April 2010 |
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Time do fly when you’re having fun – especially if that fun is dancing! And it appears that many of us are attending numerous things, as participants, teachers or spectators. Of all these, of course Spring Fling was the best. See Spring Fling. Fifty of us dancing was as good as it gets. Many of the Israeli groups are performing for Israel Independance Day – note how I misspelled that and made it clever! I see G’ville dancing all over the place, |
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The Orlando International Folk Dance Club hosted the Spring Fling on Saturday, April 3. We had 50 attendees, which was a really good number since six of the |
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[See more Spring Fling photos on pages 4 and 9.] |
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Photos by Terry Abrahams |
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At 4 PM, we stopped dancing for our high tea, which consisted of tea and other beverages along with cucumber sandwiches made by Betty Nehemias and me. Laura Nonamaker brought sliced cucumbers and tomatoes for “make your own” sandwiches. Then we danced on until 7:30 PM. We danced over 90 dances during the day and comments were heard was that it was one of the best Spring Flings ever. It looks as if we will continue to use the square dance hall for the Spring Fling because everyone loves their gorgeous wood floor. Next year, it will be the first Saturday in April again. Mark your calendars for 2011 now! |
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The day started with the food line for lunch at 11:30 AM sharp. Thank you to Donna Young for bringing matzo for people observing Passover. After our delicious lunch, we took a few tables down, pushed most of them to the sides of the room and started the dancing. We reviewed and danced almost all of the 2010 Florida Folk Dance "Camp" dances, with a much larger percentage of dances kept than usual. Then Bobby proceeded to be an excellent DJ as he kept the dances going from the request board. Even the camp dances were requested. |
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Like the Marx Brothers, the Gainesville International Folk Dancers had their day at the museum Thursday night, April 8th. The dancers were on hand for the
What an exciting two hours we all spent there! To be in the big front entrance hall with all the art work and cultural enthusiasts was a fun and exciting experience. To see all our dancers dressed ethnically and diversely was breathtaking. We looked like we felt – exhilarated. We couldn’t have given it any more enthusiasm and energy.
We settled into our performance with the easy opening dance, Stella Di Maggio. By the time An Dro Retourné began for the second dance, I realized that our sound system was going to get lost in the high reaches of the huge walls and expanses. Oh well, we’d have to make do. The Greek troupe from University of Florida that preceded us with four traditional dances had a nice simple iPod setup which blasted through the room. But Julieta, leading us in our new Croatian, Moj Dragane, took our performance to another level. We were getting into this place!
Valle Pogonishte followed and I worked to not slip and fall on any of the high leg lifts in part three. But I sure do I enjoy dancing in the Hungarian boots I had made especially for me at
Photos by Steve Littler
We brought out our own traditional Greek with Linda leading us in Miserlou. I’m ready to do that one in
We finished with the unique Goralski and brought in the crowd for some participation in the German Die Hammerschmiedsg'sellen. Everyone joining us either laughed, hollered or was ready to keep going on and on like the Energizer bunny.
We were appreciated! We’ll go back for some more someday. Thanks, Toshi, for recommending us to the event planners. And to Linda for putting together such a great sequence of dances for our Project Europa night at the museum.
Flagler Fling in Planning Stage
The Flagler Beach/Palm Coast dancers are planning to host a summer "Flagler Fling", probably on Saturday, July 10. Like last year, we hope many who come for dancing on Saturday will stay over in local dancers' homes or a motel, if you prefer. On Sunday morning, we can walk the beach or take a dip in the ocean. We can go back to Jan's to swim in the pool there and afterward go for a mid-day ethnic meal. Saturday lunch will be pot luck and it makes sense to eat first, as we did at Spring Fling in
National Folk Organization Conference
The annual conference of the National Folk Organization (NFO) was held April 8-11 in downtown
The meetings and programs on Friday were both informative and enjoyable. Bobi Ashley and Karlene Wallin presented a program, "Dancing Makes You Smarter", confirming that dancing does more to prevent Alzheimer's than many other activities, including golf and bicycling. There was an information exchange on "Technology and Quality Sound at the Best Price", moderated by Greg Lund. I made notes of recommended sound equipment for purchase. A special speaker was Rose High Bear on "Preserving Indian Culture"; you can get more information at wisdomoftheelders.org. I was very busy at the board and business meetings, since I am the secretary and my Netbook is easy to lug around.
