Welcome to the site for information on International Folk Dancing in Fort Collins, Colorado

Recreational, Fun Dances From Around the World
No Partner, No Experience Required, Every Tuesday Night in Fort Collins!

You can find information on recreational, world, international folk dancing happening in Fort Collins, Colorado right here. Every Tuesday night, the Tuesday Night Folk Dancers (TNFD) group meets in Fort Collins at the Empire Grange Hall for easy, friendly, community, social dancing from around the world. No experience nor partner required, but loads of fun for all ages, great exercise, and new friends guaranteed! If you’re new to international folk dancing, we’ll help you learn with some teaching and doing easy dances at the start of the night. Almost all of our dances are “follow the leader,” so you just have to do what everyone else is doing.

What Is International/World Folk Dancing?

Well, the “folk” of folk dancing would be you and the people of your community. Back in the days before Netflix—and, if you can imagine, before the days of electric light and recorded music—people did not go somewhere “to be entertained;” people created their own entertainment. When people gathered socially to celebrate weddings, births, harvests, or just to “party” on a day of rest, some would play music and others moved their bodies and feet to the rhythms and melodies. Patterns developed, and in each village, people would know the steps that went with that particular music. The dances were simple, and everyone could and did join in. These early cultures did not use their native-language equivalent of the term, “folk dance.” They just called it, “dance.” As music developed with sounds and styles distinct to the local geographic region and peoples, dances followed suit and became an important part of the culture. Just as music from different areas and cultures sounds distinct, folk dances have steps, movements, and patterns that are distinct to a culture and geographic area.

Today, International Folk Dancing describes a movement started in earnest in the 20^th century where people participate in or perform dances from all cultures of the world, regardless of the ethnicity of the dancers or the geography of the venue. Hobbyists enjoy International Folk Dancing as a recreational activity with the benefits of physical fitness, social interaction, and exposure to the music and culture of other peoples. Artists perfect the dances and perform them for enjoyment and to expose the public to the traditions of cultures they likely have never seen before. In modern times, choreographers create new dances “in the style of” the traditional cultures, and the repertoires of International Folk Dance groups have expanded well beyond the memory capacities of the dancers. Relearning the old dances is just as exciting as learning the latest one.

Want even more definitions and history? Read up on Britannica.

Come join us every Tuesday night for a world tour from Canada to Kurdistan, the Balkans to Bolivia, Johannesburg to Japan, and Europe to USA!