|
 |
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
Gainesville Performs at Spring Garden Festival
by Julieta Brambila
The Gainesville International Folk Dancers had a great time performing on March 24 at the Kanapaha Botanical Gardens’ annual Spring Garden Festival. Although there was no stage, the beautiful location was unforgettable; we danced under the cooling shade of a large and twisted live oak tree. The audience clapped, children played on the low branches of the tree, and the dancers ran out of breath due to jumping, running, and laughing.
A puzzling event took place that, although awkward, will always be remembered. A tall foreign-born man became upset, talked to me (photographing the dances), and left, apparently because we were doing an authentic dance from his country with authentic music but we were not from the country represented. Maybe he left because he became suddenly nostalgic. I can only say that each folk dancer and each audience member has a different emotional response to the beautiful traditional music that we dance to.
The dancers in this performance were Arlene, June, Mirelle, Leah, Margaret, Linda, Peggy, Charles, Stefan, Gary, Jack, and John. It was Mirelle's and Leah's first time performing - great job!
|
|
|
 |
|
|
|
 |
|
|
 |
|
|
|
 |
|
|
|
Gainesville Performers: above, L to R - Jean, John, Mirelle, Charles; left - Jean, Leah, Mirelle, John
Photos by Julieta Brambila
|
|
|
|
Return to Contents
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
President's Letter
Camp 2008 is only 10 months away - another exciting weekend of learning new dances and enjoying old favorites. Most of our members agreed that the wooden floor at Camp Crystal Lake outweighed any disadvantages. And the freedom to fix outstanding meals didn't hurt, either. However, many tasks that staff at the Silver Springs camp performed for us now have to be done by us.
We've learned a lot these last two years and have a pretty good handle on the tasks which have to be done. And we all need to step up and help out. There will be lots of opportunities for volunteers next year. Many hands make light work, and I'm sure it will work out.
Jean Murray and I just returned from helping with the National Agility Trials, put on each year by the American Kennel Club. For those who don't know, Jean is the author of one of the specialty software packages used to score competition at these events. She has been responsible for all the scoring for the National Trials the last few years. This experience helps me put into perspective our own camp. The AKC trials bring together not 100 people, but 1000, for three days of intense competition.
It works because huge numbers of members volunteer to make it happen. They come at their own expense and work for hours on end doing thankless tasks. We had people more used to dressing in expensive suits who were standing in the cold rain directing people to parking places. Somehow, it renewed my faith in people, and in our ability to make our own camp work smoothly without overworking any one group of people.
See you next month.
John
Let it be a Dance……Wedding
by Mary Jean Linn
On March 10, 2007, Bill Byars and I were married in Penney Farms, Florida. We met on the dance floor in Gainesville five years ago. After the church ceremony, the reception, held nearby, included many types of dancing and dancers. The Full Circle band played contras, waltzes, swing and international folk dances throughout the evening. Dancers came from Pensacola to Melbourne and places in between as well as from Richmond, Virginia and New York State. Some of the guests who had never danced before joined in on the circle and contra dances called by Tara Bolker. It was a wonderful time.
Thank you to all the dancers who came to celebrate with us. We will be relocating from Gainesville to the Orlando area later in May so we will want to check out the dancing there.
Mary Jean Linn and Bill Byars
Dancing at Wedding Reception
Orlando International Folk Dance Club
by Pat Henderson
Our group had a big month in March. Many of us traveled to Melbourne and joined some of the Melbourne dancers for dinner and a performance by the Tamburitzans. The show was exceptional this year. They featured several men's energetic dances and even incorporated jump rope with dance - incredible. On March 16, Bobby and I along with Kelly and Lynda Fagan danced with Gainesville group. We were delighted to see Raluca again who was here for a short visit.
Joy Herndon and Phyllis Dammer tap danced their way to fame in a variety show for their retirement community, Fairways. They were both gorgeous in the chorus line picture that was published in the Fairways Eagle Newspaper.
