Folk Dance Festival to observe 50th anniversary

Fran Ajoian (far right) and Fresno Autumn Harvest Folk Dance Festival instructors dress in native attire to perform folk dances.

by April Schulthies

Kick up your heels at the Fresno Autumn Harvest Folk Dance Festival Oct. 17 and 18 in the South Gym. For 50 years Valley residents have been showing off their fancy footwork at this annual event, where multicultural folk dancers put on exhibitions and invite the general public to take part in festival dancing.

Sponsored by the Department of Kinesiology, the Fresno Folk Dance Council, and the Folk Dance Federation of California, the festival brings many old traditions to life.

"Folk dancing has come to us primarily from the Old World countries, where it has been a popular pastime since time immemorial," said Fran Ajoian, past president of the Fresno Folk Dance Council and folk dance instructor.

This year will feature a workshop, or dance institute, in Romanian folk dance. Mihai David, who has toured Romania and taught Romanian folk dances in Japan and Europe, is the teacher. Different levels (beginners, intermediate, and advanced) will be offered in non-partner Romanian dancing.

"[David is] a master . . . one of the original teachers who started the folk dance move-ment many years ago," said Gary Hughes, institute coordinator. "The Romanian music is very lively and full of energy."

The cost of the institute is $8. There is no cost to participate in other festival activities. Participants need to wear soft-soled indoor shoes only; no black rubber soles are allowed in the gym.

Dancers in native attire will perform

10-minute exhibitions. Also, the general public can participate in dances from many different countries, including Serbia, Bohemia, Macedonia, Israel, Czechoslovakia, France, Romania, the United States, Poland, Bulgaria, Greece, Scotland, England, Wales, Armenia, Slovakia, Mexico, Norway, Turkey, Canada,

Denmark, Belgium, Brittany, Russia,

the Netherlands, Italy, Germany, Austria and Sweden.

This year groups will perform international dances that were performed 50 years ago at the festival - the corrido (Mexican), the St. Bernard waltz (Scottish), the hambo (Swedish), and the korobushka (Russian).

Wilma Andersen, who started folk dancing soon after she graduated from Fresno State nearly 50 years ago, said the festival has changed since the days when participants danced on the wooden floors in the old Fresno State auditorium.

"Nowadays, the non-partner dancing is more popular than the couple dancing we used to have," Andersen said.

Andersen's group, the Fresno Danish Folk Dancers, will perform Saturday at 8 p.m.

Registration for the dance institute begins at 1 p.m. on Oct. 17 in room 133. Saturday events will include the dance institute from 1:30 to 4:30 p.m.; an ethnic food, crafts and clothing fair from 4 to 9 p.m.; a kolo hour from 7 to 8 p.m., where participants may request their favorite folk dances; exhibitions from 8 to 8:45 p.m.; and festival dancing from 8:45 to 11 p.m. After-party dinner and dancing will be at 11 p.m.

Sunday events include the fair from noon to 5 p.m., festival dancing from1:30 to 5 p.m., and exhibitions from 2:30 to 3:15 p.m.

The Sunday "after party" will be at 6 p.m. at Woody's Roadhouse (Barstow and First).