Photo by Bobby Quibodeaux
The
Before the Saturday dance party, we saw a performance of the children's group, Suesse Fuess (Sweet Feet in German) made up of around 30 students from a charter school in
It was good to see Richard again and enjoy his enthusiasm for dance. It was tragic that we got the news of the Polish President's plane crash while we were learning Polish dances. A bonus for Bobby and me was seeing Gary Lanker Friday night for the dinner and dance party and then Tom and Linda Black from
Photo by Bobby Quibodeaux
Photo by Pat Henderson
After the NFO conference ended on Sunday, Bobby and I enjoyed five days of the entire
In March, Caroline and I made a trip to
With some doubts, I chose
One of the familiar faces was Roo Lester, who taught at Florida Folk Dance Camp 2009. She told me about an underground workshop she was holding the next day at the Portland Scandi Club. So another difficult decision had to be made: either attend the NFO workshop with Richard Schmidt or Roo’s workshop.
Photo by Gary Lanker
Roo was to teach Springleik, a Norwegian couple dance somewhat similar to Rorospols that Judith has tried to teach me without a lot of success. I chose Roo’s workshop, but first I went to the Friday banquet with Bobby and Pat. Bobby was quite happy to keep my wine glass full, since I had the GPS to get us to the Party and back to their hotel.
The Friday night party was great, with true international flavor and live music for about half of the program. (See Pat’s account in National Folk Organization Conference.) I renewed acquaintances with several people whom Caroline and I had met at Stockton Folk Dance Camp last year. Richard Schmidt taught a silly warm up with lots of shakes and bumps that everyone seemed to enjoy; but it certainly wasn’t traditional Polish. All in all it was a very good evening.
The next day, the Spingleik workshop began at 1 PM. Peter Michaelsen, who teaches fiddle at many national Scandinavian workshops, came down from
Roo did a great job of not only teaching the dance but of keeping everyone dancing, even though there were a few extra women in the 30 or so people taking the workshop. Constant changing of partners and slow, sometimes painful introduction of technique kept everyone challenged and busy all afternoon. The evening party was great fun and I discovered that, with the help of Roo and a couple of
After the trip, Bobby confided to me and the
Photo by Terry Abrahams
As we move away from
Another celebratory event in
Photos courtesy of Duquesne Tamburitzans
And lastly, Spring Fling in
Just a reminder that we do dance all summer in
Andy Pollock got sick and Ernesto watched tennis, but the rest of
Our Israeli group performed Sunday, April 25 and I helped out the
Oh, and we had a new gal come dance (international) with us last week. She’s moved here from
new coordinators. You have met them at Florida Folk Dance "Camp" and Spring Fling. They have danced with us for several years and have been a tremendous help from the first night they danced with us. See you next February.
—Marie Millet
[Susan Barach and Judy Merkt are pictured at the lower right in the Spring Fling group photo on page 9. - Ed.]
I have retired as coordinator of the Sarasota Grapevine International Folk Dancers. I have coordinated folk dance groups since 1975 and I think it's time for a change. I'm getting lazy in my old age.
On Wednesday, April 21, I performed a serious ceremony and crowned Susan Barach and Judy Merkt with tiaras as the
We have had some busy folk dance nights and some slow ones since the last newsletter. We even had to cancel the last Wednesday in February because of rain – the ground was flooded! It was the first time ever to cancel in February. That is the disadvantage of building a dance studio on your own property.
Photo by Pat Henderson
We celebrated St. Patrick's Day on March 17, which was extra special this year since it actually was
Many from our group attended the Duquesne Tamburitzans' show in
Bobby and I, along with Manuel and Palmira Mora-Vals, went to the Melbourne Greek Festival the next day and finally had a perfect day for an outdoor festival. We needed our light jackets most of the time. Then Bobby and I and Eva Gaber performed with our Israeli group for the Jewish Heritage Festival in
Photo by Fred Schockey
Photo by: Bobby Quibodeaux
Joan and Wally Washington joined Bobby and me for a mystery trip (the men did not know where we were going) to
In medical news, Phyllis Dammer received a pacemaker in late March. She is still resting and recovering and can only walk for exercise. She misses the dancing a lot.
