Makemie Woods Wedding Anniversary Celebration

The fall Makemie Woods dance weekend was a special event celebrating the anniversary of Judy and Lance.  Twenty years ago Judy and Lance were married at Makemie Woods! It was great to see the pictures from their wedding. Paraphrasing a quote from an interview with Steve Kotansky "What better way to meet your life partner than folk dancing!"

This month Sue C. started teaching  "Ketri, Ketri" an Albanian Roma dance at our regular Wednesday meetings. Even though it was presented to our group as an Albanian Roma dance, the song seems to be Hungarian Gypsy as stated by some authorities.

Below is a video of the way she taught it.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=kCLhAY8ai4o

Steve Kotansky is doing a different version in the video below.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=92zq77Zlvv8
The notes for Steve's version are below:
http://www.folkdancenotes.com/dancenotes/ketri.htm
This dance is considered a cocek by some dance authorities.
http://www.andybettis.com/dance/steps/Chochek.html

From the UK come the following comments about the dance!
http://duramecho.com/Dance/BEECIIFolkDance/Ketri_Ketri.html

The other dance that Sue taught was an Albanian dance Valle Pogonishte. She taught is as the way that the group below does it.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ZfvKgfgqTss
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Pzvs1bkBUTc
The notes for it are below.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ZfvKgfgqTss

Another Blogger has some interesting comments on the dance.
http://katleyplanetbg.blogspot.com/2013/05/two-variations-on-albanian-folk-dance.html

Dance with as many children as you can this week!

Another Day, Another Dance,
Happy Dancing!

" The Beauty of Bulgarian Folk Music and Dance"

Who Knew??? The Library of Congress' National Audio-Visual Conservation Center was in Culpeper, VA?  Practically in our backyard!
http://www.loc.gov/avconservation/

Not only do they preserve and present AV materials, they have a theater where other performances can be viewed!

Everyone who attended Saturday's performance was treated to an afternoon of lively music, dance and song! Not only was there singing and dancing on stage, but the audience danced in the aisles and in the lobby to the accompaniment of the musicians. The musicians and singers were from the groups "Kolorit" Orchestra from Chicago, "Duo Kuchevi"  from New York, and Stoyan Kostov now based in Pittsburgh. The resulting music sounded as if they had been playing together all of their lives!

The dances were performed by "Bosilek" an all women's troupe based in New York.  The group has been together since 1979. The energetic and precise dancing was enhanced by the beautiful traditional Bulgarian folk dress.
http://www.angelfire.com/folk/bosilek/info.htm

In addition to the program notes, explanations of Bulgarian traditions and history from each region was given before the performances which added to the appreciation of the performance. The performance ended with the audience dancing with "Bosilek" the traditional Bulgarian folkdance tunes.

A story that evokes the timelessness and the circular history of folk dance was relayed to me by Cathie Springer, the director of "Bosilek".

Yves Moreau, having just been bitten by the folk dance bug, boards a Bulgarian ship in a Canadian Harbor and asks the sailors to teach him some Bulgarian folk dances. A sailor accepts the challenge and teaches Yves how to dance like the Bulgarians of his region.  The daughter of that sailor now dances with "Bosilek" and he was there Saturday to share in the joy of his heritage!

New Season Begins

A new season of " Another Day, Another Dance" has begun!  An interview with Joe Graziosi and the teaching of Sofka rounded out the show.  This month airs an interview with Yulian Yordanov and Nevesto Caven Trendafil is taught. The program airs Tuesdays at 2:30, Wednesdays at 5:00, and Saturdays at 1:00. The same program airs all month at the above times.  Click the link below and then go to the upper right hand corner and click on live stream to view the program.

http://www.cpatv.org/index.html

This week our group was introduced to ""Miliso" from Thrace as taught by Joe Graziosi.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=pXY28BiUN88&list=TLvjuSG1NJPaI
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=2LYuZJd_tko
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=I3BWjR_SHfg

  and "Ina, Ina"  as taught by Christian and Sonia Florescu.  Below is a video of a group doing  "Ina, Ina". Our group does it the same way .

