SLIPPERY ROCK — Spring marks the return of the annual Kaleidoscope Arts Festival at Slippery Rock University. This year it will run April 14 through 25.

The mission of the festival is to be a premier arts event but at a low cost.

The program is sponsored by SRU, the Pennsylvania Council on the Arts, and the Butler County Tourism and Convention Bureau.

This year marks the first festival for Melissa Teodoro as director. She has been an assistant professor of dance at SRU since 2003.

"I really want to bring a multicultural taste to this year's festival," said the Columbian-born Teodoro.

To achieve that, Kaleidoscope will showcase performances from other cultures.

One event Teodoro is excited about is a performance by Kevin Locke, a Native American dancer and flutist, who will help the festival get under way after the opening celebration on April 14. She describes the hoop dance he performs as "simply beautiful."

Kaleidoscope began when SRU was reconfigured into new colleges, one of which is the College of Humanities, Fine and Performing Arts from what was the College of Arts & Sciences.

The arts festival was developed to distinguish the new humanities college and to celebrate the arts in the region, drawing from the larger community as well as showcasing SRU student work.

Past festivals were headlined by child soldier Emmanuel Jal from the Sudan, Grammy Award winner Libb Larsen, and jazz guitarist Joe Negri.

Highlights this year will include the return of the Japanese Taiko drummers. They have been featured in two previous festivals to sold-out crowds, and Teodoro believed that warranted a return performance.

She also is excited about a performance by Negro Gato, an Afro-Brazilian dance ensemble on April 21. Teodoro describes it as "an absolutely beautiful fusion of martial arts and dance."

In the flurry of multicultural dance and music, the written and spoken word is not overlooked at Kaleidoscope. This year features two international poets, Ekiwah-Adler Belendez, a Mexican poet with cerebral palsy, and the Belarusian poetess, Valzhyna Mort.

In a return engagement, the Pittsburgh-based urban poetry group, The Typewriter Girls, also will perform.

One of the largest draws for the festival is Children's Day, which promotes the arts to children of all ages. Teodoro says the event will have arts, crafts, food and performances.

She calls particular attention to the band Pop Rocks, a middle school aged rock band. "If you haven't heard of them, they are amazing and not to be missed," she said.

The festival will continue to serve as showcase for SRU student work in visual arts, theater, dance and music with the inclusion of recitals, dance concerts, art exhibitions and Brave New Plays, a series of productions of student theater work.

"New Year" is a large interactive kaleidoscope sculpture created by Erie artist Gary Cotroni. It will be on display in the reference room in Bailey Library throughout the festival.

Missing this year is Kaleidoscope on the Main, during which the festival would typically take over Main Street in Slippery Rock with performances and vendors.

This exclusion is due in part to limited funds.

Teodoro emphasizes that all of the events throughout the festival are presented for free or at a very low cost in keeping with the festival's mission.

She said the festival started out as a small event, but over the years it has developed into a larger festival for this area. It draws artists from the Slippery Rock area and farther away, which is in line with what she said are the festival's main goals of "supporting local artists and educating the community."

Though she is a new face for Kaleidoscope, Teodoro said the planning and preparation for this year's festival has been wonderful and helps to enhance the education of her students.

"I wish I could take all of my students abroad, but this is the next best thing," she said.

For information about the Kaleidoscope Arts Festival and complete details about the events, visit the Web site, www.kaleidoscope.sru.edu.