World Folk Fest

Last night I had the opportunity to go to the the Wold Folk Fest in Springville. It's a celebration of numerous countries and their cultures through dance and music. The performance was held at the Arts Park on a large open stage that was in an outdoor amphitheater build into the small hill. The open stage really added to the overall atmosphere in this situation because it made the dancers and musicians so real. When I walked from the parking lot to the seating area I could see behind the stage and saw the dancers warming up or walking through their routines it was really neat. It made them real people, as if i were literally walking through their practice or dance in the country from which they came. It also helped to include the audience and allowed them to hear and clearly see all of the performers.  

The dancing was amazing! I especially loved the Korean and Chinese dancing as well as the Native American. The Korean dancing really blew me away because I had no idea it was so lively. The woman were jumping and using these gorgeous and gigantic fans to create frames and shapes across the stage. In their second number the woman came out playing drums that hung across their shoulder. They were actually playing really cool beats and rhythms. I found it really refreshing that the women had the drums, I guess I just assumed that would be something that only the men would do. At the end these two adorable little girls came out. They had the cutest costumes on, little white puffy pants with elaborate red blouses that spun like a dress around them. They were jumping so high, and in perfect unison! They were so young but so disciplined, it really said a lot about their culture and the respect that have for all that they do. The Chinese dancing was similar to the Korean, very bright and colorful and more bouncy than I thought it would be. What I noticed about the Chinese group though is that all of the woman, and there were about twenty, were the same height and shape. It made the dance look so professional and so clean. It must be a company that requires their dancers to be a certain weight and height. It really added to the lovely dance. It was as though they were flouting across the stage in perfect unison. The Native Americans did a traditional Hoop dance as their last number. I have heard about this dance before but have never seen it until last night, it was so beautiful and really like magic! The three male dancers would slowly add more hoops onto them, at first they were jumping through them as if they were ropes and contorting their bodies to go through the hoops. As they continued to add hoops they began making these absolutely beautiful shapes that mimicked birds flapping their wings and soaring through the sky. They each had at least fifteen or more hoops in their arms and interlinked all across their bodies, I have no idea how they did it!  

Though the event was to highlight dancing from around the world I felt that it was a musical performance as well. The different countries all had live bands that played for the performers. The Polynesian and Native American groups had a vocalist that would sing or chant in their own language. It was so beautiful to hear authentic music. The Chinese group put a real focus on their music. The band had many members, and i know it sounds cheesy, but I felt like I was in a movie, like i was literally in China all because of the recognizable sounds and music. One soloist played an instrument that looked like a clarinet. It was announced as the first free reed instrument. The musician came out onto the stage after the dancers with this instrument and another that looked similar but more like a trumpet. He traded of with the band as they echoed his rhythms. It was like a drummer and dancer trading off beats but with melodies. He kept switching from one to the other and in between he would whistle. This was not an ordinary whistle, I have never heard a sound so high come from a human. I don't know if he had something in his mouth or not but it was so loud and so high pitched! He continuously increased the tempo until it was so fast I was blown away and laughing because of the crazy sounds and speeds. He was remarkable. 

I loved the performance and give it a ten. The atmosphere was wonderful and the performances were so fulfilling and really beautiful. I believe that dance says so much about a culture.