While they were dancing up a storm, Bobby and I headed out west to Salt Lake City for the NFO (National Folk Organization) Conference and to do a little skiing before the snow melted. The conference turned out to be better than the skiing, since we had no new snow until the moment we walked out of our hotel to head home! I was so impressed with the conference that I am writing a separate article about it for the newsletter.
On Thursday, March 29, the day after Bobby and I returned, our group hosted the Friendly Folk Dancers. We started the evening with a pot luck dinner and then the group performed two of their suites: “In Gandhi's Footsteps” and the “What God Has Joined Together” wedding suite. The group's message, to promote world peace through dance,
was very evident. They shared several dances with our group and we shared two great dances from the NFO conference with them. We were happy to see Caroline Lanker again, since she toured with the group. Caroline’s daughter, Nancy Williams, came to dance with us, too. Bobby and I hosted seven of the performers overnight and Caroline stayed at Nancy's home in the Orlando area.
Ending on a sad note, I have to tell a strange story. Last October on the folk dance Greek trip, we had a companion cruise ship, the Sea Diamond, that seemed to beat us to every port. Our group’s joke was that next time we should travel on the Sea Diamond. Now the Sea Diamond lies in the waters off Santorini where I took the photo at left
Friendly FolkDancers Sarah Mandolang (formerly from Tallahassee), Caroline Lanker, et al, in Balkan-style costumes to perform "What God Has Joined" medley in Orlando
Photo by Bobby Quibodeaux
Friendly FolkDancers Performing "In Gandhi's Footsteps" Medley in Dunedin
Photo by Rae Hoopes
On Tour with the Friendly FolkDancers
by Caroline Lanker
What an experience it was to go on tour with the Friendly Folk Dancers! They are a bunch of folks who belong to the Religious Society of Friends (Quakers) and do international folk dancing for world peace. I am a Friend and had heard of the Friendly FolkDancers years ago. But I didn’t know that they are not a group of dancers from one place, who dance together regularly, but Friends from all over. They do one or two tours a year, with different groups of dancers. When I found out they wanted to come to Florida and I could dance with them, I signed up.
There were eight of us and a ninth joined for the final weekend. I had never met any of the others and they had never all danced together as a group, but after a day and a half of rehearsal, we did eight performances in nine days. Our first performance was in Tampa. See Tampa Travails. Later in the week, we danced at Pat and Bobby’s - see Orlando International Folk Dance Club.
Friendly FolkDancers Performing Debka Oud in "Shalom, Salaam, Peace" Medley in Dunedin
Two performances were at nursing homes. In those, we did a lot of “dances” with arm motions, so that the many people in wheelchairs could join in. At one nursing home, we were told that a woman the activities director had “never seen do anything” was clapping her hands and mouthing the words to our songs.
Our Dunedin performance was in the Scottish American hall and some people there were Scottish dancers, so we did Gay Gordons with the audience.
I can’t say we were great dancers, but that wasn’t the point. We illustrated our concern for world peace by performing dances from different sides of several wars. The audience participation part of the program got everyone involved. And I mean everyone! In Tampa, a four-year-old and a woman in a wheelchair were included. In Dunedin, a handicapped young man, who walks with difficulty with a cane, put down his cane and danced with us. No, we did not perform a miracle cure. He used the cane again after the dancing. But it was amazing to see how well he could dance and how much fun he was having!
Friendly FolkDancers in Northern European-style Costume in "No Axis, Only Allies" Suite
Photos on this page by Rae Hoopes
Friendly FolkDancers, Audience Participation in Dunedin
following weekend is the Orlando Israeli workshop. (In between all the dancing, I’m heading down to my fencing coach’s 90th birthday party next weekend.) Never a dull dancing moment! Don’t forget to put the Spring Fling on your calendar. May 5 - Tampa! Bye – and Dance-a-lot!
