A journey through the history of the group

“Folk dance” stands for living tradition

The Folk Dance Group Selva - St. Cristina is a group of young people, most of whom originate from Selva and St. Cristina, who enjoy dance and appreciate a friendly community. The goal of the folk dance group is to maintain the old dances and folk music so that they can be preserved for future generations. The group continues to wear the traditional costume of Val Gardena and cultivates dances originally recorded in South Tyrol, as well as other dances from the Alpine region.

About Us - Grupa Bal Populer Sëlva y S. Cristina EO

From the mountains to the stage

The group takes part in parades, performs at festivals and Tyrolean evenings in Val Gardena and other nearby locations. The Selva Val Gardena folk dance group was founded in autumn 1983 by Bruno Riffeser together with the “Association for Culture and Customs Selva“. Just six months after its foundation, the folk dance group was able to perform in front of an audience for the first time, at the prize-giving ceremony of a ski race.

New paths, new members

After this experience, the folk-dance group was able to accept many more performance requests, primarily coming from the surrounding areas, but also from abroad. The year 2002 was characterized by innovations; after several members had left the association, the group managed to get a lot of young people interested in folk dancing who brought a breath of fresh air to the group. In December of the same year, the folk dance group separated from the “Association for Culture and Customs Selva“ and adopted the name “Folk Dance Group Selva - S.Cristina”.

Our last milestone

In the August of 2023, the association celebrated its 40th anniversary with a beautiful alpine dance, where young and old could move to the music of the “Burgstaller Tanzlmusig” and the group “OdleSound”. Members, former members, honorary members, friends and relatives met for a pleasant afternoon and evening on the alpine pasture. On the day of the celebration, our group joined together with the Castelrotto folk dance group to perform the “Bandltanz”, the Selva children's choir also performed songs and dances.