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Part 6: Recreational International Folk Dance

20 The International Folk Dance Movement and Similar Traditions

1.  Introduction

The first few sections of this book have been devoted to contextualizing folk dances within their countries and ethnicities of origin. An emphasis has been placed on understanding the similarities and differences among different styles of dance, from the traditional costumes to the music and dance formations as they play out within a particular group. In this chapter, however, we turn to entirely different kinds of folk dancing: that which is done by groups and organizations which do the dances outside of their original ethnic or national context often bringing together a variety of different styles. We will also examine a few groups that do original choreographies of social dances to ethnic and folk music totally divorced from any ethnicity except for the music.

2. The International Folk Dance Movement

The International Folk Dance (IFD) Movement is a vibrant, global phenomenon that traces its origins to the late 19th and early 20th centuries. It encompasses a wide variety of traditional dances from different cultures. If you attend an IFD event, you are unlikely to do two dances in a row from the same country. They mix and match dance cultures and musical styles to form a vibrant and diverse program. The IFD movement has played a significant role in preserving and promoting cultural heritage, fostering cross-cultural understanding, and providing a sense of community and identity.

2.1. Origins and Early Development

The roots of the International Folk Dance Movement can be traced back to the late 19th century when a renewed interest in national identities and traditions emerged across Europe. This period saw a resurgence in the appreciation of folk traditions, music, and dance as symbols of national identity and cultural pride in many countries. It was driven by researchers such as Klara Semb in Norway, Cecile Sharp in England and many others. However, when immigrants and refugees fled Europe to escape poverty and oppression, they landed in a country with where there was a melting pot of cultures. There were two reactions to this, one was to retreat inwards and form mini isolated communities, the other was to embrace the diversity of rich cultural knowledge and learn more about your neighbors. The latter approach was part of the origins of IFD.

In the United States, the Settlement House movement, which aimed to improve the lives of immigrants and the urban poor, played a crucial role in introducing folk dances to new audiences. Settlement houses like Hull House in Chicago, founded by social reformer Jane Addams, organized folk dance classes and events as a means of promoting cultural understanding and unity among diverse immigrant communities. Key players at the turn of the century in the Settlement House movement included folk dance teachers such as Mary Wood Hinman.

Schools were another crucial factor in the early development of the International Folk Dance Movement. From the early days, folk dance was seen not only as a form of entertainment but also as an educational tool. Folk dance classes and workshops were integrated into the curricula of schools and universities, particularly in Europe and North America. This helped to raise awareness of cultural diversity and promote an appreciation for traditional arts. This started with Luther Gulick, who was the director of Physical Education for New York City in 1900. And was spread further by Elizabeth Burchenal, Nils Bergquist, Louis Chalif and C. Ward Campton. This emphasis on international folk dancing was spread to other parts of the world by such educators as Grace MacMillan in Australia. The ethnicities represented in the early IFD movement were largely central European (particularly German), British, and Scandinavian dances. Overall, there was a real emphasis on couple dances and set dances. A little bit later, Vyts Beliajus, known as the “Father of International Folk Dancing” in the United States and Mary Ann and Michael Herman made it easier for people to learn and teach folk dances from different cultures by producing records and instructional manuals for the IFD community.

After World War II, a number of factors came together to shift the cultural focus of the IFD movement. Soldiers returning to the US brought with them both an appreciation for the cultures of the countries where they had been stationed, but also spouses from those countries. As people sought to rebuild and reconnect in the aftermath of the war, folk dance became a popular means of fostering international friendship and understanding. When the veil of communism fell over eastern Europe, there was incredible tension across the Iron Curtain.

Some ethnicities from the Warsaw pact and the Soviet Union had very extensive expatriate communities in the US and teachers from those communities started to teach in American IFD groups. For example, John Filcich introduced American folk dancers to the Kolo circle dances of Croatia and Serbia, developing a whole new trend in IFD with people who identified as “kolo-maniacs” – much to the consternation of older folk dancers who were used to the couple dance styles of western Europe. Later other teachers, such as Tom Bozigian from the Armenian diaspora, introduced dances from their own immigrant communities.

