Chicago hosted the largest Lithuanian folk dance festival in several decades, with more than 2,000 dancers and over 5,000 spectators attending the celebration of Lithuanian culture on July 10–12.
The tradition began in Chicago after the Second World War, when Lithuanians who had fled the Soviet occupation sought to preserve their language, culture and national identity.
Rusnė Kasputienė, who grew up in Detroit, leads one of the oldest Lithuanian dance groups in the United States.
"My family moved to Detroit in 1968, and I founded my dance group in 1979," she said.
Zita Burneikytė-Petkienė, who leads a Lithuanian dance group in Seattle, also recalled the origins of the tradition.
