P1100308 Ukrainian dance troup Zorya

from Dallas performs bread and salt dance, a ritual of welcoming the warriors returning to the village. This type of dance is stuck in my mind forever as a symbol of Soviet propaganda. I saw it many times on Russian television programs commemorating USSR military victories, celebrating USSR army, the "working man", and other icons of Soviet ideology. So imagine seeing it in the little town called West, in a hugely conservative part of Texas, where the billboards along the highway denounce president Obama as socialist!

Zorya dancers performed at WestFest, a festival celebrating Czech culture (West and many other little towns along the stretch of I-35 between Austin and Dallas were settled by Czech immigrants). While Ukraine is quite far from Czech republic (at least by European standards, but perhaps not so much on Texas scale :-)) the troupes performing at West Fest represented several Eastern European countries, including Czech, Hungary, and Ukraine.