One of the main forms of diplomacy with communist countries were cultural exchanges, including tours by highly trained and choreographed Folk Dance ensembles, who came to the US and exposed American folk dancers to a whole new range of dance styles. The Igor Moiseyev Ensemble from Russia, The Pirin ensemble from Bulgaria, Lado from Yugoslavia, among many others were particularly influential in their US tours. At the same time, select North American folk dance instructors like Anatol Joukowsky, Michel Cartier, Dick Crum, and Yves Moreau were invited to the eastern block to learn about the dances of these otherwise mysterious countries. In the 1970s we began to see teachers from many eastern countries invited to the US to give workshops and tours, this included Atanas Kolarovski, Bora Özkök, Andor Czompo and others. All of this resulted in a significant shift in the kinds of dancing done at IFD groups. While the occasional western European dance was still done, the cultures that dominated IFD programs shifted to dances from the Balkans, Turkey and Israel. Dances from Asia, South America or Africa were almost never seen; this is true right up until very recent times. The advent of modern technology and globalization has further expanded the reach of the movement. The internet has made it possible for people to access and learn folk dances from different cultures with greater ease. Online platforms, such as YouTube and social media, have become valuable resources for folk dance enthusiasts, providing instructional videos, performances, and forums for discussion and exchange.

2.2. Critiques of the IFD Movement

Despite its successes, the International Folk Dance Movement has faced challenges, particularly in maintaining the authenticity and integrity of traditional dances in the face of globalization and commercialization. As folk dances have been adapted for stage performances and international festivals, there has been ongoing debate about the balance between preserving traditional forms and allowing for creative expression and modernization.

The issue of cultural appropriation has also been a point of contention within the movement. As folk dances are shared across cultures, questions arise about the ownership and respectful representation of these traditions. Moreover, the movement has had to adapt to changing social dynamics and interests. As urbanization and modernization have altered traditional ways of life, some folk dances have lost their original context and function. The challenge for the movement has been to find ways to keep these dances relevant and meaningful in contemporary society. Ensuring that folk dances are performed and taught with a deep understanding and respect for their cultural context remains a key concern for many within the movement. When teachers from the original countries come to teach workshops and classes to International Folk dancers, they often express dismay both at the lack of styling subtilty and accuracy and the fact that IFD dancers do the dances out of context. I have heard more than one teacher lament that, for example, they were witnessing IFD dancers doing a dance that would only be done as a wedding dance by the groom’s family in the home country, being done recreationally and totally outside of the greater cultural context. This is compounded by the fact that many IFD teachers, including the author of this book, have been known to choreograph dances in the style of a particular ethnic community to an appealing piece of music from the country. These dances can often be beautiful and captivating for the participants in IFD but feel totally foreign to the people from the countries whose dance styles are being imitated. My own personal solution to this problem is to be completely transparent about the origins of a dance. If I choreographed a dance in the style of a Georgian dance to a lovely piece of Georgian Music, I make sure everyone knows it isn’t, in fact, Georgian and instead is a choreographed piece. Not all North American folk dance teachers are as transparent and will refer to the dances they have created as “Macedonian” or “Armenian” or whatever. I don’t think this is fair to the original community whose style and music are being adapted nor to the IFD community who are dancing these dances thinking they are original pieces of authentic folklore.

Another critique of IFD centers around the fact that in many ways it isn’t really that “International”. For historical reasons, there is an over-representation of the dances of Europe, and to a lesser degree the Middle East. I’ll be the first to acknowledge that this bias in dance styles is reflected in this book. I am an IFD teacher, and to a large degree I’ve essentially ignored the beautiful dances of indigenous peoples, African peoples and Asian peoples. This reflects the bias in dance styles done by the IFD community. Recently, efforts are being made to ensure that folk dances from all cultures, including those of marginalized and indigenous communities, are beginning represented and respected within the movement. This focus on inclusivity has the goal of broadening the scope of the movement and making it more reflective of the diverse world in which we live. But it has a long way to go.

