Group Photo

Front row: Vicki Kulifay, Diane Baker, Bob Gutin, Ron Fico, Lynda Fagan, Kelly Fagan, Chelley Gutin, Tim Sneed; second seated row: Yuliyan Yordanov, Andy Taylor-Blenis, Kay Afonso, Terry Abrahams, Pat Pieratte,  Tina Fagan,  Palmira Mora-Vals, Ruth Ann Fay, Pat Henderson, Caroline Lanker;

front standing row: Kay Demos,  June Morse, Kathleen Fico, Delores Brooks, Andi Kapplin, Kathryn Zabetakis,  Doris Wolman, Jean Murray, Aurora Frew, Laura Nonamaker, Ann Robinson, Ursula Tison, Bernice Roth, Delores Lustig,  Nicki Wise, Susan Barach, Judith Merkt, Ruth Schwartz;

standing behind:  Virginia Marszal, David Digby, John Daly, David Davia, Gary Lanker, Jenneine Lambert, Lou Davia, Thomas Morse (waving), Sue Gordon (behind Andi Kapplin), Julius Horvath, Barbara Wallk, Bill Dovhey, Willa Davidsohn, Harry Khamis, Judith Baizan, Jim Osborn, Fannie  Salerno, Sara Osborn, Ernesto Baizan, Jack Seltzer, Richard Eddy, Juanita Schockey, Linda Seltzer, Bobby Quibodeaux, Jan Lathi, John Ward, Andy Pollock, Liz Nunan, Esther Mazor (behind Ursula), Christine Vincent, Marian Baum, Manuel Mora-Vals, Claudia Terrence,  Jan Arcari, Bonnie Olson,  Dorothy Archer, Josif Dimitrievski, Donna Young, Kathy Dimitrievski, Mary Jean Linn, Linda Larsen, Thomas Black. 78 dancers are shown.

Photo by Jean Marszal

Camp Song 2012

by Terry Abrahams

To the tune  of “Camelot”

It’s  2012 and we’re back in Orlando.

I must say that it is the perfect spot.

We sang we danced and ate; we had an auction

And bid a lot!

Andy T and Yuli were delightful.

We loved the way they smiled and how they taught.

Bulgarian and Portuguese and Scottish

We gave a shot.

Thanks a lot, thanks a lot.

I’m hoping that you’re having fun.

Thanks a lot, thanks a lot

To those who helped me get things done.

So now our dancing time is almost over,

I leave you with this one important thought.

Please do not shed a tear;

We’ll all be back next year. 

So just for now I will say “Ciao,”

And end with Thanks A Lot!

Ruth Ann Fay's Short Bread Recipe

1 pound softened, unsalted butter

1 1/4 cup confectioners' sugar

2 tbsp cornstarch

4 cups flour

Cream butter and sugar; fold in flour and cornstarch. (I prefer to hand mix with a wooden spoon if room temperature is high enough and butter is soft enough. If you use a beater, you'll add more air, cookies will be higher and crumblier.)

Spread (don't press) in 10"x14" pan with butter papers or wax paper. (Do not pre-grease pan.)

Cut into squares, decorate with fork.

Bake at 275°F for 1½- 2 hours; test with toothpick.

Recut squares. I make the squares bite size because they crumble at first bite, and they are very rich.

Presidents' Weekend 2012

by Jack Seltzer

Another one for the memory book! What more can you say about doing Portuguese, Bulgarian, and Scottish continuously for 68 hours – the fastest folkdance workshop I can remember attending!

Seemed as if every time I looked around I was busy doing something – a spirited Portuguese Malhao with lots of claps, one-two-threes to the left and right or a Scottish Old Nick’s Lumber Room with lots of smiles to your partner, reels either up/down or across the set and circles left and right or Bulgarian crossing legs on downbeats and swinging arms in Ravno Oro. Not one dance should be left unlearned.

Wow, what a blast! Food was great.  The leaders thought of everything.  We didn’t have time to worry about anything. What a camp! Perfect hotel – rooms were great!

Some more memories: warming up at 8:30 every morning to some Scottish sounds with Andy Taylor-Blenis; yelling eiya or tiya in “Boyaliysko” with Yulian; hot tubbing it outside in between everything inside.

