Festival invites folk-dancing fans

Elia Powers

Longtime resident Allan Beek will groove to the music like everyone

else attending this weekend’s 35th Annual Laguna Folkdancers

Festival, held Friday through Sunday in the Ensign Intermediate

School gymnasium.

He’ll just dress a little differently than most.

Beek isn’t one to wear puffy pants or exotic hats -- a look that

best describes the computer-generated characters that sit atop the

festival flier.

“I wear a necktie and a business shirt,” Beek said. “I guess I’m a

traditionalist.”

Still, Beek enjoys seeing the assortment of historical Baltic

region regalia that is sold and worn by many of the participants.

The three-day event, which continues at 9:30 a.m. today with a

morning dance workshop and concludes Sunday at 5:30 p.m., is a

celebration of folk dancing, an art form that had its heyday in the

mid-20th century.

The festival is running simultaneously with an annual National

Folk Organization meeting in Newport Beach.

Beek’s wife, Jean, convinced him to sign the couple up for folk

dancing lessons more than 15 years ago.

“I was a beginner then, and I’m still a beginner now,” he said. “A

lot of other participants have visited the Balkans and are very

serious about [folk dancing].”

For Beek, it is a hobby. He said he knows more than 50 types of

dances and will learn another handful this weekend.

He particularly enjoys line dances, when he has the opportunity to

direct his friends through the tunes.

“Everyone follows the leader, and even if he is wrong, he is still

right,” said Beek, who is hosting a Saturday evening dinner for

festival volunteers and special guests.

That includes the festivals’ three instructors: Michael Ginsburg,

Lee Otterholt and Michele Simon.

Each instructor has a regional specialty and rotates teaching

dances to attendees during the weekend. Beek said at least five hours

over the three days is dedicated to instruction.

Otterholt, a Laguna Beach resident, who lived 27 years in Norway,

primarily teaches dances with origins in Albania, Romania and Greece.

In all of the dances, Otterholt said the focus is on participation

“There’s a good sense of community,” he said. “You don’t need a

partner, and most of the time you’re dancing in a group. It’s a

sociable event. You get to know people quickly.”

Otterholt, who has taught classes all over the world, said many

festival-goers have formed groups that travel the world to

international dance events.

Attendees at this festival spend most of the weekend on their

feet. They get a break on Sunday afternoon, as ethnic groups from

throughout Southern California treat attendees to a cultural dance

show.

“Live music is how it’s supposed to be done,” Otterholt said.

“Most of the time we’re dancing to a cassette.”