BOULDER NEWS

International Festival showcases local dancers on Pearl Street Mall

By Amy Bounds

 

Staff Writer

POSTED:   06/18/2017 08:40:53 PM MDT 

 

The local dance community brought their best moves and a big dose of culture to Boulder's Pearl Street Mall for Sunday's International Festival.

"Dance is one of the greatest joys in life," said Evangeline Christal of Tribal Misfits, a troupe that combines belly dancing and traditional Eastern arts with more modern dance forms. "We create beauty for those around us."

The weekend festival, organized by the Boulder Dance Coalition, kicked off Friday with a public square dance with Broomfield's Scootbacks Dance Cub.

Saturday and Sunday showcased more than 30 dance groups on a stage set up on the Pearl Street Mall, plus an international marketplace of hand-crafted and fair trade items.

Saturday night, there was also a public folk dance session led by the Barbelfish Balkan Band.

"We want people to come and dance," said Larry Utter, president of the Boulder Dance Coalition. "The rhythm of the music and the different harmonies, they just make you want to move. It's great fun."

Utter said the coalition's roots are in international folk dancing, with more forms of dance added over the years.

This year's festival offerings included a wide variety of folk dancing, from Scottish country dancing to Bulgarian folk dancing to ancient Hula. Audiences also were treated to performances of tribal fusion, tango, Chinese dance, Zumba and vintage dance from the 1910s, '20s and '30s.

"We want to showcase international dance from all over the world and show what dancers are doing in Boulder," Utter said.

The elaborate costumes were often as much the stars as the dances.

The dancers in the Postoley Dance Ensemble wore traditional costumes brought over from Poland, with the women in flowered skirts and lace-up tops and the men in white pants and flowered vests — and all in red boots.

One of the dancers, Theresa Szczurek, started dancing at 5 in a Polish neighborhood dance troupe in Chicago. Then in Boulder as an adult, she connected with Postoley and got back into performing folk dances.

"It's part of my heritage," she said. "It's a big Polish tradition. Dance keeps the spirit alive, even in the darkest times."

Another folk group, the Scottish Country Dancers of Colorado, invited members of the audience on stage, teaching them a simple circle dance and a simple line dance.

"It's part of my heritage," she said. "It's a big Polish tradition. Dance keeps the spirit alive, even in the darkest times."

Another folk group, the Scottish Country Dancers of Colorado, invited members of the audience on stage, teaching them a simple circle dance and a simple line dance.

"If you can move and smile, you can be a country dancer," said Jeff Davis of Fort Collins. "We want to show people it's possible."

He said the dances are often a way for people to connect to their heritages and participate in a social setting. They don't require a background in dance, with dancers able to walk the steps, or "strut with pride." But they do require practice and memorization to learn the patterns, he said.

"It's physical and mental exercise," he said.

Francesca Bini, a dancer with Boulder Tango Studio, said she also wants people to know that they don't need to be dancing experts to start learning to tango.

"You have to get over the edge of thinking you can't do it," she said. "There's always a growth process."

Bini, a former ice skater, said she tried learning several partner dances and settled on tango because it requires such a strong connection between partners. Then there's the bonus that her studio's two main teachers are known for their technical prowess.

"Boulder is this hub of excitement around tango," she said.