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=IOs98hAmxDQ 

The notes from Stockton are below.

http://www.folkdancecamp.org/10syllabus/Ina%20Ina%20(2010SFDC).pdf

 I danced with over 30 children this week!  How many have you danced with?

Another Day, Another Dance,

Happy Dancing!

Wandering Bird, Dancing through the Alphabet

"Wandering Bird",  the title of this post, is what I have felt like this summer!
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=O6xjFxGu8v8

Sue C. taught the dance.  The search for a dance that started with a "w" began when Bill suggested that we do a night of dances that start with the the letters of the alphabet!  "W" was the letter that was missing a dance. Since Sue  has taught "Wandering Bird",  we can dance through the alphabet with no problem!

As previously mentioned, I have felt like a wandering bird because I traveled to Ohio to visit my sister Rosie, as she recovered from surgery. While in Columbus, I was able to interview dancers from the Tuesday evening Hillel group. They are a very lively group! Wednesday evening I danced with the Columbus Folk Dancers and recorded some more great stories!

While visiting my son in LA, I was able to dance with Beverly Barr's Monday evening group and again hear the stories of many fantastic dancers!

I'm sure that many of you have felt like"Wandering Birds".  I highly recommend visiting the local folk dance groups when you are on vacation because you will meet many great people and have a great time!

Remember to dance with a child every chance you have!

Another Day, Another Dance,
Happy Dancing!

Paraliakos and Kune

June has really been a busy month, I can't believe it is almost over!

 We were able to attend the workshops of Iliana Bozhanova in Green Belt and Lancanster PA. The dances she taught were Shirokolashko Horo, Trakushka Ruchenitsa, Choban Georgi, Dona, Irimenche, and Dzhahguritsa(Djanguritsa). A great time was had by all!

This month Susan O. taught Cocek from Macedonia.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=jxOJB14P8q4
The above link to a Dunav rendition is a Cocek similar to what we do.
She also taught Dobrudzanski Buenek  from Bulgaria a dance she learned from Yves Moreau. I was not able to find a video of anyone doing or teaching the dance.

Lindy taught Paraliakos from Greece as introduced by Lee Otterholt.  Below is a link to him teaching it.
http://internationalfolkdances.blogspot.com/2011/01/paraliakos-greece.html
Kune is another dance Lindy started teaching tonight. She taught it as Iliana Bozhanova does it see the link below.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=5nRi8nYUQhg

If you haven't seen the June's installment of the TV  Program  "Another Day, Another Dance", Stream it live at 1:00 PM on Saturday, June 29
http://www.cpatv.org/
Hear Jay's interview and see Susan O. teaching "Do Mar Ciften".

Happy Dancing and Dance with a child whenever you get the chance!
Remember,
"Another Day, Another Dance"

Makemie Woods

Makemie Woods was a success this year!  It was great to see every one and do some "binge dancing"

Mike taught an Israeli Dance called Lamenalseach.  Nothing turned up when I googled this name.

Bill taught Dobro Ljo a Bulgarian Dance he learned from Yves Moreau. The links below may help.
http://andybettis.com/dance/steps/DobroLjo.html
The clip for Dobro Ljo is the one above the name.
http://argonneifd.blogspot.com/2011/06/june-camp-video-clips.html
Bill also taught Koljovo Horo, another Bulgarian dance he learned from Yves Moreau.
We learned it slightly different from Yves than is demonstrated in the video clip below.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=3xiQFH5xgbA

Any time we get together with a big group of people and dance we have a great time!

Dance with a child anytime you get a chance.
Another Day, Another Dance,
Happy dancing!

Happy Mother's Day and New Show

I hope all the mothers out there had a great day!  It was a beautiful day here.
I remember my Mom dancing the polka at weddings!  She would always listen to the Polka Party on the radio on Saturday and Sunday.  It is always fun to listen and dance to polka music.

This month Bill has been teaching Siri, Siri from Macedonia and Koljovo Horo from Bulgaria.

