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Dancers to put stamp on festival |
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Written by Donovan Henderson
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Thursday, 18 October 2007 |
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 Each year come fall, most of the communities in northern Colorado have festivals that celebrate the harvest and the homeland.
This being an area settled predominately by Germans from Russia, when it’s October that means it’s time for Octoberfests.
Fort Collins takes its turn this weekend.
They’ll be plenty of beer, brats and yodeling. And dancing.
Although the festival will be on Saturday, don’t expect any “Saturday Night Fever” disco to go down. Instead, think more accordion and polka. Think traditional folk dancing.
The Storm Mountain Folk Dancers, a group that formed in Fort Collins in 1975, will give a performance of traditional dance, with a Eastern Europe flavor, in the afternoon.
What you’ll see from Storm Mountain on Saturday will be a couple of different dances, one that will even remind onlookers of country and western dances.
The dance group does as much teaching as it does performing. Every Tuesday at 7:30 p.m. at the Empire Grange on Mulberry Street in Fort Collins, classes are held and open to the public. Way back when, its was members’ excitement for the dancing that led them out of the studio and into public.
“We said to ourselves we love this, so let’s take it a step further and share it with other people,” Storm Mountain director Sallie Varner said.
The dozen or so members do 15-20 performances a year.
Dance styles come from places like Bulgaria, Croatia, Romania, Turkey and even the United States.
“Historically, recreational folk dance groups focus on dances from Eastern Europe,” Varner said.
If you’re inclined, you too, can shift your attention from beer and brats and focus for awhile on some traditional folk dances.
Maybe you’ll learn a thing or two.
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OKTOBER FEST
Fort Collins
To Go
10 a.m. — Opening bell
11:30 a.m. — Dick Zavodny Band (polka music)
1 p.m. — Storm Mountain Folk Dancers (traditional European dancers)
1:30 p.m. — Rick Borger & the Average German Band (German and Austrian yodeling music)
3 p.m. — The Denver Kickers Schuhplattler (authentic Bavarian dance)
3:30 p.m. — Pie eating contest, beer stein races, tuba concert, accordions and more
4:30 p.m. — Mojambus
6 p.m. — Oktoberfest closes
• Civic Center Park, Laporte Avenue and Howes Street, Fort Collins
• Free. Bratwurst, beer, dumplings, strudel, kids activities, singing and more. | Only registered users can write comments.
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|  | Felix Wong is an outdoor enthusiast living in Fort Collins. A mechanical engineer by day, he is especially passionate about bicycling, running, and backpacking. | |
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I am a recent college graduate of Minnesota State University Moorhead. After recieving my B.A. in English and Mass Communications this past August I moved down to Colorado.
I enjoy long walks on the beach, candlelight dinners, and heavy metal. My hobbies include reading and writing, music, movies, and getting drunk. Some of my favorite contemporary authors include Bret Easton Ellis, Chuck Palahniuk, and Kurt Vonnegut. My top movies are anything directed by Kubrick. I enjoy listening to anything that rocks.
Right now I am just trying to get to know Colorado and FoCo better. Mostly in order to find the best drink specials on each day that ends in Y. So if you know where I can get a cheap drunk on, let me know!
--Drew | |
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| | My name is Michelle Turley and I'm 28 years old. I live in Severance with my hubbie, Brandon. We have 2 dogs and a cat. We enjoy camping, four-wheeling, and just being in the mountains. I like to cook, clean (go figure), flea market, and play poker. I have so much to say about poker... | |
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