XII Sokiu Svente
IVth SS - 1972 (Our first)

Other Lithuanian Dance Groups

Zilvinas - Philadelphia
Grandis - Lemont, IL
Spindulys - Los Angeles
Jura - San Diego
Saule - Arizona
Aidas - Kansas City
Nemunas - Brazil
Gojus - Anykščiai, LT
Grandinele - Cleveland
Vingis - Vilnius, LT
Neris - Pittsburgh

The Malunas Logo It's tradition at every Pasaulio Lietuviu Sokiu Svente at the practice before the big show for each group to wear a uniform practice outfit.  In recent sventes, groups began to design custom T-shirts.  This practice has many purposes.  It's fun to have some unique identity; many groups come up with rather colorful, unique and humorous designs; during the practice it is easier to find your group members in the mass of humanity; and after practice, it's fun to trade shirts.  In Toronto in 2000, the Malunas Dance Group came up with a great idea.  Inspired by the Grateful Dead shirts of the 1992 and 1996 Lithuanian Olympic Basketball teams, Malunas enlisted the help of their own Michelle Dulys to come up with a spoof design using skeletons in dance costumes instead of basketball players, with the design on a tie-dyed shirt.  Working with a Dutch artist, Michelle came up with some great artwork.  The shirts were a huge hit.  All extra's were either traded or sold in less than an hour.

Malùnas

Baltimore's Lithuanian National Folk Dance Group

Some History:    Malunas was founded in Baltimore, MD in 1968, and consisted of dancers of high school and college age from Baltimore and Washington who wanted to form their own group which they themselves organized and operated, apart from the Kalvelis Dance Group which at that time was under the control of a parent's committee.  With their new found freedom, Malunas concentrated on their performances, even creating a special program of song and dance which they toured several East Coast cities with, including New York and St. Petersburg..

Malunas co-existed in Baltimore with the Kalvelis group for many years, many times borrowing dancers from each other or performing at events together.  After the 1980 performance at the 6th Lithuanian Folk Dance Festival in Chicago, Il, Malunas existed more as an informal group of friends who were former dancers, while the Kalvelis group took the forefront in representing Baltimore.

 In 1985, after the Kalvelis group, now renamed Svajone, disbanded, and seeing a void in the Baltimore Lithuanian community for Lithuanian Dance groups, Danute Drazdaityte Balciuniene, one of the original founders of Malunas, invited several members of both former groups, plus some new faces, into reviving Malunas as a performing group.  This revival allowed Baltimore to continue having a representative group at the next five Lithuanian Folk Dance festivals in 1988, 1992, 1996, 2000, and 2004.

The group is currently taught by Rytis Grybauskas, a former dancer with both Kalvelis and Malunas, who is now  teaching for the 18th year, and is this year preparing the group again for the XII Lithuanian Folk Dance Festival in Chicago, IL in July of 2004.

Malunas practices at the Lithuanian Hall at Hollins and Parkin Sts. every Sunday from 6:00 - 8:00, and their season is from September to June.  Malunas has performed from Florida to Canada, but concentrated mostly in the Middle Atlantic area.  They have danced at prestigious events such as Presidential Inaugurals, representing the Embassy of the Republic of Lithuania at cultural events in the Washington area, and at ethnic festivals both large and small, including the yearly Baltimore Lithuanian Festival, most recently held in Catonsville, MD.  They have been invited as the premier group at major festivals, been televised, including an appearance on PBS as part of a nationwide New Years program, and photographed for newspapers, video taped, represented Lithuania at cultural festivals, and danced in many venues large and small including Nursing Homes, schools, weddings, etc.

Our last performance was at the XII Sokiu Svente in Chicago, IL.  

Check Here for XII Sokiu Svente Pictures

See our new Group Photo.

Our next performance is still being negotiated.  Stay tuned for details.

If you are interested in joining Malunas, the practices are held Sunday nights from 6:00 to 8:00 at the Lithuanian Hall in Baltimore which is on the corner of Hollins and Parkin Sts. Or you can call the instructor Rytis Grybauskas at 410-795-0553 for more information, or send email to rytukas@hotmail.com 

Dance Costume and Juosta weavers can be found at http://javlb.org/ssvente/audejos.html

Photos from Dainava - 2003
Photos Dainava - 1999 Sokiu Kursai

Baltimore Lithuanian Festival
Pictures - 2002
Pictures - 1999
Pictures - 1998

        I am currently working on posting Monica Bauman's Scrapbook from the 2000 Festival.