International star dancer Antonio Pio Fini will be the guest of Mississippi School of the Arts at 7 p.m. tonight in Lampton Auditorium.

Fini will give a talk-back on the art, history and culture of the Albanian and Italian people. The audience will be invited to participate in learning a traditional folkloric dance called the Tarentella. The event is free and open to the public.

“We are excited for this unique and culture-rich experience as a gift to our campus,” said Tammy Stanford, MSA Director of Dance Arts.

Fini and the MSA Dance Department presented an evening of dance for the Copiah-Lincoln Community College Dance Department Tuesday night.

“It was a huge success and we had two large groups in attendance,” Stanford said. “The first group was nearly 200 Co-Lin students (and) adults for the afternoon open class/rehearsal, and the second audience consisted of Co-Lin community and MSA parents, staff and students for the Evening of Dance.”

Fini is first dancer for the Michael Mao Dance in New York, and special judge for the TV shows “Dancing on the Road” and “Dancing with the Stars.” He has served as Ambassador of Dance for the Agency for Cultural Diplomacy of Vienna since 2018.

Recognized by the U.S. since 2015 as a permanent citizen for artistic merits, Fini has choreographed for The New York Opera at Lincoln Center, the Tirana Dance Festival and the National Ballet of Kosovo. He is the founder of Fini Dance New York.