Once again, a big "Thank you" to our contributors to this issue. Bernice Roth's article about the San Antonio Folk Dance Festival brought back a lot of memories. I first performed with the Houston International Folk Dancers in the predecessor San Antonio College (SAC) festival in the late 60's. In those days, there was no workshop, just the evening concert and an after party. In the late 80's, after Gary moved to Houston, we both participated in the SAC festival, which began including a workshop about then.
Pat Henderson was a big contributor to this issue. A few weeks ago, Pat asked whether it was too late to write an article about the Scottish Highland Games she attended in January. I suggested that she write a Culture Corner article, including the whole cultural range of the games, not limited to the dancing. Pat responded with Central Florida Scottish Highland Games 2010.
That article is one of several Culture Corner articles we have published from time to time and I would like to run more. If you have a connection with a culture that includes dancing, please consider writing a Culture Corner article about it. A Culture Corner article should include aspects of the culture such as food, music, dance, sport, customs, holidays, or celebrations. It may feature a recent event, like the Scottish Highland Games, reminiscences from the past, or general descriptions. Don’t worry if you are not an expert on the culture. Write from your own experience.– that's always authentic. —CL
I had the good fortune to be in
The Festival took place at Our Lady of the
After the workshops, there was a break for dinner and then the concert at 7:30 PM. The concert consisted of many dance groups from all over
After the concert, all the groups were invited back to the hall where we danced and joined us in doing whatever dances were on the program. The room was very crowded, but it was fun dancing with them. On Sunday morning there was a review with Sonia and Cristian, then lunch, and from 2 to 5 George Fogg taught English Country Dance.
Unfortunately, Nelda, who has run the San Antonio Folk Dance Festival and the San Antonio College Folk Dance Festival before it for a total of over 50 years, will not be able to do it any more. Some others will try to fill her shoes. I believe that prominent among them is Brenda (I don’t know her last name) who introduced Pat Henderson to folk dancing, where she met Bobby. Brenda works in
Note from Pat Henderson:
I lost contact with Brenda so I do not know her last name now. Her family name is McTrusty. She worked for the Valencia Library and was folk dancing in 1973. I started folk dancing with her some time in 1974.
Central Florida Scottish Highland Games 2010
Because of my Scottish heritage on my father's side, attendance at the Scottish Highland Games is almost mandatory. I do not attend every year, but I did go this year since my daughter, Julie Quibodeaux, decided to play in the games. The weekend started with a Scottish dance at the Hilton on Friday night. Then the games ran on Saturday and Sunday with the women's competition only on Sunday. The date was January 17 and the temperature was in the 30s in the morning, like most of January this year! So I put on my
Julie was involved with the games all day, since each contestant plays all of the seven events. She had never played the games before but she did quite well, as the more experienced women gave her tips. The events were:
1) open stone put – like shot put except you move and then throw from behind a line
2) Braeman stone put – a heavier stone than the open stone is thrown from a stationary position
3) weight for distance – a block attached to a chain is thrown for distance
4) hammer throw – a ball and chain with a wind up before the throw, for distance
5) caber toss – a tree trunk with one end wider than the other is lifted up and tossed to try to turn the end over as close to ending directly lined in front of competitor as possible
6) sheaf toss – a stuffed bag is tossed with a pitchfork over a crossbar
7) weight for height – a weight on a chain is tossed over a crossbar.
In between seeing her in these events, I explored the rest of the festival and found the Henderson Clan tent. I walked in the Parade of the Clans and held the shield with our Coat of Arms.
