If you happen to be in Pittsburgh next Friday evening . . .

The Carpatho-Rusyn Cultural Center is hosting a summer dance at 7 p.m. Friday (July 16).

Admission is $5 per person for this zabava, sponsored by the C-RS National and the Pittsburgh Chapter.

Mayor Hagyari (center), with Righetti and Sivak

Dean Poloka, director and choreographer for the Slavjane dance group, will be on hand to offer demonstrations of Rusyn dance steps.

Among the special guests will be Pavel Hagyari, mayor (or Primátor) of Prešov, Slovakia. 

Maryann Sivak, of the cultural center, and national C-RS President John Righetti met him at a Rusyn masquerade ball in February 2009, and they invited him to the center.

"We are very pleased that he did remember and are looking forward to his visit," says Maryann.

UPDATE: Here's a report from the Cultural Center's blog on how Friday's Zabava/Dance turned out.