Local teens attend Mountain Folk Festival in Kentucky

L. to R: Celia Larson, Jeanne Marsh, Hannah Larson, Abby Marsh, Phoebe Walker, Lillian Blomeley, Taija Tevia Clark, Bob Dalsemer.

A group of five teenagers represented the John Campbell Folk School at the 72nd Annual Mountain Folk Festival in Berea, KY on March 7-8.

The MOUNTAIN FOLK FESTIVAL whose participants are from 10-19 years old is a gathering of young folk dancers. Started as part of the outreach programs of Berea College, the Festival has trained both dancers and dance leaders who have carried on the folk dance traditions of Appalachia, New England, the British Isles, and Denmark. The first festival in 1937 was chaired by John C. Campbell Folk School co-founder, Marguerite Butler. For the past eight years the festival's primary dance instructor has been Bob Dalsemer, the Folk School's Coordinator of Music and Dance Programs.

Nearly 100 young dancers from North Carolina, South Carolina, Georgia, Tennessee, and Kentucky, attended this year's festival, having learned a number of required dances in advance. During the two day festival, the dancers practiced the required dances, learned new ones,attended workshops and participated in a final dance exhibition on Saturday night. The weekend's activities continued uninterrupted despite a late winter storm which resulted in several inches of ice and snow on Friday night and Saturday.

The group representing the Folk School included Lillian Blomeley and Taija Tevia Clark of Brasstown, Hannah Larson of Murphy, Phoebe Walker of Mountain Rest, SC and Abby Marsh of Roswell, GA. Parents Celia Larson and Jeanne Marsh accompanied the group.

Next year's Mountain Folk Festival is scheduled for March 20-21. Practices for the Folk School group will be held on Saturday mornings beginning in mid-January. For further information call Bob Dalsemer at 837-2775 or 1-800-FOLKSCH.