COEUR d'ALENE - Gosia Staszewska gracefully moved across the gym floor Friday at Lakes Magnet Middle School.

It was just after 8 a.m., but not too early for more than 600 middle school students to pay rapt attention to the 11-year-old Gosia.

She leapt, twirled, tumbled, and at times, fluidly flipped her way across the floor, alternating between hands and feet in graceful arcs.

"In Poland, gymnastics is sometimes considered more than just a sport," said Dave Eubanks, Lakes Middle School teacher, to the students in the bleachers. "It is an art form that is revered."

Gosia's performance for her schoolmates was a snippet of what's to come next weekend at Lakes Middle School, when they host their second Multicultural Fair from 10 a.m. to 2 p.m. Saturday, April 16. Admission is free.

The event celebrates various cultures and customs by bringing people from throughout the region together to share traditional music, food, clothing, arts, crafts, dance and folklore.

Gosia's sister Magda, 12, also performed Friday at Lakes, as did several other talent groups during the Multicultural Fair preview.

The Texas Road House line dancers stepped, shuffled and turned, summoning the spirit of the American cowboy for the middle school student audience.

"When we dance, we dance for others," said Coeur d'Alene tribal member, Quanah Matheson, before launching into a traditional dance, and then leading students through a "round dance."

Next, a pair of young musicians from Coeur d'Alene Rock School did their thing. With Colby Acuff, 14, performing vocals and drums; Hayden Spivey, 15, on lead guitar; and rock school director Kent Nelson on bass, the group blasted through covers of songs by Guns N' Roses and Bachman Turner Overdrive.

Lakes principal Chris Hammons stepped in and grabbed the microphone, performing vocals for a cover of Bryan Adams' hit, "Summer of '69."

The upcoming Multicultural Fair will offer stage performances by the groups that performed Friday as well as displays by bagpipers, a belly dancer, a Canadian champion yodeler and more.

The lineup of countries and cultures that will be represented includes American Pioneers, The Coeur d'Alene Tribe, Britain, Ireland, Bolivia, Egypt, Germany, Norway, Ukraine, Italy, the Philippines, Indonesia, Russia, Israel, Hungary, Japan, France, and Mexico.

Vendor booths will be selling a plethora of ethnic food selections: Mexican, Italian, Chinese, Irish, Japanese and German.

Information: 667-4544