Call for Peace Performs at the Nobel Peace Prize Summit

Madison Wisconsin's cultural treasure, Call for Peace Drum and Dance Company, recently delivered its message of peace, hope and nonviolence for humanity at the Fourth Global Summit for the Nobel Peace Prize Laureates in Rome, Italy. Laureates included Mikhail Gorbachev, the Dalai Lama, Shimon Peres, Lech Walesa and Rigoberta Menchu. Rome Mayor Walter Veltroni and the Gorbachev Foundation invited Call for Peace after viewing their theatrical production on DVD, "Dancing the Dream: A New Hope for Humanity." The mayor of Madison's sister-city, Mantua, Italy, also invited Call for Peace to perform at the prestigious fourteenth-century palace Palazzo Dela Ragione.

The Company opened their Summit performance at the acclaimed Teatro dell Opera with words of welcome from Mattie J.T. Stepanek, "A Child Reveals the Path to Peace." As seen on Oprah and Larry King, Mattie is a peacemaker, author and Goodwill Ambassador for the Muscular Dystrophy Association in the U.S. He offered the Laureates
words of innocent hope and wisdom--words that rang clear with the Laureate's own message to "build a new culture of nonviolence for humankind which will give hope to all of humanity, and in particular, to the children of our world."

Call for Peace performers followed Mattie's message of peace with drums and dance, showcasing over 10 individual cultural dances and concluding with the spectacular Circle Dance that joins all artists in a powerful celebration of unity and harmony. The Company moved its audience to tears as it artistically revealed the common thread that connects all of humanity and illustrated how beautiful the realization of interconnectedness can be.

Call for Peace's performance at the Summit was also particularly momentous to its directors Dawn and Art Shegonee, as the performance marked the City of Madison's first official Call for Peace Day on November 28th, according to Mayor David Cieslewicz's and Dane County Executive Kathleen Falk's Proclamations. The Company's
successful reception at Rome and Mantua has laid the foundation for an ongoing relationship between the Nobel Peace Prize Summit, the Gorbachev Foundation, Mantua, Franco Scepi (Nobel Peace Prize logo/sculpture creator) and Call for Peace. The Company hopes these relationships will further promote its message of peace to our nation and the world.

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