Tampa Travails
by Terry Abrahams
Hi everyone. A late Happy Passover, a late Happy Easter, a late Happy Spring Break ~ just be Happy! I have just had a very happy month, as a group of us wrote a full blown musical comedy Seder. It “happened” last night, there were 110 people in attendance, and except that we ate so late a lot of people went home, the “show” itself went very well. What we did was write silly stuff and songs around the real prayers that are to be said at a Seder, explaining the Exodus, etc. in our own way. We named it Spamalot, and did some Camelot/Spamalot stuff as well as spoofing the popular reality shows, such as in “Plague or no Plague”. Since I haven’t been writing shows anymore, and only do my one little song at camp, this was quite a thrill for me. The writing group has been meeting twice a week for a couple of months, I was the scribe, so always had revisions to make on the script; we had props, yada yada, so in a way, today is a relief! So now back to real life.
On the dance side of life (did any of you see Spamalot? “Always Look on the Bright Side of Life” was such a fun song), I went to Gainesville, to dance with Daniel Sandu. I thought I was going to the Saturday afternoon workshop and evening party/review, but they had cancelled the evening activity. Everyone in Florida was leaving Florida; I drove 40 mph for 3 ½ hours to dance 1 ½ hours! But the 3 dances I learned were great. It was good seeing him again. I’m sorry I missed him the last time he was G’ville. He has a goal to get young people back into dancing and teaches what he calls Romanian Fusion, which I liked, and seems to be working for him. He’s teaching all over the world now. Whatever works to keep folk dancing alive, right?
Judith, Ernesto, Nil, Kevin, and I also went to see Caroline’s Friendly FolkDancers perform in Tampa. Nil was the Tampa coordinator. They were just a lovely group – they did little suites of dances combining countries at odds, together, suggesting that dance be a means to peace. Very nice, clever costuming, good choice of dances. We danced a little with them, too, and finished the evening off at a contra dance.
I’m looking forward to the Hungarian performance, hope a lot of you have signed up to help them in their tour. Andi, Ursula and I are going to Rang Tang; the
Reflections on Dance
by Dan Lampert
First, an observation. On April 4, I was invited to the Orlando Museum of Art for a social gathering. A group of artists had created art that you can “walk through”. Images and messages were painted on doors (full-size doors on hinges), and guests walked around them, through them, looking at them close up and far away. In the center of the room, one door was laying on its side. Guests were encouraged to write their names on the door, and then, next to their name, to hammer a “nail” into the door. I realized this type of art is “participatory” art, and therefore, has a greater chance of affecting the onlooker. But then, I suddenly thought about dancing! I realized that dancing is a form of “participatory art”, too - - but it’s a lot more interactive! How lucky are we to be involved in dancing?!
Second, a question. In the USA, few men dance. This is a fact. It’s so pervasive, that one might draw the conclusion that men are just not “wired” for dancing. Of course, there are exceptions, but in general, American men tend to be macho and not graceful. Are dancing and “male-ness” at odds?
I think I can prove this to be false. Consider this - we know from international folk dancing that men have a major role in the dancing of some cultures. In Greece, it’s common for men to dance “shoulder to shoulder” and move aggressively around the circle. In some Latin countries, an equal number of men and women learn salsa and merengue from an early age. So, somehow, the culture in the USA seems to be different... it dissuades men from dancing. And my question to you is - how does life in the USA do this? What aspect(s) of American culture discourage men from dancing? Write to me. I’d like to hear your ideas. My email is dan@dlc2.com.
Daniel Sandu Workshop
by Julieta Brambila and Joyce Dewsbury
Daniel Sandu, a Romanian dancer and a superb teacher, came from Amsterdam to Gainesville for a workshop on March 30th through April 1st. Margaret organized this workshop and Stefan helped it succeed. Daniel taught traditional Romanian dances as well as Roma dances, in which we learned new steps to improvise with.
Terry, John and a Flamenco Dancer
Photos by Julieta Brambila
The music was fantastic. Warming up (body and mind) was done to the new "Romanian Gypsy Fusion" type of music, a blend of Roma energy with a definite Romanian vein, all set to a modern Hip Hop-like musical beat. We learned from Daniel that this new music is taking Europe like an unstoppable storm and is helping attract young people to traditional dance movements, making folk dance part of their life without noticing.