From all the Gainesville folks who attended (John Ward, Gary and Sharon Dockter, and Linda and me), thanks so much to the two teachers, Yulian and Andy Taylor-Blenis, to  John Daly for taking care of the books and paying the bills, to Tony and Kay for making fresh Portuguese snacks, to Terry for keeping everything humming, to Andy Pollock for giving us the sounds so efficiently (not an easy job keeping up with all the stopping & starting at the right place in the music and taking requests from about eighty folks from all over!), and to all those who worked behind the scenes.

Florida Festival Fun 2012

by Diane Baker

[Editor’s note: Diane submitted the following article about our Presidents’ Weekend to Let’s Dance, the magazine of the Folk Dance Federation of California.]

I couldn’t stop dancing when the Laguna festival ended, so I booked a flight to Orlando for the Florida Presidents’ Weekend Camp February 17-20.  Andy Taylor-Blenis taught Portuguese and Scottish; Yulian Yordonov taught Bulgarian.  We danced international for four glorious days.

All the action took place at the Holiday Inn Main Gate East in Kissimmee.  And what a lot of action!  When not dancing, we were eating scrumptious meals and snacks, listening to cultural talks, jumping in the pool, bidding on auction items, buying folkdance buttons and occasionally sleeping. 

President Terry Abrahams and festival chairpersons Pat Henderson and Bobby Quibodeaux welcomed the crowd from all over Florida plus Vancouver, Canada, Washington State, Ohio, North Carolina and other states.

Andy-boy Pollock (there were three Andys in camp) played the music and set up the projector for Yuli’s photos of his family and village in Lovech region of Bulgaria. Yuli shared a vivid photo of the brass band that “took away” his favorite aunt on her wedding day. 

The auction benefited the Olga Princi Memorial Scholarship fund.  One of the imaginative auction items was to be introduced with trumpet fanfare at the evening’s party.

I could become a dance camp gypsy and wander from festival to festival!

Yulian Yordanov entering the dance hall to a fanfare by heralds Aurora Frew and David Davia, sponsored by a generous donor to the Olga Prindi Scholarship Fund.

Photo by Caroline Lanker

Tony and Kay Afonso with Portuguese snacks.

Photo by Pat Henderson

From the Editor

The FFDC President's Weekend was, of course, the event of the winter. Here are a few of the things that stood out in my mind: first, our excellent teachers: Yuliyan Yordanov doing mostly Bulgarian and Andy Taylor-Blenis teaching Scottish and Portuguese.

There were some new and resurrected events. Kathy Dimitrievski led a singing session, accompanied by her husband Josif on the drum. Yuliyan joined in on a borrowed accordion. The live auction gave us some good laughs and raised money for the Olga Princi Memorial Scholarship Fund.

Andy Taylor-Blenis got our blood flowing each morning with warm-up exercises and also gave us a session of chair exercises.

Another highlight for me was meeting people who came from far and wide to dance with us. If you attended camp, I hope you had a chance to visit with some of them. Diane Baker came from California for the second year in a row. Newcomers to our "camp" were Linda Larsen and Thomas Black from Tonasket, WA; Bill Dovhey from Vancouver, BC; and Jean McIntosh from Omaha, NE. Harry Khamis, who came from Fairborn, OH, is one of Roo Lester's teaching partners, doing Scandinavian dances. On Friday night, Dany Benshalom and Ruthy Slann paid us a visit on a break from their Israeli dance teaching tour.

If you noticed four people dancing together in a short line several times, they were having a mini-reunion, having danced together in Augusta, GA a few years ago: Vicky Kulifay now of Dunedin, FL, Bob and Chelley Gutin of Raleigh, NC, and Tim Sneed of Augusta. We were also pleased to have a number of regular and new "snow birds" spending the winter in Florida join us for the weekend.

Yuliyan Yordanov, Josif Dimitrievski, and Kathy Dimitrievski at the singing session

Former Augusta, GA dancers Bob Gutin, Vicki Kulifay, and Chelley Gutin, with Tim Sneed

Thank You, John

My personal thank you to John Ward, who helped with this newsletter by organizing material and editing text and photos.

