Lao Culture Dance Fashion
MN

Niphone "Birdy" Phommaras is known as one of the state?s experts in Lao dance and has participated as both a performer and instructor at every major Lao New Year event in Minnesota. She teaches over 55 individuals, the majority are youth. She and her dancers perform for about 1,000 Minnesotans each year. Ms. Phommaras has over 3 decades of experience in traditional Lao arts dance instruction and traditional costumes. She competed in dance and fashion shows in Vientiane, Laos, as a child and began teaching traditional dance at refugee camp in Thailand at age 17. Phommaras came to the United States in 1989 at the age of 18. The following year she began teaching youth in Minnesota in order to preserve and to promote the rich Laotian artistic tradition and culture. 1991 and 1992 she trained 15 Lao students to perform traditional Lao dances in celebration of the Lao New Year and they took first place in a dance competition in Wisconsin. Over the years the dance groups that Ms. Phommaras trained were invited to perform on many stages, including in Dallas Texas, and won many awards. Ms. Phommaras has been involved as a performer and an instructor with almost every major Lao New Year event in Minnesota and has helped to teach dance at Lao PTA, and performed at Variety of major New Year event for Lao Culture Dance Fashion Mn, Union Depot, Mall of America, Southeast Asian Event, Minnesota State Capital, Lao Hmong American Coalition, Minnesota Songkran Festival at State Capital and Temples through out the Twin Cities area. our mission and our work is a commitment to transmitting and preserving Laotian culture, both for the youngest generations who become culture bearers through their arts practice and the wider communities of audiences. In this way, sharing cultural teachings to evoke community connectedness and belonging has been the heart of this work since it began more than three decades ago.

Preserve and Promote Lao rich Cultural Heritage to share a common interest with other communities through music, arts, dance, and cultural performing arts to make a positive experience and a better Communities for Minnesotan.

I am a traditional dancer, fashion choreographer and instructor of lao traditional culture performing arts. My main focus is classical dancer, I have experience & knowledge in 3 different categories: performing and teaching youth classical dances, directing beautiful lao traditional & modern customs fashion show and produced Miss Nang Sangkhan beauty pageant show. The main reason & my passion is to preserved my lao rich culture & heritage to pass on to the youth to keep our wonderful arts for the future generations. I love teaching and performing with my students. We performed in different venues and Festvals throughout the Twin Cities and Metro Area.