About SNOPA

SNOPA Folkdance Weekends, Inc. has been granted tax-exempt status as a 501(c)(3) public charity. Donations made on or after April 15, 2025 are fully tax-deductible. 

Board Members

Mark Kanazawa, president

Mark is a faculty member, and former Chair, of the economics department at Carleton College, where he has taught for forty years. He has folk danced his entire adult life in various places including Vermont, Indiana, Massachusetts, California, Washington DC, and most recently, Minnesota, where he is a former president of the Tapestry Folkdance Center Board of Directors.

Julie Rasmussen, secretary

An avid folk dancer since she was 10 years old, Julie has been a member of Tapestry Folk Dance Center for nearly 40 years, volunteering in programming and other roles.  She also dances with the Bulgarian dance troupe Bulgari. Julie is retired after 40 years of teaching English, citizenship, food management and customer service to adult immigrants and refugees in the US, and English as a Foreign Language in Japan.  She has also taught Spanish and Japanese to American adults through Community Education. As a connoisseur of cultures, Julie loves to travel - 4 continents down and 2 to go!

Jim Kiehne, treasurer

Jim has over 40 years of folk dance experience, both recreationally and as a performer and a musician in the folk dance ensemble Rakia. He’s served several times on Tapestry Folkdance Center’s board of directors and continues to volunteer there as a programmer and technician. His career included mineral exploration, office management, and the graphic arts. Aside from dance and music, he pursues his obsession with watching birds.

Organizational Documents

https://drive.google.com/drive/folders/1NLcg4TBE-q5q2unTg5ogKWlsH0WTChUd?usp=sharing 

Annual Reporting

https://drive.google.com/drive/folders/1MuZ2F9Dt1oal_dEFGfBgvoI8XUQ_cRTB?usp=drive_link 

Board Minutes

https://drive.google.com/drive/folders/1aEdsyZq-Gg7UC38-gtyMsxSRrhU7F1bJ?usp=sharing 

General Information about the SNOPA annual event

SNOPA! is the annual upper Midwestern folk dancing weekend, held every year in February.  Regional teachers share several dances each during daytime workshops, and the evenings are filled with dance parties with both recorded and live music.  The Saturday night party gives you an opportunity to dress up based on the year's theme.  There's also singing, social time, winter recreation opportunities, and more.

About SNOPA

SNOPA is a non-profit event founded by a group of dancers from the Twin Cities (and beyond) international folkdance community.  While many of the group dance at Tapestry Folkdance Center in Minneapolis, SNOPA is not a Tapestry event.  Volunteers make SNOPA happen.  Thanks for your help during the weekend!

Accessibility Policy

We want to make SNOPA as accessible as we are able to dancers of all physical abilities.  If you have questions or would like to request an accommodation, please contact us at least three weeks in advance of the event.