–CL

Andy Taylor-Blenis showing Andi Kapplin a chair exercise

Dancers heralded with a fanfare: Fanny Salerno, Willa Davidsohn, Terry Abrahams, Andy Taylor-Blenis (in Portuguese costume), and Yuliyan Yordanov

Photos by Caroline Lanker

Comments on Presidents' Weekend

Josif and I really enjoyed the weekend. As I shared with Andi, I was amazed by the distance people traveled to come to the event, and how very quickly the love for folk dancing made strangers (newcomers) become family. The dancing was awesome, invigorating, fun, motivating, socially-oriented, and it was hard to leave when the time came. The friendliness, above all, was overpowering. In other words, it felt like we knew people so much longer than that weekend. It says a lot for those involved.

Many people came to me in appreciation for the song lyrics lesson. It just spoke of the type of people, again, who attended. The T-shirt was just right for me – who always "takes minutes" at dance sessions (jots down song titles and origin). You did my work for me!

The hotel was nice and easy to find. The food and built-in breaks were well thought out for the level of activity, and the teachers, what can I say, were experts, were passionate, were great company, and were fun! Great memories!

– Kathy Dimitrievski

The DeLand dancers were delighted to have Claudia Terrence back for Camp and for Tuesday evening's dance. We had a good turnout Tuesday because two other "campers," Jean McIntosh and Diane Baker, joined us. We're a small group; we love having guests. Claudia, Kelly, Jean Wald, and I had a great time at Camp too.

– Ruth Ann Fay

Camp was wonderful; I really liked the instructors and it was great to see everyone again.

– Claudia Terrence

It was a great camp – loved all the dances that were taught, the food was great, rooms very comfortable. I want to thank all those involved in making the arrangements. I appreciate all your dedication to making our weekend the success that it was. You did a wonderful job.

– Bernice Roth

Thank you to everyone who made the week end possible.

– Mary Jean Linn

I thought it was a great weekend – lots of nice people, lots of good food, lots of wonderful dancing, lots of wonderful music – what else is there! Kudos to everyone who worked so hard to make the weekend a success. They certainly succeeded! Thank you!

– Susan Barach

Thank You

I am very grateful to the Florida Folk Dance Council for awarding me this year's Olga Princi Scholarship to this year's Presidents' Day weekend camp. I enjoyed the amazing opportunity and I learned so much. I especially enjoyed meeting so many interesting people and learning dances that I was so sure I wasn't able to do, only to find out that I could. I continue to dance weekly with the Melbourne group and hope I will see many of you again soon. Thank you again.

– Aurora Frew

Aurora Frew,

2012 Olga Princi Scholarship recipient

Photos by Caroline Lanker

John Daly Receives Award

On February 17, John Daly received the award for Pro Bono Attorney of the Year for 2011 from the Brevard County Legal Aid, Inc., where John has been volunteering his services since 1985. He has represented low-income clients in contentious family matters, staffed innumerable legal clinics, and assisted in organizing and implementing BCLA's family law assistance program.

Olga Princi Memorial Scholarship Auction

by Judith Baizan

Thanks to all of you who participated in the 2012 Olga Princi Memorial Scholarship Auction. We brought in a little over $1200 from the live auction, the silent auction and the sale table combined! 

Thanks, of course, to those of you who donated and purchased auction items. Thanks also to auction committee members and performers for their contributions before, during, and after the event.

Most of all, thanks to those of you who raised your voices and

waved your numbered paddles to bid, whether or not you purchased an item (perhaps unintentionally.)

You are the embodiment of the spirit of this event. You were using the auction as your opportunity – a very convenient and (hopefully) entertaining opportunity – to support the future of our dance community, so that we and those who come after us may continue to have these wonderful dances in our lives. 

Congratulations and thank you for a resounding success!

Judith Baizan and Doris Wolman at the silent auction table for the Olga Princi Memorial Scholarship Fund.

