The big Jaialdi festival in Boise last month was a showcase for several new Basque cultural efforts, including a group of dancers from California. Continue Reading

By John Ysursa
One of the most recognizable male Basque dances, which has become popular this summer at Basque-American festivals, is the “banakoa” from the region of Durango in Bizkaia.

Luke Echeverria dances the banakoa at the Fresno Basque picnic 2010.

For the Aguerres, the family that plays together, stays together. Plays in the klika, that is.
Continue Reading

Dancing the Banakoa from Euskal Kazeta Basque News on Vimeo.

The recent Fetes de Bayonne attracted a “flashmob” estimated to be a crowd of over 2,000 people who danced to the song “I Gotta Feeling.” Today (Aug. 13), in Biarritz, France, another flashmob dance event, advertised on Facebook was scheduled to take place in front of the Biarritz casino, and organizers were hoping to get an even larger crowd.

On July 31, 2010, during the annual Fetes de Bayonne, hundreds of people
gathered to dance to “I Gotta Feeling.”

Continue Reading

The hometown Oinkari Dancers performed to an enthusiastic crowd during the recent Jaialdi 2010 international Basque festival at Boise’s Expo Idaho fairgrounds.

The group, which usually performs dances from the Basque province of Bizkaia, changed their routine for the festival and danced several numbers from the province of Nafarroa. The Oinkari Dancers are celebrating their 50th anniversary year and held a reunion brunch during Jaialdi. For more information on that event, see Euskal Kazeta’s article.

Related Euskal Kazeta Jaialdi articles and videos:
Jaialdi Dance Groups at Fairgrounds
Boise Celebrates Jaialdi
Basque Extravaganza at Boise Fairgrounds

The Oinkari dancers have perhaps done more than any Basque-American group to promote Basque culture in the United States. Continue Reading

Click on the video above to see a few of the many Jaialdi 2010 musical and dance performances Saturday July 31 at the Expo Idaho fairgrounds.

More than a dozen music and dance groups from the United States and the Basque Country were on hand for the day-long celebration attended by thousands of people. The week-long Jaialdi festival concludes today with final day of festivities at the fairgrounds.

Among the groups was Mutxiko Elkartea, which came to the festival from the Basque Country.

Related Euskal Kazeta Jaialdi articles, videos:

Oinkari Dancers Celebrate 50 years at Jaialdi
NABO Pilota Championships at Jaialdi
Jaialdi has Junior Mus Tournament
Boise Celebrates Jaialdi 2010

Four girls were part of the four teams.

The North American Basque Organizations is a federation of clubs that work to promote many traditions of the Basque culture in the United States. Among their pet projects is junior mus, to start kids learning the Basque card game early.

The project apparently is achieving success, based on the enjoyment the current generation is getting from mus. The latest tournament was held Friday, July 30, in the elegant Grove Hotel.

Continue Reading

Sports Night at Jaialdi 2010 drew a boisterous crowd to Boise’s Qwest Arena Thursday night July 29 as top athletes from the Basque Country put on displays of amazing strength.

People roared and clapped as the athletes lifted 450-pound wagon carts and hoisted huge marble balls that weighed 250 pounds. Other sportsmen lifted hay bails with pulleys and tossed hay bundles over 15-foot-high bars in an event that announcer Edu Sarria described as a “Basque pole vault.”

For a more detailed report on the action see EITB’s Sports Night article.

Related Euskal Kazeta article:
Top Athletes Featured at Sports Night

Jaialdi 2010, Boise, Idaho

Jaialdi approaches! The biggest Basque festival in the United States, held every five years, is expected to be the largest one yet. Organizers say they expect 30,000 to 40,000 people, with many coming from the Basque Country. Attendance at Jaialdi in previous years has hovered around 25,000.

Read this story for the complete schedule of events.

View Jaialdi 2010 in a larger map
Above: Jaialdi 2010 Interactive Map. Click for location of all events.

Continue Reading

Boise has become an epicenter for all things Basque as the mammoth Jaialdi 2010 festival launched this week with celebrations in and around the city’s Basque Block.

Culture, music, dance, food, drink and sports abounded as thousands of people from Basque communities in Latin America, the United States, Canada and Europe flocked to Boise. Make sure to follow Euskal Kazeta on YouTube, Twitter and Facebook for all the Jaialdi action.

Related Euskal Kazeta Jaialdi articles:
Pelota Takes Center Stage at Jaialdi
Countdown to Jaialdi
Jaialdi Tickets on Sale
World Pilota Council Tournament

Venezuela took 3rd place in a tight battle against Australia Wednesday July 28 during the World Pilota Council tournament at the Boise fronton. Earlier in the evening, NABO 2 from Bakersfield defeated NABO 1 from Boise for 5th place.

Brooke Davies, Patrea Bojack (L) of Austrailia; Aenhoa Bacaicoa and Estibaletz Barreda of Venezuela. Photo: Euskal Kazeta.

The final score in the Venezuela-Australia contest was 30-20. The game was played before a full house at the historic fronton on the Basque Block during the huge Jaialdi 2010 international festival. Venezuela was represented by Aenhoa Bacaicoa and Estibaletz Barreda, whose powerful plays were too much for Brooke Davies and Patrea Bojack of Australia.

Continue Reading

Euskadi and FEVA battle it out in paleta goma at the Boise fronton. Photo by Jon C. Hodgson - BasquePhotos.com

In one of the tournament highlights, the two women’s pilota teams from NABO battled it out Tuesday July 27 in a back-and-forth contest during the World Pilota Council championship in Boise.

The lead changed hands several times as NABO 1 from Boise and NABO 2 from Bakersfield faced off before a standing-room-only crowd in one of the evening games at the historic fronton on the Basque Block. The game was played as Jaialdi 2010 launched its opening night.

NABO 2 — Teresa Iparraguirre and Michelle Saldubehere-Friebel — won the match 30-28. The Boise women were Esther Ciganda and Anne-Marie Mansisidor. In other Tuesday evening games, Venezuela beat Australia 30-9 and Euskadi beat the FEVA squad from Argentina 30-9.

Continue Reading

The popular Boise-based Basque music group “Amuma Says No” performed Wednesday July 14 in the Homegrown Concert Series in Washington D.C. The series features top artists performing traditional music and dance routines from a variety of cultures in the United States.

The band's music was a hit at the Bakersfield 09 Festival. Photo: Euskal Kazeta

The group was interviewed by Capitol News Connection. You can listen to the interview and find out how the band members came up with the name of their group. Here’s a hint: Amuma is grandmother in the Basque language of Euskera.

Formed in 2006, the group plays traditional and modern Basque dance music, as well as Basque-flavored folk and rock tunes.

Related Euskal Kazeta articles:

Amuma Says No Headed to U.S. Capital.
Amuma Says No at San Inazio Dance Parties
Amuma Says No Plays at Elko Festival