Cultural enthusiasts eager for a nibble of Russian entertainment will find watching the Red Star, Red Army Chorus and Dance Ensemble out of Russia to be more than a mouthful of the country’s performing arts according to the production’s producer Tony Demato.

With the exception of Spanish Gypsies doing Flamenco [dancing], I don’t think the performers of any nation capture the quintessential elements of their native culture as these Russians do, Demato said. They simply understand the culture that they move in, and it has nothing to do with age so much as it does with discipline.

The dedication to performing allows the Red Star, Red Army to dance and sing its way at 8 p.m. Thursday to the stage of Shryock Auditorium.

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The troupe has taken on a few changes since its inception in 1977 as an entertainment attachment to Moscow’s anti-missile defense force. Though the majority of the current troupe of 50 members that make up the chorus are enlisted in the Russian Army, the government selects the dancers depending on their ability to perform not because they are involved in the military.

Basically, the [Russian] government says to [the dancers], Hey, you know you’re a gifted person. You’re a performer. Why don’t you join one of our entertainment groups for two years? Demato said.

That’s the element of Red Star that has kept changing over the years. We almost always see new faces in the ballet group, but the chorus is pretty much the same.

Audiences outside of Russia began to see the Red Star in 1992 when they toured Europe performing mainly Russian folk songs and dances. The popularity spread like fire over a dry sage weed field, and the Red Star began touring large cities and venues in the United States that year with a troupe of 152 members.

The economical side of touring has caused the numbers to diminish somewhat over the Red Star’s four tours because the troupe is hitting smaller towns and venues.

But the dancers who range in age between 18 and 26 and the chorus who are all in their 30s because, as Demato puts it, They don’t have to jump as high will have no trouble aweing the audience despite a smaller size troupe.

After performances of the Russian and U.S. national anthems, the Red Star’s next song is what Demato said seizes the spirit of Russian culture. Meadowland is a vocally unique, Russian patrol song that might fool the audience into thinking that a glitch just shut down the microphones.

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Demato compared this method of singing to standing on a street and watching a large band march by with the loudest sounds coming when the band is directly in front of the listener, and as the band marches on the sounds fade.

It’s a Russian sound that is made to go great distances by barely whispering. It expands as the song goes on and reaches a peak in the climax that is extremely strong, and then it recedes again with a fade away sound, Demato said. No one in the world seems to have this vocal range. The Russians are masters at it.

Though tensions have cooled between the United States and Russia since the Cold War thawed out, Demato said the first time the Red Star toured the country the U.S. Embassy almost did not allow the troupe to perform, but now the Red Star has no problems coming to America.

The American Embassy approached us wearily the first year because things were still touchy between East and West, he said. Cultural attraction rules became a little more relaxed, and now [the Red Star] have become fixtures at the American Embassy.

Factoid:Tickets for the Red Star, Red Army Chorus and Dance Ensemble are $17.50 and $15.50. For information, call (618) 453-ARTS (2787).