Hora Romaneasca, a Boulder-based Romanian performance group, was started more than 20 years ago by people from Colorado's Romanian community and was originally known as Hora Mare. The creation of the group and the first performance were prompted by the visit of Princess Sophia of Romania to Colorado.

The group has known several enthusiastic leaders who have each brought their personal touch to the organization. Donald Vucovic was the front man at the inception of the group; John Chu took over the leadership of Hora Mare several years later. More recently, in 2000, Kostya Butsura from Bucovina became the artistic director and John Chu transitioned into the role of choreographer. Hora Mare also changed its name to Hora Romaneasca in 2001.

Our purpose is to promote Romanian folk dancing and help with fundraising efforts to support orphans and needy families in Romania. We perform exclusively Romanian folk dances and strive to bring to life dances from all regions of the country. We Currently have over 40 dances in our repertoire.

We rehearse weekly and typically perform 5 to 10 times a year. We have performed regularly at the International Folk Festival, the Romanian Festival, the Greek Orthodox Church Easter Festival, and the Romanian Dinner at Grace Lutheran Church, and other folk festivals for the last several years.

The group is currently comprised of the following people (in alphabetical order of first names): Carol Codrescu, Christina Smith, Frank Vernon, Ileana Barbu, John Chu, Linda Allred, Lyn Mead, Mihail Codrescu, Pamela David and, Yannick Nelson. Our Choreographer and Director of Dance is Kostya Butsura.

All our dancers wear authentic Romanian folk costumes. These costumes are genuine antiques and are usually 50 years old or more. Our dancers take great pride in owning them and will always take a moment to show off their delicate embroidery to anyone interested.

As opportunities for us to perform increase year after year, we are looking to expand our group and would like to welcome dancers of all ages in joining us.