The bias of dance styles done in IFD is also reflected in the racial and ethnic make-up of the IFD community. For the most part, in the USA and Canada, most IFD dancers are Caucasian and come from European ancestry. While the population of Asian Americans doing IFD is growing, I can count the number of Indigenous, African American and Hispanic IFD dancers using only my fingers and toes. IFD has spread beyond the US and Canada, but only in small pockets. There are IFD communities to be found through Europe, New Zealand and Australia. There are some surprising places with significant IFD communities outside of former British Colonies. There is a lot of international dancing in the Netherlands and, in fact, some of the most sought-after IFD teachers are Dutch. You also find large, highly skilled groups in Japan, Korea, Taiwan, Hong Kong and Mainland China. With some important exceptions, however, IFD in Africa, South America and the rest of Asia is extremely rare.

Finally, it’s worth noting that the IFD movement exhibits an aging demographic. Many people who started doing IFD as part of a counterculture and hippy vibe in the 1960s and 1970s are still the people leading and teaching IFD groups today. There are important pockets of groups with younger dancers throughout the US, but there is a desperate need to introduce more younger people to IFD, so that the dances and fun don’t die out as people age. In the next chapter, I will be discussing how to create and teach an IFD group.

3. Balfolk 

We already discussed Balfolk briefly in chapter 6, but it’s worth briefly revisiting here, because like IFD, it is a cross-cultural dance phenomenon, which is not tied to any one particular ethnic tradition.

Balfolk is a contemporary social dance movement rooted in the traditional folk dances of Western Europe, particularly France and Belgium. Emerging in the late 20th century, Balfolk represents a revival and reinvention of regional dance traditions, blending them with modern influences to create a new and vibrant and evolving dance culture. The term Balfolk combines bal, the French word for dance or ball, and “folk,” indicating its connection to traditional folk dance. The movement began in the 1970s and 1980s, a time when many young people in Europe were rediscovering and revitalizing their cultural heritage. In France, the folk revival was part of a broader interest in regional identities and customs, spurred by a desire to preserve and celebrate traditions that were at risk of disappearing due to urbanization and modernization. The early Balfolk movement was closely linked to the work of ethnomusicologists and dance enthusiasts who collected and documented traditional dances and music from rural areas.

Balfolk dances are typically held in social settings such as village squares, community halls, and festivals. The dances are generally performed in circles, lines, or couples, and they are characterized by their accessibility and simplicity, making them easy for newcomers to learn. The repertoire includes a variety of dance forms, such as the polka, mazurka, waltz, An Dro, gavotte, bourée, Schottische and mixer dances.

One of the distinctive features of Balfolk is its open and inclusive nature. The emphasis is on participation and enjoyment rather than formal technique or performance. Dancers of all ages and backgrounds are welcome, and the atmosphere is typically relaxed and informal. The dances are often taught on the spot, with more experienced dancers guiding beginners through the steps.

The music played at Balfolk events is as diverse as the dances themselves. Traditional instruments like the accordion, bagpipes, hurdy-gurdy, clarinet, and violin are central to the sound of Balfolk, but the movement has also embraced contemporary influences. Modern Balfolk bands often incorporate elements of jazz, rock, and world music, creating a dynamic and evolving musical landscape that appeals to a wide audience. The live music used in Balfolk is a significant difference between it and most IFD groups. Balfolk is almost always done to a live band, whereas live music is limited to special occasions for most IFD groups.

Balfolk has grown beyond its French and Belgian origins, spreading to other parts of Europe and even beyond. Festivals and events dedicated to Balfolk now take place in countries such as Germany, Italy, Spain, and the UK. These gatherings attract dancers and musicians from all over the world, creating a vibrant international community. The geographic distribution of the dances done at Balfolk events however is largely limited to western European dances. They rarely do dances from elsewhere in the world.

Balfolk is more than just a dance; it is a living tradition that reflects the cultural diversity and creativity of Europe. It provides a space for social interaction, cultural exchange, and artistic expression. By blending the old with the new, Balfolk ensures that traditional dances and music remain relevant in the modern world, while also fostering a sense of community and belonging among its participants. In essence, Balfolk represents a successful revival and reinterpretation of European folk traditions, making them accessible and enjoyable for contemporary audiences while preserving their cultural significance for future generations.

