Balfolk

Balfolk is a dance event for folk dance and folk music in Belgium, the Netherlands and France. It is also known as "folkbal".

History

Dancing on folk music is gaining popularity since the 70's. The traditional dances are coming from all parts of Europe.

There are organisations that organize such dance events monthly and at a lot of folk festivals there is also the possibility of dancing.

In France some villages have there own yearly folk festival.

In the Flanders Boombal is the biggest organisation for the popularization of balfolk. The influence is so great that the term Boombal is more known than the term balfolk.

Although there are similarities, the dances of balfolk are not the same as dances danced by traditional folkdance groups.
#Dances of balfolk are based on simple traditional choreographies and have an easy base so everyone can easily start with it. Refined movements are not the main concern. Most of the time, the music has modern influences.
#Traditional folk dances have more extensive choreographies. Often the dances are danced with traditional clothing. The preservation of a tradition is important here.

Parts of a folkbal

Often there are 2 parts in a folkbal.

#Initiation: Often at the start of a bal some dances are explained for people that are new to the dances. During an hour dances like the scottishes, gigues, bourrees, andros and hanterdros are explained. Group dances as well as couple dances are explained. All is done under musical accompaniment of a live folk musician.
#Bal: (Semi-)Professional folk musicians play during two hours dance music. The explained dances, but also new dances are played. It is similar to a common party, except that in this case young and old dance together on live folk music. Sometimes the party is extended by a second folk group, a group of random folk musicians or DJ.

External links

* [http://www.balfolk.nl/ BalFolk] (Netherlands)
* [http://www.folkroddels.be/ Folkroddels] (Belgium)