CHOREOGRAPHIES ARE CREATED in the imagination and dreams of choreographers, says Jim Gold, the author of this guide to 125 international folk dances. If steps do not exist or have yet to be created, the choreographer begins to move. Soon a dance appears. A folk dance choreographer is steeped in lore, folk dance music, culture, history, art, steps, and national style. The steps he or she creates are faithful to the dancing style of the native country. But no matter what the choreographer creates, choreographies are really suggested steps. All dances are open to interpretation and subject to future improvisations depending on the imagination, ingenuity, and creativity of the teacher or leader presenting them: and this whether created in a village, a native country, or the new world. The relatively new art form of international folk dancing is developing and growing in the United States and throughout the world. Along with more traditional approaches, new bands have also formed.
The new music they create is often based on a fusion of folk traditions and modern styles. With so many beautiful songs, striking harmonies, and tingling vibrations presently nourishing your mind, what else can you do but dance? This book enables participants to join the creative stream by providing a step-by-step notation of each dance, as well as a YouTube video link to a performance, and thereby familiarize themselves with it at their leisure.
