If you’ve been reading ARHtistic License, you know I’m an avid folk dancer (though I’m out of commission right now, due to arthritis—hip replacement surgery coming up soon). Besides being fun, it’s excellent exercise, especially for the brain. Folk dancing celebrates culture and beauty. It also necessarily involves one of my other loves—music.

Because it’s one of my passions, I regularly scour the internet looking for dances, dance instructions, and folk costumes. Here are some of the best resources I’ve found:

• Folk Dance Musings. Curated by Andrew Carnie, this is the #1 best resource I’ve found for dance videos and dance instructions. The alphabetical list includes hundreds of dances from countries all over the world. Carnie embeds videos and gives detailed instructions, names the music commonly used for the dance, and often gives a brief history of the choreography. He also provides links for further information.
• Folk Dance Federation of California. Lists dance events happening in California, plus instructions for many dances, and other resources.
• Folk Dance Federation of California, South. Includes an extensive bibliography on folk dancing, and complete texts of many articles.
• Phoenix International Folk Dancers. This is the group I dance with. Check it and the PIFD Facebook page if you’re in (or planning to visit) the greater Phoenix area. Come dance with us!
• YouTube, of course, is the place to look for folk dance videos. Roy Butler has posted hundreds.
• Pinterest is another source for folk dance visuals. Two places to try: my Folk Dance Costumes board and my Folk Dance Videos board.