Dance instructors from all across the country will teach international dances this weekend at the second annual the Central Iowa Traditional Dance and Music Festival at the Memorial Union.

With workshops and dances taking place all weekend, dance enthusiasts have endless opportunities to show off their fancy footwork.

Gary Lieberman, an organizer of the festival, said each day will feature workshops teaching English country dancing, Scandinavian dancing, contra dancing and American couples dancing.

“There’s a sense of unity that comes out of each dance workshop,” Lieberman said. “You go there to have fun, but also to enjoy the company of all the people.”

Lieberman explained that English country dancing involves two lines of people facing each other, with partners dancing with themselves as well as with others in the line.

The American descendant of English country dancing is called contra dancing, and it will also be demonstrated at the festival.

Lieberman said the event’s other main focus will be dancing representing many different Scandinavian countries.

The traditional dance of Scandinavian countries is a “twirling” type of dance called the hambo, Lieberman explained, but different countries have their own variations upon the common theme of the dance.

Dance instruction will be given by nationally renowned dance leaders Todd Hodapp, Enid Cocke and John Ramsay.

“The interesting thing about Ramsay is that he used to teach folk dancing here in Ames,” Lieberman said. “This is a kind of homecoming for him.”

The music of St. Paul, Minn. band Pig’s Eye Landing will accompany Saturday evening’s dance with its brand of celtic/old-time music. In addition, accordion players Mike Briggs (who will play music for English country dance) and Dan Newton (who will play for the Scandinavian dance) will perform.

A dance will top off both Friday and Saturday evenings, and all of Sunday will be devoted completely to a dance.

The entire weekend can be attended for the price of $40, or participants can pay a separate fee of $10 for Friday night’s dance and $12 for each separate event on Saturday and Sunday.

A 25 percent discount will be given to all students

“We didn’t create this weekend specifically with students in mind, but we hope they’ll come out,” Lieberman added. “For roughly the price of one concert ticket, you can have an entire weekend of participatory fun, not just watching.”

Friday’s activities begin at 7 p.m. with a workshop for beginners followed by the dance at 8 p.m. Saturday includes contra dancing at 9 a.m., English country dancing at 1:30 p.m. and a dance at 7 p.m. Sunday will have dances going on all day beginning at 9:30 a.m.

All events will be held at the Memorial Union.