The Alvin Sun (Alvin, Tex.), Vol. 111, No. 53, Ed. 1 Monday, July 8, 2002 Page: 16 of 24
This newspaper is part of the collection entitled: Brazoria County Area Newspapers and was provided to The Portal to Texas History by the Alvin Community College.
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Peruvian dancers twir in one ofAmerica’s few international folk dance festivals.
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McNett, who hosted Eraldo and Ana Catarina
Pacheco, directors of Brazil’s team.
“We’re impressed with the welcome and how well
it’s organized," says Ana Pacheco.
When this year’s festival ends, Benfield and others
will begin contemplating next year's event.
Both the cities of Boise and Pocatello will host
memiemus events as well during the festival,
. radiating international good will
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The eruption of music, color, Indian tribe transform Main Street into a swirling In 1983, the college's dance-team chaperones
and street dancing suggests the United Nations is blur of color, returned from a dance festival in Europe convinced
holding a party and the world is invited. For seven . The festival is rated one of the top 100 events that Rexburg could host a similar event.
full days, folk dancers from around the world, arrayed in North America by a trade organization of tour “They had an idea but no budget, organizer
in a rainbow of costumes, transform Main Street into groups, and it has been transforming Rexburg s Benfield recalls.
a musical microcosm of world cultures greeted by the streets into a world stage since 1986. The Rexburg Chamber of Commerce ag55d to
cheers of thousands. “There are only three other festivals like this organize the event. The college offered its facilities,
This isn’t Times Square, however; it’s Rexburg, nationwide, two in Utah and one in North Carolina," and the first festival opened in 1986 with a budget
Idaho, during the midsummer Idaho International says festival executive director Donna Benfield. of $40,000. ,, .0.
Folk Dance Festival when folk dancers from such The festival’s mission is to promote interna- “Now we have a budget around $150,000,
places as Brazil, Peru, Indonesia, Romania, China, tional understanding through dance, while show- Benfield says. "We raise about $100,000 and have
South Korea, and the nearby Shoshone-Bannock casing the cultural heritage of both Rexburg and about $50,000 in show ticket sales.
the state of Idaho. Dancers teach workshops for Today, the festival, which runs from July 17-27,
South Korean folk dancers parade on Main Street. three days followed by three days of performing brings in thousands of people from 30 states and more
shows, and Rexburg’s 17,257 citizens wouldn’t than $2 million in revenue, according to a chamber
miss it for anything. survey. To keep the festival diverse each year, teams
“The festival makes us realize how people and from different countries are invited. Since 1986,
cultures of the world have more similarities than about 4,000 dancers from 128 teams and 50 countries
differences," Benfield notes. have participated. Applications are narrowed down
For example, teams perform courtship dances from 100 to 15 teams. Then 100-200 local families
for the parade, volunteer to house 250 to 300 dancers.
“The girls sing come and dance with me,’ and “Whether you can speak the same language or
the boys answer,” explains Romanian translator not, you grow to love them so much that you feel
Camelia Motoe, as couples wearing black and white
dance together.
Then there are the differences. Peruvian couples
in pink, green, and blue dance the humorous Wifala
de Caylloma “Witite," in which men disguise
themselves as women.
The town traces its roots to Thomas E. Ricks,
a Mormon leader who established Rexburg in the
scenic Snake River Valley in 1883.
Ricks also founded a local college that
was the nation's largest private two-
year college—with 9,000 students—
until last fall, when it expanded into
a four-year school and was re-named
Brigham Young University-Idaho.
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Schwind, Jim & Holton, Kathleen. The Alvin Sun (Alvin, Tex.), Vol. 111, No. 53, Ed. 1 Monday, July 8, 2002, newspaper, July 8, 2002; Alvin, Texas. (https://texashistory.unt.edu/ark:/67531/metapth1602844/m1/16/?rotate=90: accessed July 16, 2024), University of North Texas Libraries, The Portal to Texas History, https://texashistory.unt.edu; crediting Alvin Community College.