Photo by Caroline Lanker

Spring Fling 2012

by Pat Henderson

The Orlando group hosted the FFDC Spring Fling on Saturday, March 31,  11:30 am – 7:30 pm. The event began with a potluck lunch with a variety of hot dishes, sandwich makings, salads and desserts. Fifty people attended we danced about 95 dances, with a lot of camp dances. In the middle of the afternoon, we had such a rain storm that we had to stop the music – we could not hear it over the noise of the rain! Around 4:30 pm, we had high tea, complete with cucumber sandwiches, and most of us ate an early dinner as well. By the end of the day, most of the food was consumed. We had the first (maybe annual) book exchange and made about $25 for the Olga Princi Scholarship Fund. Again, we sorely missed the Melbourne group and we will try to find a date that will work for that group next year, even if it means a change of venue.

Kathy and Ron Fico; Pat Henderson and Bobby Quibodeaux

Terry Abrahams "conducting"

Photos by Judith Merkt

Greek Line

Spring Festival in Chicago

by Diane Baker

Folkdancers from across the continent and around the world blew into Chicago for Balkanske Igre’s 47^th Anniversary Spring Festival at the International House at the University of Chicago, March 23 – 25.

The weekend began with the Friday night dance party, to a folk orchestra, with breaks for introductory instruction.  Saturday featured non-stop dancing, music, feasting and entertainment. An all-star cast of dance teachers, some of whom are familiar to many Florida dancers, presented dances of Turkey (Ahmet Luleci), Bulgaria, Macedonia (Atanas Kolarovski, assisted by Fusai Senzaki), Serbia,  as well as ethnic Romani dances.  Instrument and singing instruction took place concurrently. A lunchtime cultural session was presented by Alex Markovic. [See Culture Corner, at right.]

After a banquet of mouth-watering dishes, a concert extravaganza began.  Dance groups from churches within Chicago, the state of Illinois and neighboring states performed dances of various Balkan areas plus Poland. Between dance groups, we enjoyed the virtuosity of musicians playing instruments including accordion, clarinet, kaval, and gadulka.  The richness and diversity of Balkan culture was spotlighted on the stage.  And the only conflict during the evening was a ritual knife fight enacted on stage by two male dancers vying for the attention of a beautiful woman!

Whoosh!  Chairs were cleared, the Veselo Selo Tambura orchestra began to play and everyone danced together –

Folks gather and proceed to the groom’s home, where his mother has the starring role in her dance with a decorated sieve.  Other important members of the family have their specific music and each leads a dance.  If they don’t know how to do the steps, a musician will teach them as he plays.  We chuckled as we watched that on Alex’s videos.

Wedding rituals still require three days in the Rom communities, but have been condensed into one packed day among ethnic Serbs.  The next ritual is to dance to the bride’s home, where her family members each have specific musical selections with accompanying dances.  After she is “taken,” the party may proceed to city hall and church for ceremonies, then to the groom’s house for a feast and party. 

On the third day, for Rom weddings, a messenger is sent to the band that the marriage has been consummated.  Again, the band arrives to play, and the party dances to the bride’s home (with the mother-in-law carrying evidence of her daughter-in-law’s virginity) to present her parents with sweetened rakia, and to continue feasting and dancing. The accompanying videos were surprisingly vivid and evoked discussion about privacy, pressure, transfer of control of women, etc.!

Learn more about Alex Markovic’s studies at:  uic.academia.edu/

AlexanderMarkovic.

[Editor’s note: “Romani” or “Rom” is the proper term for “gypsy”, which is considered derogatory.]

performers, their family members, invited guests, teachers, children, local dancers and folk who came for the party.  When the Tambura group finished, other musicians took the stage and played until the clock struck one.  Fortunately dorm rooms at International House were only an elevator ride away.

Sunday brought more instruction and review, with a continuation of Alex’s cultural hour. Finally, the festival moved to Infusion, an Albanian restaurant, for a celebration dinner and more dancing.

The Spring Festival is part of the Global Voices Performing Arts Series.  Bookmark the website balkanskeigre.org and sign up for the 48^th annual event in March 2013.  You won’t be disappointed!

