Mariachi, ballet folklorico and colorful Jalisco dresses will not be the main cultural attractions in San Antonio during the weekend of March 14-16.

OLLU and the San Antonio community will have the opportunity to enjoy and learn about the wonders of global cultures through dance and music during the San Antonio Folk Dance Festival, held at Thiry Auditorium and IFCC.

During this three-day festival, the audience will be able to see performances by different national dancers and also learn about them at the workshops held by the instructors.

The list of dances performed and taught includes Serbian, Czech, Romanian, Balkan and other international dances. One of the instructors, Vonnie Brown, “is a famous folk dance coach from Baton Rouge Louisiana State University, where she is an instructor and an artistic director,” says Nelda Drury, the organizer of the festival.

The opening performance will be highlighted by a well-known Serbian folk dance troupe, Miroslav Bata Marcetic from Toronto, Canada. The troupe consists of musicians and dancers that will showcase an aspect of their culture. The second performance will be by dance groups from Texas and Louisiana.

As a long-time dancer and dance instructor, Drury started the San Antonio dance festival 50 years ago at San Antonio College while teaching there. The festival, “which was relocated to OLLU two years ago,” says Drury, brought different instructors and their companies to San Antonio to share their culture and customs.

Throughout her years of dance, Drury has traveled and worked with many companies forming “a community that knows each other very well and is excited to see there is a dance craze in the U.S., ”she says.

The goal of these festivals is to spread the awareness and bring down the barriers, as Drury mentions, between different cultures and customs. Drury and her fellow dancers and instructors believe that through dance, music and art, one can learn a lot about a certain part of the world.

“Folk dancers are very friendly people, most of them are happy to welcome everyone to get to know their customs and ways of life,” says Drury.

Many of these dances are very special and different from everything else, mentions Drury, and the event hopes to help prevent their disappearance.

San Antonio Folk Dance Festival organizers encourage all students, faculty and staff members to attend and learn about different cultures through dance. Drury has a special invitation for one particular group: “We would love for the sisters to come and enjoy the performances.”