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Echo of Sadako's Song Mail Tribune / Jim Craven Dance students Nicolas Toll and Zena Shelton, both 11, make a large paper crane for a performance later this month. Students will have folded more than 1,000 of the origami art pieces in time for the show. Dance and music tribute will take flight in Ashland, powered by 1,000 paper cranes By TONY BOOM ASHLAND - Young dancers will cap a nine-month effort to fold more than 1,000 paper cranes with a performance they've choreographed to honor the girl who inspired a worldwide peace effort. Students in Gene Leyden's dance class will perform May 28-30 in the Historic Ashland Armory at 6:30 p.m. They will dance to "Sadako's Song," performed by the Siskiyou Children's Choir. Leyden thought about doing the crane project with this year's dance group before Sept. 11. "I brought it to them after Sept. 11, when the dance class first met," said Leyden. "That really made it much more of a real thing and much more important." Paper cranes became a symbol for peace as the world learned about Sadako Sasaki, a Japanese girl who died in 1955 from leukemia caused by the atomic explosion in Hiroshima 10 years earlier. Sadako folded cranes using the Japanese origami art until she died. She'd heard a Japanese legend that says if someone folds 1,000 paper cranes, their wish would be granted. Sadako finished 664 cranes. But her classmates, inspired by her courage, finished the task and raised money for a statue to honor her and all children affected by the bomb. Sadako's statue holds a golden crane in its outstretched arms. It is in Hiroshima's Peace Park. Every year folded cranes from around the world are sent to the park by school classes, individuals and groups. Dancers in the Ashland class started folding cranes in September. Todd Barton, Oregon Shakespeare Festival composer and an origami master, instructed the students. He also helped fold a crane that has a 9-foot wingspan. "Peace" is written on each crane. "It took five cranes to learn how to actually fold it," said Nicolas Toll, 11, who will be the head of a five-person human crane. "We did all the choreography ourselves," said Emma Harding, 10. "I added a fan kick" to the dance routine, she said. Leyden offered input on the dance. Phoebe Parker-Shames, 11, said the dance is more complex and challenging than those she has performed before. "I hope it will make people realize that kids really do care," said Maddy Stokes, 14. "We've been talking about doing a project for a while putting the dancers and the children's choir together," said Sheri Harding, choir general manager. Parts of the song are in Japanese and other parts in English. Leaning the Japanese words "wasn't too much of a challenge for the kids," said Harding. "We've been teaching them Latin and Spanish and Italian. So when the Japanese came in they embraced it and took it on." Cranes strung from lights will decorate the armory on performance evenings. About 1,300 cranes will be completed before the shows. Five dancers will be in crane costumes. Others will wear T-shirts with cranes. Each evening's show will begin with the students' crane dance. After the dance, older students perform May 28, dancers 5 to 8 on May 29 and students 3 to 5 on May 30. The performances are free, but guests can adopt a crane for a donation that will benefit Ashland schools. Reach Ashland bureau reporter Tony Boom at 482-4651, or e-mail [email protected] Mail Tribune Home | Ottaway Newspapers, Inc. | Dow Jones & Co., Inc. | Privacy | Contact Us Copyright � 2001 Mail Tribune, Inc.