Culture Corner: Serbian and Romani Wedding Rituals

Alex Markovic delivered cultural sessions on the role of music and dance in the wedding rituals of the Serbian and the Romani communities in Vranje, Serbia.  In both communities, brass bands, comprised of Romani musicians, accompany the dancing and help manage the events. 

The band gathers in the groom’s village and begins playing to announce that a wedding will take place.

Kolo Line

Photo by Diane Baker

Orlando International Folk Dance Club

by Pat Henderson

The big event in February was the President's Weekend in Kissimmee with most of our dancers attending.  We were happy to have Tom Black and and Linda Larsen from Washington state visiting before camp and then attending the workshop. They had both danced with us briefly when their daughter was interning at Disney. Our group enjoyed camp immensely and many have said that it was one of the best ever.  Both instructors were fun and fabulous!

In March, Phyllis and Ed Dammer celebrated their 10th anniversary by going on a cruise.  Then they were both in a tap dance show the last weekend of the month. 

Jan Arcari  had a part in the Orlando Opera/Orlando Philharmonic Orchestra's presentation of Verdi's opera Rigoletto, which was performed at the Bob Carr Performing Arts Center on March 2 and 4 in Orlando.  Jan relates her experience:

“I was in the opening scene, as one of the court ladies at a party. I got to flirt with one of the main characters, The Duke, while he sang one of his solos, as well as dance a minuet. My character had no name in the program, just listed as a supernumerary (which is "extra" in opera terms!) It was a wonderful experience!  It took an hour and a half to get ready – makeup, wig, airbrushing, and gown.  Then on stage for about 20 minutes total! 

“Meeting the main characters, who were all professional opera singers flown in from different places (such as New York City's Metropolitan Opera House) was exciting, too.  The man who played Rigoletto was a tall young blond man, who was very shy and kind. As Rigoletto, he was a hunchback, made up to look old and gray, and sometimes mean!”

The big news of the month for Bobby and me was the wedding of our son, Brian, on March 10, to Erica Frost at the Hyatt hotel in Clearwater Beach.  A few of our folk dancing friends attended and we all had a great time.  Many of you remember the years when we brought our son and daughter to camp and you watched them grow up.  My, how time has flown! 

The group celebrated St. Patrick's Day on Wednesday, March 14 with a party.  The room was full of green!  On March 31, we hosted Spring Fling again and had a lot of fun dancing. 

Pat Henderson, Bobby Quibodeaux, Linda Larsen and Thomas Black

Photo by John Ward

Jan Arcari, in costume for her part in Rigoletto.

Kelly Fagan is playing the Mother Abbess in the Sound of Music at the Wayne Densch Performing Arts Center April 20 – 29 and May 4 – 6.

Charles M. Willett

Charles M. Willett, who danced with the Gainesville International Folk Dancers, passed away on February 5 at 80 years of age. He served as a rifleman in the Korean War before becoming a pacifist; he served in the Foreign Service in Germany and Austria, worked as a librarian at Harvard and the University of Florida, organized Crisis Press and cofounded the Civic Media Center to make available information and views not well represented in for-profit media. He also founded the journal Counterpoise: For Social Responsibility, Liberty and Dissent. He was deeply committed to a better informed and socially just world. Charles loved music, dance, history, and literature. Following the deaths of two wives, he betrothed Arlene Bargad, another Gainesville folk dancer, in 2008.

Jack Seltzer wrote:

"The Gainesville International Folk Dancers lost a great friend, Charles Willett. His battle with cancer took him away from us. We'll always miss his great spirit, thoughtfulness and passion about all he believed was right. What more can I say (besides a whole lot), except I feel sad a lot. What can I do now? Maybe just keep dancing up a storm as he wanted to do so much himself. We'll certainly do one of his favorites, the men's chorus dance that had him singing so delightfully."

Condolences

Lucille Erickson, wife of longtime folk dancer Russell Ericksen, passed away on March 5th after a long illness. Russell winters in Florida, has attended FFDC events, and has danced with the Tampa international folkdance group when he could arrange a provider for the close attention Lucille's condition required.

Jim Gold's Newest Book:

Zany! A Father-Son Odyssey

Jim Gold’s adventures as folk dance teacher, tour leader, musician, author, and entrepreneur, have been chronicled in his ten books, including his latest novel, Zany! A Father-son Odyssey. 

