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For high school senior Alex Wray, there's no stigma to his membership in a troupe that performs traditional old-world peasant dances. The 17-year-old also is an offensive lineman, but he said his varsity football teammates never razz him about his primary passion: dancing with the young adults of the Oinkari company.
In many communities, the harmonious mix of arts and athletics could be attributed to "Glee."
In Boise, thank the Basques.
"My mom is Basque," Alex said, referring to Basque Country, the small, semi-autonomous chunk of land straddling the border of Spain and France. "[The dancing] is just part of what I grew up around."
In the Idaho capital, a city of about 200,000, nearly one in 10 residents is thought to have Basque ancestors. It has one of the largest Basque populations in the United States, which explains the presence of several restaurants, a heritage center, a museum and a market embracing Basque traditions.
They're all on what is known as the Basque Block on Grove Street in downtown Boise. The Basque Museum & Cultural Center is a good starting point to understand how so many people from such a small place ended up in Boise.
"If you could pick up [Basque Country] and put it in our state, it would fit in our largest county here in Idaho," said museum director Patty...