4. (Sacred) Circle Dance and Danza Circular

The Sacred Circle Dance movement, also called simply “Circle Dance”, is a form of community dance that emerged in the 1970s as a way to bring people together in a shared experience of movement, music, and spirituality. Rooted in ancient and traditional dances from various cultures, Circle Dance combines these with modern elements to create a practice that emphasizes connection, harmony, and a sense of belonging.

The Sacred Circle Dance movement was largely inspired by the work of the German-born dancer and choreographer Bernhard Wosien. Wosien was deeply interested in the spiritual and communal aspects of traditional folk dances, which he encountered during his travels across Europe. He believed that these dances had the power to connect individuals with themselves, with others, and with the divine. In the early 1970s, Wosien brought these ideas to the Findhorn Foundation, a spiritual community in Scotland known for its emphasis on ecological living and personal growth. The Findhorn Foundation provided fertile ground for the development of Sacred Circle Dance, as its members were open to exploring new forms of spiritual expression and community building. At Findhorn, Wosien introduced a series of simple, accessible dances that drew on traditional circle dances from various cultures, including those of Greece, the Balkans, and the Middle East. These dances were adapted to the needs of the community, focusing on creating an inclusive and meditative experience. The circle, an ancient and universal symbol of unity and wholeness, became the central form of the dance, reflecting the movement’s emphasis on equality, connection, and the cyclical nature of life.

The original vision of Sacred Circle Dance is characterized by several key principles that distinguish it from other forms of folk dance. One of the most important is the idea of inclusivity. Sacred Circle Dance is intended to be accessible to people of all ages, backgrounds, and abilities. The dances are usually simple and repetitive, allowing participants to easily join in and focus on the collective experience rather than individual performance. Another central principle is the connection between movement and spirituality. Sacred Circle Dance is often seen as a form of moving meditation, where the repetitive motions and the music create a contemplative space for participants. The dances are often accompanied by live or recorded music that has a spiritual or ceremonial quality, enhancing the sense of connection to something greater than oneself. The communal aspect of Sacred Circle Dance is also essential.

Having emphasized the spiritual origins of Sacred Circle dancing, it’s worth noting that most groups are now dropping the “Sacred” part of the name and are shifting to just calling it “Circle Dancing”. This doesn’t mean that the underlying themes of spirituality have gone away, but it is not the primary emphasis.

Since its inception at the Findhorn Foundation, Sacred Circle Dance has spread around the world. It has become a popular practice in various spiritual and holistic communities, and it is often used in workshops, retreats, and festivals. The movement has also found a place in educational settings, therapy, and community-building initiatives, where its emphasis on connection and inclusivity has proven to be valuable.

The Danza Circular movement is very closely related to the Sacred Circle Movement and has found fertile ground in South America, where it resonates deeply with the region’s rich cultural heritage and communal spirit. In South America, Danza Circular has become a popular practice in both urban and rural settings, often integrated into festivals, spiritual gatherings, and community events. The movement emphasizes the importance of unity, connection to nature, and the preservation of traditional practices, making it particularly meaningful in a region with a strong sense of community and a deep connection to the earth. In countries like Brazil, Argentina, Chile, and Colombia, Danza Circular has been embraced by spiritual and holistic communities, where it is used as a tool for healing, personal growth, and social cohesion. Festivals and workshops dedicated to Danza Circular draw participants who are seeking to reconnect with themselves, others, and the natural world. The movement has also been integrated into educational and therapeutic settings, where its inclusive and non-competitive nature makes it an effective way to build trust, foster communication, and promote emotional well-being.

There are several important differences between Circle Dancing/Danza Circular and their cousins of IFD and Balfolk. IFD and Balfolk are based primarily on traditional dances from specific ethnicities – although new choreographies to ethnic music do pop up. It is the norm in Circle Dancing/Danza Circular however to have completely new modern choreographies done to traditional folk music. The dances don’t hew too closely to traditional ethnic dance styles either, instead offering close physical interpretations of the traditional music. There are, of course, exceptions where circle dancers do authentic folk dances too. As mentioned above, the purpose of Circle Dancing is slightly different from IFD and Balfolk. All of these traditions are important venues for community building and developing social relationships, but the emphasis in IFD and Balfolk is on the recreational aspects of the activities.