They fed me lunch and Julie stopped by to meet the other
There were over ten booths set up for selling food, mostly Scottish. They even had haggis, which is a type of sausage, a Scottish delicacy. Also available were forfar bridies and Scottish pies. Both are meat filled, but the forfar bridies have the dough all around, where the Scottish pies has the dough on top only. There were around 20 vendors selling everything Scottish from clothing (kilts, hats, scarves, shirts and ties) to tablecloths and other home decor. I bought a mouse pad with my
There were four areas of non-stop entertainment. On the first stage, they had continuous musical entertainment while on another they had the highland dance competition. The photo above is from that competition. In the grandstand area, they had bagpipe band competitions and the Parade of the Clans, along with the official ceremonies. On the last stage, there was Scottish dancing organized by the local Scottish dance group. I did not find them until late in the afternoon and I promptly joined them for a few dances. It was a very enjoyable day.
Photos by Pat Henderson
You all know the lyrics to Ciuleandra include the English words, “She forgot to lay the eggs.” Well, several people have determined that all of the words to Ciuleandra are actually in English, but hard to understand because they are sung with a heavy Romanian accent. A few people have attempted to decipher them. Here is a version I picked up at Stockton Folk Dance Camp in 2009. Maybe the fact that the lyrics don’t make much sense can be attributed to the fact that they were written by people who don’t actually speak English? If you have the music for Ciuleandra, try reading this while listening to the music. Enjoy!
1. While there be sheep enough, soon as Ciuleandra pays off.
Chorus: She forgot to lay the eggs. Oh, sha sho sho sha.
2. Soon as off the curb I shot, ruined a match and Jeffrey’s car. Repeat chorus.
3. Underneath Zaristra’s nose, smashed a chair and smooched a goose. Repeat chorus.
4. My daddy’s soldier’s boss. Ah, shoot! She bought a bus. Repeat chorus.
5. Dough feet and dough pie. Ah, Ciuleandra, I’m a guy. Repeat chorus.
6. Soon they shot and duped, buy gosh! Cut the soup, we got to fuss. Repeat chorus.
7. Dough feet and dough pie; lost Ciuleandra’s love, but aye. Repeat chorus.
—CL
Photo by Terry Abrahams
June 12–19 Scandia
Music and dances of
Place: Mendocino Woodlands Camp in the
Contact: Roo Lester 630-985-7192 (central time zone), Roo@ScandiaCamp.org
Information: www.scandiacampmendocino.org
July 25-31
August 1-7
With Cristian Florescu and Sonia Dion (Romanian), Steve Kotansky (Balkan), Ahmet Lüleci (Turkish), Fang-Chich Chen (Taiwanese), Denes Dreisziger (Hungarian), Radboud Koop (Russian),
Jerry Helt (American Squares and Contras),
Hilde Otterholt (Hawaiian)
Place: University of the Pacific Campus,
Contact: Jan Wright, 36676 Viola Meadows Court, Shingletown, CA 96088, 530- 474-3231, jmwright32@frontiernet.net
Information: www.folkdancecamp.org
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May 28–31 World Camp
Teachers: Michael Ginsburg – Balkan, Joe Graziosi – Greek, Steve Kotansky – Macedonian, Ahmet Lüleci – Turkish, Iliana Bozhanova – Bulgaria
Place: Iroquois Springs,
Times: 4:30 PM Friday to “by breakfast” Monday
Price: adult, full camp – $390 before May 21.
Contact: World Camp c/o Ahmet Lüleci,
Information: www.worldcamp.us
July 22 – August 1 Folkmoot
Events include a Grand Opening, performances, workshops, a 5K Run/Walk, an International Festival Day, the Parade of Nations and a Candlelight Closing
Place: several towns in western
Contact: Folkmoot
Information: www.folkmootusa.org;
email through the web site
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August 15–21 Mainewoods Dance
Teachers: Tom Bozigian – Armenian, Ann Smith – Scottish; Loui Tucker - Israeli
August 22–28 Mainewoods Dance
Teachers:
August 29–September 4 Mainewoods Dance Camp Week 3
Teachers: Mihai David – Romanian, Lee Otterholt – Balkan and Beyond, Richard Schmidt – Polish
Place:
Price: Regular adult – $450 to $660 per person; also various discounted fees
Contact: Helen Blum, Mainewoods Dance Camp,
Information: www.mainewoodsdancecamp.org
May 8
with
Times: Noon–10 PM
Price: $25 after April 10
Contact: Pam Russo Phone: 386-490-4946, stcloudecd@yahoo.com; Catie Condran Geist Phone: 321-427-3587, catiegeist@att.net
June 27 – July 4 Nordic Fiddles and Feet
Dances from
Place:
Contact: NFF,
Information: www.nordicfiddlesandfeet.org
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Please note: The Florida Folk Dancer prints information on folk dance tours, camps and other events that may be of interest to our readers. This does not imply an endorsement or recommendation of any tour or camp (except our own FFDC events!).