Concert violinist, Dr. Zoltan Zany, etymologist son, Attila, and an Israeli linguist on a quest in search of the first word

uttered by man—to Eastern Turkey’s Mt. Ararat, where they believe this original Urword can be found by discovering Noah’s Ark.

To purchase your signed copy, send $15.95, (plus $3.95 postage/handling (total: $19.90) to: Jim Gold International, 497 Cumberland Avenue, Teaneck, NJ 07666. Or make your purchase online at jimgold.com/JimGoldBooks.htm

Flagler Fling Planned

The Flagler Beach Folk Dancers and the Ocean Marina Condo Association will host the Flagler Fling on June 30th at the Ocean Marina Clubhouse.  It will begin at 11:00 am and continue to 8:00 pm or whenever we've all had enough. There will be no charge!  Food will be pot luck again, so bring something yummy. We'll dance on a laminate floor, easy on the feet.

amarjan1@bellsouth.net. 

June 30 – July 1 Flagler Fling

See Flagler Fling Planned

May 12 Mayfair Ball English Country Dance

Place: St. Cloud Senior Center, 3101 17th Street, St. Cloud, Florida

Time: 12:15 – 10:00 pm

Price: $25

Contact: Catie Geist, 321-427-3587, stcloudecd@yahoo.com

Information:  dancefl.us/ecd/ecdspec.php

June 22 – 24 Greek Landing Day Celebration

Glendi (music, dance, and food) Friday & Saturday Place: St. Photios Greek Shrine, Contantine Sisters Courtyard, 41 St. George Street, St. Augustine, FL

Contact: 904-829-8205, info@stphotios.com

Look for more event notices on the calendar of the FFDC website.

Summer Folkdance Camps

There are lots of opportunities to go to weekend and weeklong dance and music camps, especially in the summer. Consider attending one. Florida dancers who attend dance workshops and camps in other places not only have a great time but also enrich the dancing in our local groups. Here is a list of the weeklong camps and workshops with contact information. Other weekend workshops are listed on the FFDC website calendar.

Eastern European Folklife Center, Balkan music and Dance workshops: (1) Mendocino Woodlands, California; June 23 – 30, (2) Iroquois Springs, Rockhill, NY: August 11-18; Rachel MacFarlane, 510-547-1118, office@eefc.org, www.eefc.org;

John C. Campbell Folk School, English, contra, square and Danish dance plus folk arts; Brasstown, NC, workshops April through December; 1-800-365-5724, www.folkschool.org.

July 18 – 29 Folkmoot USA

Place: several towns, western North Carolina

Information: www.folkmootusa.org

August 31 – September 3 Karmiel USA

Israeli Folk Dance Weekend

with Dany Benshalom and Ruthy Slann

Place: The Mountain Resort, Highlands, NC

Contact: 864-650-2009, kibbutz@slann.com

Information: www.wix.com/karmielusa/home

September 21 –  23 Mountain Playshop

with Lee Otterholt

Contact: info@mountainplayshop.org

Information: www.mountainplayshop.org

–

Kentucky Dance Institute workshop; English, Scottish, square dance, international, Murray State University, Murray, KY; July 15 – 21; www.knobtiger.com

Mainewoods Dance Camp, international, Fryeburg, Maine; August 12 – 18 & 19 – 25; 973-787-4614, info@mainewoodsdancecamp.org, www.mainewoodsdancecamp.org

Mendocino Folklore Camp, international, Mendocino Woodlands, California, June 30 – July 7; 415-225-9956, rucenica@sbcglobal.net, www.mendocinofolklorecamp.com

Nordic Fiddles and Feet, Scandinavian, Camp Ogontz, Lyman, NH, July 1 – 8, 865-522-0515, fiddlesandfeet@bellsouth.net,

Renew Your FFDC Membership

Now is the time to join or renew your membership with the Florida Folk Dance Council (FFDC), if you haven't already done so. (If you came to the FFDC Presidents' Weekend 2012, you should have already joined or renewed.) If you don't renew, you will not receive the Florida Folk Dancer after April, if you get a mailed copy. If you have email, April will be the last month you will receive email announcements from FFDC. FFDC members for 2012 will also receive a copy of the FFDC membership list. Please support FFDC, and continue to support international folk dancing in Florida and Georgia. Fill out the following form to renew or join and send it with your check to treasurer, John Daly, at the address shown below.