5. Other Spirituality/Religion-based Dance Traditions

In addition to Sacred Circle, there are other a few other dance movements that build on traditional European and Middle Eastern dance traditions. Two prominent ones are dance styles used in worship related to Sufiism. Recall that there is a Sufi dance tradition called the whirling dervishes. The dervishes spin around the room to chants, trying to induce a trance-like meditative state. While the traditions of Gurdjieff and Dances of Universal Peace do not always involve the rapid spinning of the dervishes, there are similar philosophies behind these religious practices. In this section, we’ll also discuss the dancing in the messianic cult known as the Twelve Tribes.

5.1. Gurdjieff Sacred Dances 

Gurdjieff Sacred Dances, also known as Gurdjieff Movements, are a series of meditative and symbolic dances developed by the spiritual teacher George Ivanovich Gurdjieff. These dances are an integral part of Gurdjieff’s teachings, which aim to awaken higher consciousness and harmonize the mind, body, and emotions. The Sacred Dances are not just physical exercises but are considered a form of “work on oneself,” designed to help individuals attain self-awareness, inner balance, and spiritual growth. Gurdjieff was a Greek-Armenian mystic and philosopher, who traveled extensively through Central Asia, the Middle East, and North Africa in the late 19th and early 20th centuries. During his travels, he encountered various spiritual and esoteric traditions, many of which involved ritualistic dances and movements. Drawing from these influences, Gurdjieff created his own system of Sacred Dances, which he believed could serve as a tool for spiritual development. Gurdjieff believed that the Sacred Dances embodied universal laws and cosmic principles. The movements are often symbolic, representing aspects of human psychology, spiritual truths, or the workings of the universe. For example, certain dances might represent the interplay between different forces or the process of inner transformation. Gurdjieff introduced the Sacred Dances to his students at his Institute for the Harmonious Development of Man, which he established in France in the 1920s. The practice of these movements became a central part of the training at the institute, alongside other exercises and teachings designed to foster spiritual growth. After Gurdjieff’s death in 1949, his teachings, including the Sacred Dances, were preserved and transmitted by his followers. Today, the Gurdjieff Movements are practiced by various groups around the world, often in the context of Gurdjieff study groups or workshops. The movements are done to a mix of folk-style and classical music. These dances continue to be regarded as a powerful method for self-development, helping devoted practitioners cultivate awareness, presence, and inner harmony.

5.2. Dances of Universal Peace

Dances of Universal Peace (DUP) is a spiritual movement that blends dance, song, and community which aims to foster inner peace, unity, and spiritual awakening. Founded in the late 1960s by Samuel L. Lewis, also known as Murshid S.A.M.,  an American mystic and Sufi teacher. The Dances of Universal Peace draw from diverse spiritual traditions, including Sufism, Hinduism, Buddhism, Christianity, Judaism, and Indigenous cultures. These dances are designed to be simple and accessible, allowing participants to connect with the sacred through movement and chant. They are all newly choreographed dances, typically done to new musical compositions that are in the style of folk music.

In 1968, Lewis introduced the first Dances of Universal Peace in San Francisco. These early dances were inspired by traditional Sufi practices, particularly the ecstatic dance and chanting associated with whirling dervishes. Over time, Lewis incorporated elements from other religious and spiritual traditions, creating a diverse repertoire of dances that honor the world’s many paths to the divine.

Like Sacred Circle Dances, Dances of Universal Peace are typically performed in a circle, with participants holding hands or standing closely together. The circle is a symbol of unity and equality, emphasizing that all participants are connected and that no one is more important than anyone else. The dances are usually led by a dance leader, who guides the group through simple steps and movements that are synchronized with chants or songs.

Sacred Circle and DUP have similar goals in connecting people together spiritually though dance but there are important differences. In DUP much of the music is written specifically for the genre, albeit in ethnic styles. While in Sacred Circle Dancing, by contrast, the dances are often done to world music that was created independently and has been selected for their beauty and danceability. As mentioned above Sacred Circle Groups are gradually dropping the “sacred” from their name. While spirituality is still an important part of Circle Dance, it professes to be non-denominational and open to people of any religion. DUP by contrast is, like Gurdjieff, in essence a religious – or at least philosophical– denomination. The dance in DUP is the act of religious worship within Lewis’s philosophical framework.

