BURLEY - It's mid-August, and the daily mercury has been rising to near 100 degrees. But for a half-dozen Mini-Cassia teens, the heat doesn't mean it's time to lounge around in the pool or head for the hills for cool camping. Instead, they gather on a wide expanse of lawn and start moving.

Knees rise, arms swoop, feet pound. The music cuts off; the routine needs adjustment.

Members of the Idaho Rocky Mountain Express American Folk Ensemble are rehearsing for a performance of their American Indian dance piece, which they will perform Saturday at the youth cultural celebration for the Twin Falls temple dedication of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints (the full troupe, ages 13-18, includes members of many faiths).

As the teens make adjustments to the routine, other members of the troupe gather around a laptop, watching a photo slideshow of their July 1-22 trip to Poland, where at several dance festivals they performed a 65-minute show crammed with swing, pioneer square dances, hula, clogging and Southern waltz, among others. The routines represent the American experience, but many owe their roots to other cultures.

"People are the same all over the world," said Seth Koyle, a dancer, reflecting on the Polish journey. "I learned a better appreciation for my own country, how restricted they are in many ways and how many freedoms we have here."

During the trip, the troupe performed with teams from Ukraine, Spain, Puerto Rico, Mexico, Serbia, Russia, Israel and Ireland, among others, for a total audience that topped 5,000. Three Polish towns hosted international dance festivals, but the team also performed at a children's hospital, at a prison and in small towns where it was easier to meet the locals.

The kids are quick to recall Polish phrases - "Siema!" they all hollered in unison: It's the Polish word for "yo" or "dude" that young Poles use to greet each other - and culinary oddities. "We ate sandwich stuff for breakfast and dinner every day," Koyle said.

Kristine Handy, the team leader, provided a list of the ingredients of a typical Polish breakfast: bread, cucumbers, tomatoes, red peppers, butter, fruit jam and a hot drink.

The similarities? Global brands like McDonald's, of course. And kids are kids everywhere. "They just like to play around, just like us," said Branson Handy. Polish youth are taught English in school, so the Idaho teens rarely had trouble communicating. They even saw on a clerk a T-shirt commemorating an Idaho International Dance & Music Festival in Rexburg. The clerk didn't know much about the shirt though: It was a gift from a friend.

"That is the neatest thing these kids learned, to love all the kids from these countries," Kristine Handy said. "You really want to build ties and connections with other cultures."

A few of the cultural differences were a bit difficult, though.

"We'd have dances after our performances and a lot of the younger teens, they'd be out dancing and partying until 2 in the morning, and for us here that's really uncommon," said Stacy Tarbet. With an example like that set for them, the Americans had to find their own balance between fun and their performance schedule.

Difficult in a different way was the troupe's visits to two World War II concentration camps, including one at which the memorial was a huge, open-sided dome, with a gigantic pile of human ashes mounded beneath the roof. "They teach about it in school, but you don't understand until you see them," Tarbet said. "The whole time we were there we were in silence; it was kind of a reverent place to be."

This year the troupe included 26 dancers and eight band members, and though the festivals paid for their accommodations in Poland, the dancers were responsible for raising about $1,600 each for transportation. To earn it, they sold potatoes and held dinner dances.

"These kinds of experiences don't come easy. It takes a ton of work and dedication and money, but it builds community and it builds individuals," Kristine Handy said. She recalled how close the troupe got after a month of daily rehearsals plus a month of international travel. "It was hard to come home because we basically lived together for two months."

The members of this year's troupe are scattering, some back to high school and others off to college. A new crew will begin gathering next spring, rehearsing weekly until school lets out and then daily until the next big performance. The time and place haven't been scheduled yet, but the kids can look forward to another international locale, as well as next year's Idaho International Dance & Music Festival, held in Burley and Rexburg.

Ariel Hansen may be reached at 208-735-3376 or ariel.hansen@lee.net.

Title: Rocky Mountain Express Date: Aug. 21st, 2008 Burley-based Idaho Rocky Mountain Express Dance American Folk Ensemble took its act to Europe. PLAY »

Watch them live Visit YouTube.com and search "Idaho Rocky Mountain Express," or go to your nearest Mormon stake center at 7 p.m. Aug. 23 to watch a live simulcast of the LDS youth cultural celebration, which will include dancers from the troupe. This year's troupe: Anna Hansen Brooklynn Gunnell Camille Gunnell Diana Blauer Hayley Watterson Jessica Page Cara Hansen Kaybrie Terry Emily Silva Kyra Burch Nicole Mabey Nikelle Bair Stacy Tarbet Alex Greener Alex Larson Bill Blauer Branson Handy Brawn Baker Brent Lee Christian Hansen Kolby Beck Korbyn Karlson Scott Harris Seth Koyle Taylor Whitehead Samuel Handy And band members: Clay Handy Scott Fillmore Kristine Handy, leader Jacque Lee Elizabeth McFadden Lindsey Turner Cheryl Fillmore Kathleen Child Janet Hansen Find out more Idaho Rocky Mountain Express American Folk EnsembleVisit idahorockymountainexpress.com, or write idahoexpress@idahorockymountainexpress.com or 29 S. 150 E., Burley, ID 83318. The troupe is on hiatus until spring, and does not have any local performances planned until next summer. The organization, run by Kristine Handy and applying for a nonprofit status, began as a competitive clogging team in the 1980s, and by 1996 had received invitations to perform internationally.