Selected tours are listed in each newsletter. A more extensive list of tours can be found in the calendar on the FFDC website.
October 10–22 Greece and Crete Tour
Optional Santorini extension, October 21-24
A Jim Gold Tour, led by Jim Gold and Lee Otterholt
Includes a five-day tour of classical Greek sites such as Delphi and Olympia, a four-day Greek Island cruise, and plenty of dancing.
Please note: the dates and itinerary for this tour were changed just after the last (February) Florida Folk Dancer was published.
Information on all Jim Gold tours: www.jimgold.com
Contact: Jim Gold International, 497 Cumberland Avenue, Teaneck, NJ 07666; 201-836-0362, jimgold@jimgold.com
September 10 –12 Mountain Playshop
with Jim Gold
Place: YMCA Blue Ridge Assembly conference center,
Normal registration June 21 – August 27
Contact: info@mountainplayshop.org or email via the website
Information: www.mountainplayshop.org
November 28 – December 04
with Richard Schmidt
Place:
Contact: Richard Schmidt, 514-524-6368, richard@folkdance.ca
Information: www.folkdance.ca/
October 2 Fall Fling
A fun day of all request dancing, plus potluck lunch and supper, on the hardwood floor of the Historic Community House
Sponsored by the
Place:
Time 11 AM – 10 PM
Contact: John Daly, 321-482-6818, john@dalypreservation.com
October 15 – 17 Sharpes Assembly
English Country Dance weekend
with guest caller Michael Barraclough
and music by Full Circle band
Place:
Contact: Catie Geist, 321-427-3587, catiegeist@att.net
Information: www.dancefl.us/ecd/index.shtml
September 3 – 6 Karmiel
Weekend with Dany Benshalom and Ruthy Slann
Place:
Contact: Ruthy Slann, 864-650-2009, kibbutz@slann.com
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August 3 - 15, 2010 Bulgarian Tour
Led by Jim Gold
Includes the weekend Koprivshtitsa Folk Festival, held once every five years.
Information: www.jimgold.com/Bulgaria2010.htm
Contact: Jim Gold International, 201-836-0362, jimgold@jimgold.com
Several FFDC dancers, including Pat Henderson and Bobby Quibodeaux, and Jack and Linda Seltzer, are taking this Bulgarian tour.
Return Address:
Florida Folk Dancer
1963 S. Lake Reedy Blvd.
Frostproof, FL 33843
USA
FIRST CLASS
FLORIDA FOLK DANCER
Florida Folk Dancer is published six to eight times a year by the Florida Folk Dance Council, Inc., a non-profit corporation whose purpose is to further knowledge, performance, and recreational enjoyment of International Folk Dance.
2010 FFDC OFFICERS:
President: Terry Abrahams
813-234-1231
VP: Pat Henderson
407-275-6247 henderp@bellsouth.net
Secretary/Treasurer: John Daly
321-482-6818
Historian: Dan Lampert
PO Box 151719
Altamonte Springs, FL 32715
Newsletter Editor: Caroline Lanker
1963 S. Lake Reedy Blvd.
Frostproof, FL 33843
863-635-9366
Submissions: Send event notices for the calendar or the newsletter to Pat Henderson. Send all other newsletter submissions to the Editor.
Copyright: Articles in the Florida Folk Dancer are copyright by the Florida Folk Dance Council, Inc., or by their individual authors.
Subscriptions for printed and mailed copies are $15 per year per person ($20 per family) and include membership in the Florida Folk Dance Council. Membership without printed newsletters is $10 per person or $15 per family. The membership year runs from one annual Florida Folk Dance 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.
FFDC Website: www.folkdance.org