By Emily Miller

REXBURG — Summer is prime time for making memories, and the Rexburg Cultural Arts Department hopes the community will come out to make some memories at the upcoming Arts in the Park free summer performance series at Porter Park. The series, sponsored by Madisonhealth, starts Monday, July 17 at 7 p.m. at Porter Park with a performance from American Footworks, and continues every Monday through August 14 with different performers each week. 

Rexburg-based American Footworks dance team showcases a large variety of traditional American dancing, including folk, swing, clogging, Native American, square and line dancing, Appalachian circle dances, Charleston, tap, southern tap and cowboy dances. Dancers range in age from 16-26, and they’re preparing for a tour of Italy where they will join other dancers from around the globe for festivals in Florence, Aviano, and Sappada. The Rexburg show is a showcase of the dances they’ve prepared for the tour. 

Appam Leisan, a Brigham Young University-Idaho student originally from Manipur, India, watched a performance from American Footworks last summer and said he enjoyed it so much that he had a hard time falling asleep that night as he replayed pieces of the performance in his mind. 

“It was just so … American,” Leisan said at the time.  

American Footworks travels each summer to folk dance festivals around the world. They’ve been to France four times, Portugal twice, Indonesia once, and they’ve been to Italy once before. 

Coaches Mindy and Gary Larsen, who are husband and wife, started the festival team in 2011. The Larsens met while both were members of the Brigham Young University International Folk Dance Ensemble in Provo, Utah. In their youth, they both enjoyed being on traveling festival teams, so when they moved to Rexburg, they decided to start one. Mindy says traveling with the team is a highlight of each year. 

“It’s so awesome,” she says. “It’s one of our favorite parts of the job to get these Rexburg kids to Europe. Some of them have never been on a plane before. We stay in lodging with teams from all the other countries. We get to know them quite well. We do shows with them, we eat with them, we have dance parties with them late into the night. Not only do we get to perform and see some really cool places, but we get to know a lot of amazing people.”

American Footworks is a fun, high energy way to start the summer series, which will showcase local talent and professional musicians from across the globe. Here’s a snapshot of what’s in store for the rest of the season:

Alonso, of Idaho Falls, is the first musician in her family. She sings and plays the guitar, ranging from country tunes to more singer/songwriter and pop sounds. She’s got a beautiful, clear but soulful voice. Brakwaku Jr. lives in Rexburg. He grew up in Accra, Ghana and is a graduate of Brigham Young University-Idaho. He plays originals and covers, some current pop favorites and some reggae classics. He and Alonso will perform some of their own pieces and a handful of songs together. 

Harrell has been a singer/guitarist for more than 40 years. He has played in a number of bands in Illinois, Utah, and Idaho, including as the bassist and lead singer of local metal band Our Darker Purpose. Finch & The Magpies, from Orem, Utah, consists of Marissa Giles on concertina, Brock Pate on guitar and vocals, and Clyde Ellis on the fiddle. Their acoustic sound features a mix of old traditional tunes, bluegrass, and folk, also occasionally mixing in some popular video game themes. 

From pop to 70s soft rock, funk, and heart-infused soul, Gibbons makes music to appeal to all ages. He’s a singer and songwriter, multi-instrumentalist, and producer. His sound has been compared to musicians such as Ben Rector, Bruno Mars and Harry Styles. His sophomore full-length album “Start Again” comes out this summer. You can hear the first single from the album here. 

  • August 14 – Igor Iamchimciuc & Valeri Glava

Iamchimciuc & Glava have been playing together for 25 years. Both are originally from the Republic of Moldova, and now live in the United States. Violinist Glava plays professionally at the Venetian Hotel in Las Vegas, and cimbalom player Iamchimciuc is a music composition professor at the University of Utah. They play a variety of styles together, including classical, country, bluegrass, jazz, and Gypsy-style (Romani) music, and are sure to put on an exciting show. 

All Arts in the Park concerts will begin at 7 p.m. at the Beehive Pavilion in Rexburg’s Porter Park. 

Madisonhealth Communications Strategist Jessica Goudy says the organization signed on to sponsor the event to encourage people to get out and enjoy their community. 

“Anything that gets people out and involved is a worthwhile program in our book,” Goudy says. “It fosters a sense of creativity, community and unity that, overall, makes for healthier, happier humans!”

Goudy says joining Rexburg Arts to put on the concert series was one way Madisonhealth could give back to the community. 

“Madisonhealth is unique in the sense that we started as a small, community-owned hospital with a dozen employees,” she says. “As our community has grown and expanded, so have we, to meet the different unique needs and demands. Now, with six clinics, a hospital and more than 750 employees, we are anything but small, yet one thing will always remain the same—our sense of community. We would not be where we are without them, so we actively seek opportunities to get involved and support local people and business.”

For information on Arts in the Park and other Rexburg Arts programs and events, visit rexburgarts.org.