5.3. The Twelve Tribes Cult

To be honest, I’ve gone back and forth about whether I should even mention the Twelve Tribes group because they bear all the hallmarks of a destructive authoritarian cult. The group, of course, objects to that characterization, but there is good reason to think the group is indeed a cult. You can read the Wikipedia article on the controversy, but the group has been accused of child abuse, child labor, homophobia, racism, brainwashing and a highly authoritarian structure. So, I would encourage readers to avoid this community at all costs.

The group is a putatively Christian fundamentalist organization that pitches itself as returning to the tenets of the earliest versions of Christianity. They emphasize communal living, agronomy and traditional Judaic biblical morality. The women dress in clothing familiar from Ultra-Orthodox Jewish groups and the men often wear either clothing reminiscent of early 1st and 2nd century Jewish culture or loose fitting shirts and pants in earthy tones. As part of this vision of returning to the Judaic roots of early Christianity, they have decided to adopt international folk dancing, particularly Israeli folk dancing, as part of their rituals and celebrations. There is some irony to this, as is mentioned on the chapter on Israel, modern Israeli folk dancing is largely a new creation which blends traditions from a variety of cultures outside the bounds of the modern Israeli state. Nevertheless, the Twelve Tribes group has adopted this modern dance form as a means of getting closer to the rituals of the early Christian church. The group modifies the lyrics of the dances using English versions of bible verses that reinforce their fundamentalist world view.

The group runs a series of restaurants and cafés, under the names Yellow Deli and Common Grounds. In the 1990s they were enthusiastic participants in various folk festivals including the New England Folk Festival (a.k.a. NEFFA). They ran a café in the food court and participated in dancing, including leading some of their own dances on the lawn outside the festival. By the late 1990s, they had become more and more controversial at the festival as they combined their food service and dance sessions with evangelism and trying to recruit new members into the cult. This combined with the overt homophobia, racism (ironically they are antisemitic) along with the accusations of child abuse and child labor finally resulted in the NEFFA board asking them no longer to attend. The group has been investigated by the FBI and other law enforcement organizations and the Southern Poverty Law Center refers to them as a “white supremacist cult”. On the surface, when you see them dancing, they look like a bunch of happy hippies doing folk dancing for enjoyment and spiritual enlightenment, but they clearly hold some deeper and darker beliefs that mark the group as a dangerous dance community to be avoided.

6. Summary

In this chapter, we’ve looked at a bunch of different social movements that use traditional and traditional style dancing outside of any ethnic or geo-political culture. In all these groups, one purpose of dancing is recreation and socialization. The groups vary in how closely they hew to traditional styles and how much material is choreographed to traditional or newly composed folk-style music. On one end, we have Balfolk and IFD, which claim to be providing opportunities to do traditional dance and on the other we have groups like Circle Dance that primarily present novel choreographies specifically aimed at their own membership. We also saw that, while all these groups take the notion of community and socialization to be paramount, they varied in how much this socialization was tied to spirituality and religion – ranging from the non-religious Balfolk and IFD groups, through to spiritual groups like Sacred Circle to specific philosophical/religious groups like Dances of Universal Peace, and even extremist groups like the Twelve Tribes cult.

Further Reading

Discussion Questions

Discussion Question 1

In this chapter, I’ve made distinctions between non-religious groups, spiritual groups, religious groups and cults all of whom do some form of movement that resembles folk dancing. I made these distinctions without really defending them. Discuss how religion and spirituality may or may not be definitional for a culture. Touch on why some groups might be spiritual and other may be religious or cult-like. Have I fairly characterized these organizations?

Discussion Question 2

I’ve asked versions of this question before in earlier chapters, but let’s revisit it here in light of the discussion of this chapter. When any of these groups — but particularly IFD and Balfolk — do dances outside of their original ethnic context are they guilty of cultural appropriation? Why or why not?

Discussion Question 3

What do you make of groups that use folk dance as a means of religious worship? How is this the same as or different from the use of folk dances in traditional village contexts?

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