Music, dance to make for festive holiday

WORTHINGTON -- Memorial Auditorium Performing Arts Center and the Historic Dayton House are teaming up to offer a St. Patrick's Day to remember.

It also promises to be a memorable evening for Worthington High School students Liz Erstad and Katy Russell. The duo will dance onstage while accompanied by musical artist Pavlo and his band in a concert scheduled to begin at 7:30 p.m. Friday at the Auditorium.

Immediately following Pavlo's performance in Memorial Auditorium, the guest musicians will make their way to the Historic Dayton House for an additional performance complete with Irish-themed food and drink.

Erstad, a WHS senior, and Russell, a junior, didn't know they'd be dancing during the concert until a few days ago.

"Margaret (Vosburgh, Auditorium manager) had brought the idea up a while ago," Erstad explained. "We had done kind of a preview for it (Pavlo performance) at Corn off the Cob, and everybody liked it."

Vosburgh proceeded to arrange the girls' performance with Pavlo at Friday's concert. The two will be preparing the final choreography touches today for their dance, which will be during the song, "I Feel Love Again."

"I spoke to Pavlo this morning and he was really excited to have that kind of community involvement," Vosburgh said Wednesday.

"It really helps with the song to listen to the words," Russell said of her and Erstad's dance. "It's a really powerful song. The dance is different than a lot of things we do -- I'm in dance team also, and that's a lot more upbeat."

"You feel the movement a little more with this; it's more passionate," Erstad added.

Both Erstad and Russell are long-time students of Kay Williams Prunty at The Dance Academy in Worthington.

"This is her 10-year anniversary, and I've been with her all 10 years," Russell said. "She's definitely been a role model, and she's taught me a lot about dance and a lot about other things as well."

Erstad has been a student of Prunty's for nine years, she said. She said that her teacher has been excited about their appearance in the show, an event she was intrigued by regardless.

"If we weren't dancing I was going to go anyway because it sounded like such a great show, and Margaret just raved about him," Erstad said.

Pavlo, a composer and singer/guitarist, has recorded six albums. His music can be described as Mediterranean-flavored, combining influences of flamenco, Latin, classical, and Mediterranean guitar mixed with the bouzouki, a Greek guitar.

Pavlo's second album, "Fantasia," was nominated as Best Instrumental Album of the Year at the 2000 Juno Awards, Canada's equivalent to the Grammys. He won the World Artist of the Year category at the 2004 Canadian Independent Music Awards.

Pavlo was selected in April 2001 to perform for England's Prince Charles. He has also written music for three television programs and a film, and performs an average of more than 150 concerts with his band each year.

"Pavlo and the band have interaction with the audience that's truly remarkable," Vosburgh said. "They're all very charismatic and very accomplished musicians."

Becky Schilling, who manages the Dayton House, is enthusiastic about working with Memorial Auditorium on a full evening.

"Friends of the Auditorium are paying a huge amount of money for him (Pavlo) to come over and play at the Dayton House and mingle with people," Schilling said. "It's a very exciting opportunity, and we're hoping it will be the start of things to come."

Items on the menu for the Dayton House Friday night include spinach wrap hors d'oeuvres, corned beef, a veggie platter and barbecued meatballs. Desserts will be crepes with green mint filling, Andes Mint cream pie, grasshopper pie, vanilla cheesecake topped with cr?me de menthe and hot fudge, and peppermint bon bon ice cream topped with hot fudge.

Guinness, an Irish beer, will be offered at a cash bar, as well as alcohol drinks such as an Irish Gentleman (coffee, Bailey's Irish Cream, whiskey and cr?me de menthe topped with whipped cream) and an Irish Buck (ice, Irish whiskey and ginger ale). Decaffeinated Irish Cream coffee and other non-alcoholic drinks will also be available.

"The Worthington Liquor Store has really gone above and beyond in helping with this," Schilling added.

Tickets for both the Pavlo concert and the St. Patrick's Day celebration at Dayton House can be purchased by calling Memorial Auditorium at 376-9101.

The Daily Globe is sponsoring the evening's events, and partners are Mike Woll Investment Office and Historic Dayton House.