Folk Dance Group "Os Azeitoneiros"
Alvorninha, Portugal 

On the 28th of August of 1983, the repairs of restoration of our church are inaugurated with the presence of our Patriarch. Among several cultural activities that amused the celebrations, a certain number of young boys and girls presented some folk dances that surprised the large audience. The way that they were received was so amazing that from that day on, they started to be a constant presence in the celebrations along the entire region. Along all our village, near the oldest people, we collected all the information about dances, songs and the way our ancestors dressed. After an exhaustive study on the folklore of our region, we formalised our statutes and regulations and published them in the Republic Diary on August 20 of 1986.

1986 was a year full of exhibitions and the year of our first internationalization in Don Benito - Spain. The success continues and in March 16th 1989 we give one more important step - we become members of the Portuguese Folklore Federation and start to participate in several national and international folk festivals from north to south of our country with good references.

In the same year we were visited by elements of the organisation of an international folk festival in England. It was with enormous pleasure that we received the information that among the visited groups, our group had been the chosen one. One year later, between 18 and 24 of August 1990, our group was in Cleveland - England, in the Cleveland International Eistedfod. A competition festival with 19 folklore groups from several parts of the world. There were different kinds of competitions and our group was registered and signed up for two modalities. We were speechless when the grand juri proclaimed us winners of the contest but we also knew that we had been natural, genuine and loyal to our ancestors and to their traditions.

Folk Dance group Os Azeitoneiros preserves and divulges dances, songs, customs, traditional clothing, and others, of the beggining of the twentieth century.

Contact information:

Address:
Centro de Desenvolvimento
D. Jose da Cruz Policarpo
Estrada Municipal 567
2500-334 Alvorninha CLD
PORTUGAL

Public Relations
Nelson Santos
phone: 00351936666117
e-mail: This email address is being protected from spam bots, you need Javascript enabled to view it  
web: www.azeitoneiros.com