STATEMENT OF PURPOSE

OF

THE AMERICAN FEDERATION OF GERMAN FOLK DANCE GROUPS

          The American Federation of German Folk Dance Groups was founded in 1994 with the following objectives:

          * To practice and cultivate traditional dance forms as found in Germany and in German minority communities in other European countries.

          * To preserve and disseminate related aspects of folklore in their historical and cultural context, including dance, costumes, needle crafts and music. To this end, conduct seminars and workshops in the skills and talents necessary to replicate as close as possible, the dances, music and folklore of the various regional styles.

          * To establish a basic repertoire of dances in their original, as collected form and in their historical, geographic and cultural context to be shared by all member groups.

          * To strive to understand the impact of German minorities on their host community and the host community on their German neighbors.

          *To translate source material using a standardized vocabulary to assure consistent and accurate folklore presentations by its members.

          *To document the cultural and historical background of member groups in the US

          The organization is the American sector of the 'Deutsche Gesellschaft fur Volkstanz im Bundesgebiet¹ - DGV (The Society for Folk Dance in the Federal Republic of Germany)