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photo by Chris Wisner

IAN BETTS

Country: CANADA

Story: My dance journey started in Canada as a Ukrainian folk dancer, (not my ethnicity), great "costumes" and exuberant dances! Slowly I was introduced to modern dance without knowing it! I did my initial training at The Toronto Dance Theatre School and after graduating moved to New York in 1984 to train at the Martha Graham School. Along that road I performed extensively with the Pearl Lang Dance Company exploring other dance mediums such as Tango and Balinese Dance with a touch of Ballet.

Ian And MNE: How did I meet Nicola? I was taking class at the Martha Graham School one evening back in 1998 and two young dancers from Italy arrived to start their training. They didn't speak a lot of English, but they knew that Martha Graham would be their home for a while. guess who one of them was.Nicola asked me to be a part of the original cast of "Mediterranean Voices" in 2001 and I am glad to join Mare Nostrum Elements again!

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