Audiences were brought around the world yesterday at the 2009 Camellia Festival International Folk Dance Concert. This is the festival’s 53rd year and held at Sacramento State every March.

Eight out of the 13 dances performed were from Europe, mainly Eastern Europe. Other groups featured performances from China, the Middle East and Mexico. All of the dancers wore costumes representing their countries.

The concert was narrated between dances by Lois Mead, who told a little bit about each group and the type of dances they were performing.

Jan Wright, an audience member, said she most enjoyed the Kalyna and Sonechko Dance Ensemble, who performed dances from the Ukraine.

“I love seeing the culture,” she said. “It was very authentic and you could tell they were having fun.”

Though most dancers were adults, there were also a number of teenagers and even some as young as 7 years old performing. Andrey Kisel, age 16, has been involved in Ukrainian folk dancing for eight years.

“We want audiences to see we’re fun-loving,” Kisel said. “People don’t know about (the Ukrainian) culture so we try to show it to them.”

Kisel’s 8-year-old brother Nick has only been following his brother’s footsteps for two months, but he is still enjoying it.

“I like meeting new people,” Nick said.

Some dances not only brought the audiences to different countries, but different time periods as well. The Vintage Dancers of the Sacramento group showcased the dances popular in the United States during early American history. Going even further, the Danza Azteka Quetzalcoatl presented dances once performed by the ancient Aztecs, complete with drums, exotic feathered headdresses and even a parrot.

Melanie Borlin, junior child development major, said she came because of a class.

“I like the Aztecs because the room was just full of energy while they were dancing and you could just feel it,” she said.

After the concert, the audience was able to learn some of the dances for themselves from the instructors.

Kyrie Eberhart can be reached at [email protected]