and especially helping advocate for youth in crisis...the ultimate mission of Sheltered Reality.
Shirley Taramelli - I started bellydancing in 1989 thru community ed. in Duluth under the direction of Debbie Poldoski, I was in her dance troupe for 9 yrs. I continued on with dance & started taking classes, workshops, private lessons, dance camps under the direction of Cassandra Shore of Mpls. I still take classes from Cassandra & still dance with Debbie's dance company The Desert Caravan Dancers. I starting teaching in 2002 in Chisholm thru Community Ed. & still thru the present , I also teach in Grand Rapids.
This year I have the pleasure of having my Performing Students from Chisholm & Grand Rapids dance this weekend at the Land Of the Loon. They have been working hard all year on dances & you will love them!
I also invited my dance coach, teacher & best friend Debbie Poldoski to dance this weekend also. Debbie has been dancing over 25 yrs. teaching ballet, tap, jazz, hawaiian & bellydance. She is the artistic director of The Desert Caravan Dancers of Duluth, MN. She has been involved in the dance community for many years & works very hard to bring this dance to people to enjoy. She is very passionate with this dance as all of us who take/come to class & learn about the cultural information, and authentic movements proper technique. This dance is an experience every women should try!
I hope today you get inspired by the enjoyment of the music, costumes, cultural dances & how much fun we have dancing together.
Thank-you for having us dance for you this year!
One would not expect to find world class musicians in this small northern college town. Marquette, Michigan is not exactly Chicago, Nashville, nor even Memphis, but you couldn't tell by listnening to Derrell Syria and the members of Conga Se Menne.
The musical style of Conga Se Menne is impossible to pigeon hole, running the gamut of Blues, Funk, Latin, Reggae, Rock, Caribbean beats and ethnic Finnish sounds. Island beat percussion blends smoothly with mellifluos keyboards, sonorous horns and big shouldered guitar work – all mixing with an influence of traditional styles.
| 11:00 | Conga Se Menne (Finnish Reggae) |
| 11:30 | Zia's Middle Eastern Dance (Colorful Belly Dancing Troup) |
| 12:00 | Jerry Fraiser (Magician) |
| 12:30 | Sheltered Reality (Vivid Percussion Line) |
| 1:15 | Downtown Dance Academy (Amber Johnson at the helm!) |
| 2:00 | Jalisco Mariachi Band (Lively Mexican 4-piece band) |
| 2:30 | Jerry Fraiser (Magician) |
| 3:00 | Conga Se Menne (Finnish Reggae) |
| 3:30 | Sheltered Reality (Vivid Percussion Line) |
| 4:00 | Jalisco Mariachi Band (Lively Mexican 4-piece band) |
| 4:45 | Preston Gunderson (Local Pop Artist) |
| 5:15 | Conga Se Menne (Finnish Reggae) |
| 11:00 | Ecumenical Service (Rev. Jeffery Jones) |
| 12:00 | Conga Se Menne (Finnish Reggae) |
| 12:45 | Zia's Middle Eastern Dance (Colorful Belly Dancing Troup) |
| 1:15 | Sheltered Reality (Vivid Percussion Line) |
| 2:00 | Jerry Fraiser (Magician) |
| 2:30 | Jalisco Mariachi Band (Lively Mexican 4-piece band) |
| 3:00 | Conga Se Menne (Finnish Reggae) |
| 3:30 | Sheltered Reality (Vivid Percussion Line) |
| 4:00 | Mark Rubin (Singer Songwriter/America Folk) |
| 4:30 | Jalisco Mariachi Band (Bright Mexican Music) |
Zia's Middle Eastern Dance