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24 Personnel Alborada,a five member musical group led by Milo Batista,has entertained audiences worldwide with their unique blend of authentic Andean music.The band is comprised entirely of members of the Mr.Batista's family-his wife Lordes, son Paul,daughter Jhoanna,and nephew Jose Serrano.Two years ago,the Batistas, natives of Ciudad Obregon, Sonora,Mexico, began a new venture, fulfilling Mr. Batista's long-time dream of performing the folk music of Central and South America with his family. An outstanding composer and musician,Mr.Batista leads his family through a diverse selection of traditional Andean music plus an exciting international repertoire. His background includes a lifetime career as a teacher of traditional music and instruments as well as the European classics. He is a virtuoso on the Andean flutes and has mastered many folk instruments and styles. Mr.Batista has performed at Lincoln Center,Camegie Hall and many noted halls and theaters throughout the Americas. His work has been stimulated by his travels and by his experiences collecting original folk tunes throughout Latin America, a process which has enhanced his appreciation of diverse regional styles. His professional goal is to keep alive the music of the Andean culture,performing it with his family and passing it on from generation to generation. The family's music combines modern and traditional sounds from the Andean culture. They compose and arrange music based upon folkloric tradition from many countries, including Bolivia,Peru,Paraguay, Colombia, Chile and Mexico. Often mistakenly called"Inca music",present day Andean folk music is the product of centuries of cultural and ethnic blending. The wind and percussion instruments indigenous to the Andean world existed in Pre-Colombian America hundreds of years prior to the Incas(c.1200-1500AD). These instruments were played well before the birth of Christ. The highland music of Peru,Bolovia and Ecuador forms the backbone of Andean folk music. Since they had no written language,the Incans recounted events and stories through their music. Andean regions and villages differ widely in terms of instruments,tuning, dance and rhythms. The richness and variety are seemingly without end, but Andean music is today recognized worldwide as an integral element of the beauty of South American Culture. Dancing on Common Ground makes us aware of the roots of two popular American dance forms:tapping and clogging. Poor Irish immigrants flooded urban areas-especially New York City-where they shared neighborhoods with the country's largest population of free African slaves. Tap came out of these lower classes,developed in competitive"battles"on street corners by the two groups. Those Irish who moved to the hill country gave birth to clogging. In both cases, the dance, like the people themselves, were changed forever by the American experience. Rigidity gave way to fluid movement and tradition to youthful American exuberance. Creator/producer/artistic director Lorraine Rennie was a successful marketing executive when she decided to leave the corporate world to start Top Entertainment and Events in Atlanta 13 years ago. Since then Top Entertainment has received acclaim for the quality of its work, including features on CNN,print media and the prestigious"Best Entertainment Production of the"96 Olymic Games"award from the International Special Events Society. This is her fourth theatrical production. Lorraine thanks the parents, who made so many personal sacrifices to further their children's talents, the teachers who molded and shaped that talent and the cast for sharing their gift with all of us.