SUMMER BAL FOLK DANCES - Woo Hoo!
Mon Jun 22
Tue Jul 21
Mon Aug 17
Caras Park Pavillion - Downtown Missoula
7 to 8:30 PM
No charge, but donations always welcomed and appreciated
Hello Dancers! Summer dancing has arrived. The Downtown Missoula Partnership is making the Caras Park Pavillion (the big tent in Caras Park) available for scheduling participatory dance events on Monday and Tuesday evenings when it is not otherwise scheduled for large events.
​Everyone welcome. If you are curious about Bal Folk dancing this is a good opportunity to give it a try. No experience necessary. No dance partner required. All dances taught by Mike Sweet. Come join us! Questions? Send a message through the contact page.
Nice video of a summer Bal Folk dance in Poznan, Poland. We haven't progressed to partner dances in Missoula, but many of the line and circle dances in the video are done here.
Bal Folk dances are participatory events, based on traditional dances gathered from all over Europe that have easy basic steps, everyone can get involved, and dancers are free from gender-defined roles. The dances are easy and fun, the music is wonderful and evocative, and the atmosphere is joyful and friendly. The audience is on the dance floor.​​
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The music is based mostly on western European traditional tunes, but "amped up" with new arrangements or new compositions written for Bal Folk dancing.
Bal Folk derives its name from traditional “folk balls” held around western Europe. Over the last decade western European folk music and dance has experienced a revival that is sweeping across Europe and gaining momentum in the North America.
It’s not just the tunes, the dancing, the music or the traditions – it’s the magic that happens when we put it all together.