Florida Folk Dance Council, Inc.

MEMBERSHIP FORM

Last Name: ______________________________ First Name: ____________________________    

Address:______________________________________________________________________

City: _____________________________________State: __________ ZIP __________________

Email:  __________________________________________ Phone: _______________________

If you include an email address, you will receive an announcement when the FFDC newsletter, the Florida FolkDancer, has been posted on the website, before it is mailed, as well as other notifications to members.  You may choose to receive a mailed copy of the newsletter instead of or in addition to the email announcements.  

FFDC Membership                 Without paper newsletter      With paper newsletter

Single                                         $10.00  _________                    $15.00 __________

Family                                        $15.00 _________                     $20.00 __________

Make check payable to:  FFDC                               Any questions:

Mail To:                                                                        Call: John at 321-482-6818

John Daly                                                               email: treasurer@folkdance.org

P. O. Box 500856                                           Web page: www.folkdance.org

Malabar, FL 32950

Scottish night at Presidents' Weekend: Left: Julius Horvath in a kilt of the tartan designed for the US bicentennial, with Jack Seltzer. Above, dancers in plaid: Ruth Ann Fay, Kelly Fagan, Andy Taylor-Blenis, Virginia Marszal, Pat Henderson (in Henderson tartan), Laura Nonamaker, Jim Osborne (in rear), Willa Davidsohn, Lou Davia, Fanny Salerno, Bernice Roth, Terry Abrahams.

Photos by Caroline Lanker

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.

2012 FFDC OFFICERS:

President: Terry Abrahams

813-234-1231,

president@folkdance.org

VP: Judy Merkt

 941-379-6302 
jamerkt@comcast.net 

Secretary/Treasurer: John Daly

P.O. Box 500856, Malabar, FL 32950

321-482-6818

treasurer@folkdance.org

Corresponding Secretary: Pat Henderson

407-275-6247, henderp@bellsouth.net

Historian: Dan Lampert

dan300@dlc2.com

Newsletter Editor: Caroline Lanker

1963 S. Lake Reedy Blvd.

Frostproof, FL 33843

863-635-9366

editor@folkdance.org

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

Please note: The Florida FolkDancer 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!)

October 7-20 Eastern Turkey

Led by: Jim Gold and Lee Otterholt

Kurdish, Pontic/Black Sea, Georgian, Armenian regions

5 day/4 night Istanbul extension: Oct. 20-24

July 22 - August 3 13th Seminar of Greek Dance

with Kyriakos Moisidis

Place: Northern Greece

Contact: moisidiskyriakos@gmail.com

Information: www.moisidis-dance.gr/en

July 21 – 29 Dance Vacation to Bali (Indonesia)

Sponsor: Armenia Holiday

Dance teachers: Tineke Van Geel,  Yves Moreau

International Folk Dance Tours

July 31 – August 13 Hungary Tour

A Jim Gold tour; led by Adam Molnar

Budapest, Eger, Mezokovesd Folk Festival,  Jászberény Folk Dance Camp

June 9 –19 Tour of Norway

A Jim Gold tour, led by Lee Otterholt

Oslo, Bergen, Hovin, Voss

Contact for all Jim Gold tours: 201-836-0362, jimgold@jimgold.com

Information: www.jimgold.com

June 30 – July 10 Dance on the Water Cruise of the Lower Danube

Led by Mel Mann and Lee Otterholt

Austria, Slovakia, Serbia, Hungary, Croatia, Bulgaria, Romania

Contact: 510-526-4033, meldancing@aol.com

Information: www.folkdanceonthewater.org

July 16-30 Tour to Croatia and Slovenia

Led by Jim Gold

Ljubljana, Zagreb Folk Festival, Split, Dubrovnik Summer Festival.

Bobby Quibodeaux will lead dancing.