As on his visit last year, Daniel taught some amazing dances, ranging from easy to very difficult. Over thirty people who showed up during the three days and the energy was very high and contagious. We’ll depend on Margaret and Stefan to review the dances and brush us all up on the styling.
We thank Terry for bringing, all the way from Tampa, her smile and energy to encourage other Florida folk dancers to join us in future workshops.
Gainesville News
by Joyce Dewsbury
We are still talking about Florida Folk Dance Camp in February. The dances were wonderful and Daniela Ivanova was a terrific teacher. Our group has been doing some of the dances learned at camp and enjoying them. Personally, I want to mention how much I enjoyed seeing all of you there. I had not been to a camp in about five years and was very glad I got to attend this year.
As a part of the opening of the Roma exhibit at the Smathers Library at the University of Florida, there was an afternoon of dance and a band that played gypsy music. Margaret and Stefan were among the featured dancers and they did a lively and splendid performance of Romanian dances.
In February, I wrote about June clogging with the Hogtown Heelers and talking me into joining them. After only three classes I bought the special clogging shoes. It is so much fun!
National Folk Organization Conference 2007
by Pat Henderson
I have been a member of the National Folk Organization (NFO) since its beginnings in 1986, but had never attended their annual conference until this year. It was different going to a dance event and talking about dance more than dancing. Bobby and I were the only attendees from the southeast US.
To fill you in on the history and purpose of NFO, "The NFO was organized to unite individuals and organizations that support folk arts in the United States. Membership includes members of recreational folk dance and music groups, performing ensembles, researchers, choreographers, managers, teachers, foundations, institutions, camps, community ethnic festivals, and international festivals that host folk ensembles from abroad." It was started by Vyts Beliajus along with Mary Bee Jensen, who started the BYU Folk Dancers, and DeWayne Young, among others. Vonnie Brown was president from 2000-2004 and Roo Lester is very active in the organization. We saw Roo, met Mary Bee and also Ron Houston, the organizer of the Society of Folk Dance Historians. We met some famous movers and shakers in the folk dance world such as Marianne Taylor, Dick Oakes and Sanna Longden.
At BYU, we had a banquet and then an unbelievable dance party and performance with the BYU Dancers in their rehearsal room which seemed as big as a football field with mirrors on two sides. The dancers performed segments of their show in full costume. In between segments, we danced to the local folk dance band while the performers changed costumes for their next segment. They performed Romanian, Irish, Indian, American Clogging, Czech and Polish to our delight. Their quality and enthusiasm is up there with the Tamburitzans. This was a perfect place for the NFO Conference with the BYU Dancers and the home of one of the founders. Bobby and I decided to go because of the location and because Yves Moreau was going to be there teaching some dances. Although he had only about three hours of teaching time, he presented ten dances from Bulgaria and elsewhere. He was just as great as I remember him from our camp. It turns out that our favorite dances are Macedonian and Albanian. Bobby will teach them at Spring Fling for everyone's enjoyment.
BYU students doing the Romanian Kotsari
Dance Party at BYU
Photos by Pat Henderson
The main theme of the conference was archiving of folk dance materials which culminated with a lecture at the BYU Library. We saw an entire floor designated as the Music and Dance Library with equipment for making CDs from most records, tapes and CDs in the collection, including 78s.
Sarasota Grapevine Dancers
by Marie Millet
It has been great to have the dancers from the far north dancing with us this winter, but now we are saying "goodbye" to many of them. Nancy Wilusz will be returning to Minnesota and Andi's last night with us will be May 2nd. Hope I can remember some of the fun dances they've taught when they are out of sight. We will continue to dance through the summer in Sarasota. Do come.
We are looking forward to dancing with Shlomo Bachar at his workshop here in Sarasota April 28th.
April 28 Shlomo Bachar Workshops
Place: Rosemary Court, 810 Central Ave., Sarasota 34236
Time: Two workshops, 10:30 AM until 12 noon and 1:30 PM to 3 PM. Contact is Estrella Engelhardt 941 923-0218 .
