25th Anniversary of the Springville World Folkfest

 Last night I went to the 25th Anniversary of the Springville World Folkfest. The showcase of talent was superb and the night was just overall awesome. I went with my parents (who, btw, recently returned from a mission in Albany, New York!) and my brother Mark.

Me and one of the Australian dancers. I obviously couldn't resist getting a picture with a man dressed like this ;)

One of the awesome things about the showcase was that the dancers were from literally all around the world. I am glad that they came from their country to perform in little 'ol Springville. They had dancers from:

Belgium

Alkuone

Alkuone did some fantastic flag dancing. Their flag tricks were excellent and I loved that the swish of their flags created part of their music.

De Krekels

De Krekals had a very traditional dancing style and they expertly demonstrated that laundry can be fun! They were great.

USA

Morning Star

Morning Star

I have actually seen Morning Star perform before. Both this time and last time I was very impressed. They showcased great talent with their traditional Indian dances. A favorite of mine is their hoops dance shown in the above pictures. They take about.... at least 20 hoops each and put them in crazy formations all around their bodies while they are still dancing. Impressive.

Rocky Mountain Express

Cloggers!! I always get excited to see clogging. The Rocky Mountain Express cloggers were so intense. They moved their feet at amazing speeds and shocked me with their routines. I especially loved how they involved the audience in their routine.

Philippines

University of San Jose-Recoletos, Dramatic and Cultural Ensemble

I loved the traditional dancing and singing from the University of San Jose-Recoletos Dramatic and Cultural Ensemble. They did many traditional dances and tried to promote peace, love and unity. Good for them!

Romania

Doina

Doina's handmade costumes definitively added to their dance. The tassels on their vests and peacock feathers on their hats were great, along with their dancing!

Isreal

Shalom Isreal

People from all around the world are absolutely beautiful, but can I just say emphasize Isreali women are among them? Not only were the people beautiful, but the mixture of ballet and traditional were excellent.

Indonesia

My mother and I with some of the dancers from Keneca Pradipa Fakultas Psikologi, Unversitas Indonesia

I loved the bamboo stick dancing that this group did. Many groups incorporated the bamboo stick dance, but this group did extensively. Their talent, body art and costumes were all wonderful.

Australia

You already got to see the picture of me and the Australian man at the beginning of my blog, well here is part of their actual performance. It was so dark and the video isn't the greatest quality, but more so I wanted you to hear their didjeridu playing. This group was expert at it and it was beautiful.

Blugaria

Last, but not least, the Nessebar group performed. Sadly by this point I had given up taking pictures because it was too dark outside to see the pictures well. The group did a great job!! They have won all types of international awards (as have many of these other groups). My favorite parts of their performance was 1. their footwork, which was amazing! and 2. the banter between the men and the women. Lots of traditional dancing has banter of a sorts between men and women... I thought this group brought that interaction to a whole new level.

Again, this showcase was amazing and if you read this in time, you should go tonight.. its their last show. http://www.worldfolkfest.com/ . Many of these groups are also staying and performing at the Bountiful/Davis Summerfest International Art and Folk Festival next week http://www.farmington.utah.gov/displayarticle227.html .

Thank you to all the groups who performed! Enjoy Utah! :)