MALUNAS
The Lithuanian Folk Dance Group Malūnas was officially formed in 1970 by Aldona Drazdytė. Other dance teachers over the years included Nijole Dulytė-Kaltreider, Danutė Drazdytė-Balčiūnienė, and Rytis Grybauskas, the current director of the group. The “Malūnas” group danced in local and international events up and down the Eastern seaboard in the 1970’s. In 1977, “Malūnas” arranged an original dance program called “Rugiapjūtė”, which included not only dancing but also singing and acting, and was a huge success! Since then, Malūnas has appeared at Presidential Inaugurals, at the Wolf Trap Center for the Performing Arts, and at Festivals in New York, Chicago, Cleveland, Los Angeles, Toronto, and twice in Vilnius, Lithuania. They have appeared on local television programs, and on national TV with PBS. They have even danced at half-time shows of NFL football games. Currently they stay in more traditional venues of dance festivals, and occasionally at the Lithuanian Embassy in Washington, DC.
The group calls the Lithuanian Hall its home, and they practice there every Friday night. If you’re interested in joining Malūnas, contact Rytis Grybauskas at rytis @ comcast.net Dancers between the ages of 16 and 40 in good dancing shape are always welcome to join. Their next major trip will be to the XVI-th North American Lithuanian Dance Festival in Philadelphia, PA on July 4th, 2020. But in the meantime Malūnas will be appearing in local festivals in Baltimore, Philadelphia, Washington, DC, and Frackville, PA.
Dancing their namesake dance, “Malūnas,” the windmill, at the Baltimore Lithuanian Festival in Catonsville, MD..
The group of dancers that went to Lithuania in the summer of 2018, practicing on the main stage at the Lithuanian Hall.