Price: $20 for each workshop or $30 for two.
Contact: Estrella Englehardt, 94l 923-02l8 between 8:30 AM and 8 PM; email: estrella2@comcast.net
April 20-22 Rang Tang
Miroslav “Bata” Marcetic teaching Serbian dances.
Bulgarian music by the Zelyaskov Family at the evening parties.
Place: Memorial Drive Presbyterian Church, 5240 Memorial Drive, Stone Mountain GA 30083.
Schedule: Friday 7:30 PM – midnight; Saturday: 8:30 AM – midnight, Sunday 9:30 AM – 1 PM. Breakfasts are provided.
Price: $90 if registering after 4/13. $60 if you come from over 300 miles away or are a full time high school or undergrad student.
Contact: Liz Nunan, 404-292-7176;
email liznunan@hotmail.com or
Mary Turlington 770-270-5884; email
maryturl@juno.com.
Saturday, April 28 Scandinavian Dance Workshop
Kate Jackson Rec Center, Anderson Park, 821 S Rome Ave., Tampa.
Time: 12:45 to 4:30 PM
Price: $5
This workshop is taught by Judith Baizan. Participants should be comfortable with basic hambo, polska, and bakmes turns. Please register in advance: judithbaizan@verizon.net or 813 254-3359.
My Baklava--the Rest of the Story
by Pat Henderson
Several years ago, I developed a recipe for making baklava and brought some to camp a few times. I decided to bring it this year for the Sunday night Bulgarian party. Before camp, Bobby and I picked up Daniela at the Orlando Airport and she spent Thursday night with us. She noticed that I had made baklava to bring and I asked her if it was common in Bulgaria. Of course, she said that it was. It is even called baklava.
I shared with her my method of making it by alternating only 4 layers of nuts and phyllo dough and then cutting it before baking. I pour one cup of olive oil before baking and that's it--baklava in 30 minutes or less. To my surprise, she said that this is how they make it in Bulgaria. On Sunday, when she sampled my baklava, she confirmed that I have been making Bulgarian baklava all these years. No wonder, I did not taste any baklava in Greece that I liked as much as my "Bulgarian" baklava!
From the Editor
Julieta Brambila sent the picture above, which she took while visiting a botanical garden in Roanoke, VA in May 2006. She wondered if anyone knows whom this license plate belongs to.
Most of my news is in On Tour with the Friendly Folk Dancers. As you know, this newsletter is late, due to my being on tour and other things, including getting my income tax return mailed before April 17. I hope to get back on track in May and June. Or maybe combine those issues? That may depend on how much material is submitted for May. If you have May events to publicize but didn’t get them in the April issue, please send that information ASAP, as that may affect the May/June publication schedule.
Gary and I dance whenever and wherever we can. On April 11, we made it to Judith’s weekly Scandinavian class at Kate Jackson Recreation Center in Tampa. We’re looking forward to Spring Fling. Thanks, Tampa, for taking on that event. - CL
Please note: The Florida Folk Dancer prints information on folk dance tours which may be of interest to our readers. This does not imply an endorsement or recommendation of any tour.