Bill is also featured on our TV show on Charlottesville Public Access TV channel 13 Another Day, Another Dance teaching Gorache, a version we learned from Steve Kotansky.  If you can't get the program on your television, you can steam it live from the CPATV-13 website.
Tuesdays 2:30
Wednesdays 5:00
Saturdays 1:00

Remember:
Another Day, Another Dance!
Happy Dancing

Folk Dance At Piedmont Virginia Community College

Last Wednesday I attended the PVCC Dance Club's monthly meeting and introduced them to several folk dances. The dances we did were For a Birthday, the Troika, Hava Nagila,  Adjon  az Isten, Setnja, Zemer Atik, and Miserlou!  We had a great time! It is always great to dance with college students.

At our last meeting Sue C taught the Bulgarian dance Pravo Cepelarsko Horo
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=IT-AixG14o4

 and Turkish Debka.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=IT-AixG14o4
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Tg_h66KCqiM

Have you danced with a child recently?
Another Day, Another Dance,
Happy Dancing!

New Television Show

There has been a lot happening since the end of January!

Our group did a performance at the McGuffey Arts Center for the First Friday happening in March and had a warm reception.
The dances we did were:
Setnja, Garoon, Garoon, Sestorka, Karagouna, Gorache, Sitna Zborenka, Syrtos Kitrinou, Debka Oud,
Milirlou, Rustemul, Dobro Ljo

Since then we have seen some new faces at our weekly dances.
Also,there was a "History Night" at our school and the 7th graders did the Troika, For A Birthday, and D'Hammerschmiedg'selln.  They did a great job and had a lot of fun.

We are also producing a television show for Charlottesville Public Access TV - Channel 13
http://www.cpatv.org/
 The show airs Tuesdays at 2:30, Wednesdays at 5:00 and Saturdays at 1:00 DST.  The same show is played all month at those times.  The last March show will be this Saturday at 1:00.  You can stream it live on your computer from anywhere if you have internet access.
The first show was Susan O.'s interview and her teaching " An Dro Retourne".
April's show features Sue C.'s interview and her teaching a dance she choreographed to Balkanize's "Zarad tebe, Mome Mori"

 http://www.facebook.com/pages/Balkanize/26660296591?sk=notes
Until next time!
Dance with a child whenever you can, and remember-
Another Day, Another Dance!
Happy Dancing

Greek Dance Work Shop with Christos Papakostas

To begin the workshop, Christos started  teaching children Saturday morning. When Christos started playing the flute, a "joke" was made about him being the Pied Piper.  He certainly had the children, and everyone else dancing to his tunes! It was especially inspiring to see the children dancing at the evening dance party. The children also took turns leading the line.  They led the line as natural as if they had been doing it all of their young lives! There was a real "village feel" to the evening with all age groups dancing together!

The music of the evening was provided by the band Karpouzi; who made the dancing even more enjoyable!

The dances he taught were:
Pagonisios
Thiakos-Selfo
Siri-Siri
Poustsen
StiTris
Sirtos-Balos
Patma
Sirtos Sighthistos
Xesirtos

Sunday afternoon was especially insightful as Christos reviewed the dances and reinforced the technique and timing.

Bart Carpenter has done it again!  He organized a great weekend of dancing!  It was great to see everyone in Harrisburg again and meet some new faces!

Have you danced with a child lately?
Another Day, Another Dance,
Happy Dancing

A New Year and New Dances

Happy New Year!

To start the New Year off right Sue C. has created two great new dances!  The choreographies correspond to two songs from the latest CD from Balkanize- For You Are Made of Stars. The dances are Oj, Jovane and Zarad Tebe, Mome Mori. You can hear Balkanize play Oj, Jovane at:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=x58zylCjFhY

The other dances taught were C'est une Jeune Mariee that Lee Otterholt taught at Mountain Playshop;
Moj Maro and Albanian dance as taught by Steve Kotansky
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ewOPQGSLreo

and last but not least Sedi Donka
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ve5enTROp5o
http://www.phantomranch.net/folkdanc/dances/sedidonk.htm

Another Day, Another Dance,
Happy Dancing!