May 12-13 Mayfair Ball
Presented by The Central Florida English Dancers
Featuring Jacqueline Schwab (from Lexington, MA)
With music by Full Circle (from Jacksonville, FL)
Place: Saint Cloud Senior Citizen Center, 3101 17th Street, St. Cloud, FL
Time: Saturday May 12 Workshops 12:30-4:30 PM, Ball 7:00-10:30 PM; Sunday, May 13 Breakfast and more dancing 9 AM - 12 noon
Price: $25 by 4/14/07, $30 after
Checks made out to Curtis Stulting and mailed to:
115 Avenham Drive, Deland, FL 32724
October 5-7 Sharpes Assembly English Country Dance Weekend
Place: Kenilworth Lodge, Sebring, FL
Guest teacher and caller: Brad Foster from Amherst, MA, Executive and Artistic Director of the Country Dance and Song Society
Music by Full Circle
More information at http://chagalo.org/ecd/
August 10-19 Folklore and Heritage Tour in Slovakia, Ukraine and Hungary
Dance classes, meetings with village groups, folk festival, museums, historical sites. Organizers: 3ART Ltd., Ervin Varga, Slovakia www.folkloretrip.com e-mail: 3art@folkloretrip.com
U.S.A. contact: Vonnie R. Brown, 1717 Applewood Road, Baton Rouge, LA 70808 e-mail: vrbfolk@cox.net tel/fax: 225 / 766-8750
Saturday, May 5 Spring Fling
Place: Kate Jackson Recreation Center, Anderson Park, 821 S Rome Ave., Tampa, FL (directions in next issue) Wood floor!
Time: 10 AM to 7 PM
Price: $5 and bring a lunch dish to share
April 28 - 29 Israeli Dance Workshop
Guest teacher: Ruthy Slann
Place: Jewish Community Center of Greater Orlando 851 N. Maitland Ave. Maitland, FL 32751
Schedule: Saturday teaching and party 7:30 PM - 11:30 PM; Sunday teaching 9 AM - 5 PM, followed by potluck and request dancing
Price: $50 for the whole workshop
Contact: Debbie Meitin 407-257-9147; email dmeitin@cfl.rr.com
May 4-6 (First Annual) Tsiki Tsiki Weekend
Greek folk dance workshops and parties, with dance directors and judges from across the nation.
Place: Atlanta, GA, various venues. Official hotel is Atlanta Marriott Century Center 2000 Century Blvd. NE, Atlanta, GA 30345, (404) 325-0000.
Schedule: Registration at hotel Friday 8-9:30 PM and Saturday 8 – 9 AM, or pre-register. Saturday: five workshops in four time slots. Friday and Saturday night parties and a Sunday afternoon pool party.
One of the teachers is Joe Graziosi and workshops feature dances from Macedonia; Kalymnos, Thrace, and Pontos and a question and answer workshop.
Price: Adult package: $105, student (under 21) package $95; a la carte prices available.
Contact: Sandy Papadopoulos, sandypap@aol.com, (678) 860-6564 for more information and pre-registration. Or Dimitri Papadimitriou, djpgreek@yahoo.com, (404) 918-1538. A flyer with more information, is available from the FFD editor.
Return Address:
FFDC Newsletter Editor
38 St. Andrews Ct.
Palm Coast, FL 32137
USA
FIRST CLASS
FLORIDA FOLK DANCER
Florida Folk Dancer is a monthly publication of the Florida Folk Dance Council, Inc., a non-profit corporation whose purpose is to further knowledge, performance, and recreational enjoyment of International Folk Dance.
2007 FFDC OFFICERS:
President: John Daly
321-482-6818
jdaly@palmnet.net
VP: Fannie Salerno
772-664-0580
fansale@aol.com
Treasurer: Jan Lathi
386-447-8396
amarjan1@bellsouth.net
Secretary: Willa Davidsohn
321-254-7090
annona2@dialup4less.com
Historian: Dan Lampert
PO Box 151719
Altamonte Springs, FL 32715
dan@dlc2.com
Newsletter Editor: Caroline Lanker
1963 S. Lake Reedy Blvd.
Frostproof, FL 33843
863-635-9366
lanker2@attglobal.net
Submissions: Send all newsletter submissions to the Editor during the last week of the month, to be published the first week of the next month. Electronic submissions are preferred.
Copyright: Articles in the Florida Folk Dancer are copyright by the Florida Folk Dance Council, Inc., or by their individual authors.
Subscriptions are $15 per year and include membership in the Florida Folk Dance Council. The membership year runs from one Annual Camp (usually February) to the next. The newsletter is posted on the FFDC website and members with e-mail addresses are notified of its availability. Subscribers/members can also request printed copies to be mailed to them.
FFDC Website: www.folkdance.org
