Monday, March 31, 2014

Dance into Spring

I probably shouldn't say it too loudly but if today is any indication - Spring is here to stay!

I've been busy teaching a couple of Basque dances to some 4th and 5th grade school children.  They performed them in a Spanish program this past week. The 4th grade did Baztan Dantza
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=DykKYDBHyuE

The 5th grade performed Eskudantza de Imotz
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=DjpxVszf7pM

In our regular Wednesday meeting Lindy taught Isu byala nedo from Bulgaria.  It has a beautiful  and soothing melody.  The video clip below shows a group doing it the same way that Lindy taught the dance followed by dance notes from Folk Dance Federation of California.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=IBz_QU9hf4c
http://www.folkdance.com/LDNotations/IsuByalaNedo2010LD.pdf

On a peppier note, Sue has been teaching Les Corps des Metiers.  There are no links available at this time.

Episode 8 of Another Day, Another Dance starts tomorrow. This month's show features Susan teaching Orijent and interviews of a Mother and her daughter.  Tune in tomorrow at 2:30 on the web:
http://www.cpatv.org/

Share the fun, dance with a child!

Happy Dancing




Wednesday, March 5, 2014

CPATV 13 New Show

March is Here!

It came in like a lamb but has quickly turned into a lion with another snow storm!

With the new month comes a  new episode of "Another Day, Another Dance".
In March, you will see Bill teaching "Moj Maro, Moj Marine".  This month features an interview with Steve Kotansky.  Tune into CPATV-13.
http://www.cpatv.org/
 The program airs:
 Tuesdays at 2:30 PM
Wednesdays 5:00 PM
Saturdays     1:00 PM

Hope you enjoy the program!
Share the Fun! Dance with as many children as you can!
Happy dancing!

Tuesday, March 4, 2014

Al Sedenu, Jocul Soacrei, Zensko Oro ze Raka

In January, Bill taught Jocul Soacrei that he leaarned from Christian and Sonia.
http://www.folkdancecamp.org/10syllabus/Jocul%20soacrei%20(2010SFDC).pdf

Susan O. taught Al Sedenu from Israel
I couldn't find a video of it.  Anyone out there find one?

There is an interesting little story that someone made up incorporating the names of some of the dances,
mydlc.com/ffdc/ffd-2003-07.doc
mydlc.com/ffdc/ffd-2003-08.doc

Zensko Oro ze Raka
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=A6QHGQ1XkVU
 the way Sue taught it.
but according to

This is made up, not real. To see how it is really danced at weddings - the men all dance, with towel-gifts (tenki darove) from the bride's family placed on their shoulders. Type after the youtube part watch?v=KxX6-h20CFQ or search "bir baskadir makedon" or "mareseska"
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=33zsRETvut4 This is the link to the above mentioned video.


@vasili33 sorry, search with Turkish characters: "bir baskadır makedon düğünü"

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=GQnQ6GxyX04

Another Day, Another Dance!

How many Children have you danced with recently?  Pass on the Fun!
Happy Dancing



Monday, January 13, 2014

Happy New Year

The new dancing year has started for our group.  We all felt a little "rusty"  after our three week break.

The new dances this week were taught by Bill.

Arcanul de la Fundul Moldovei was the intermediate dance that Bill taught. He learned it from Mihi David.
The video below is almost like the way Mihai taught it.  There is an extra step in the dance in the version that Mihai taught in Tennessee in 2011

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=T7TxY5-idvk

Here is a group from Copenhagen doing the dance the same music but different steps.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=l7jOIUVqObM

Dunav's version is below
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=a9BRVcyxQ7o&list=PL0F8AC057DFE1A68D

A PDF description of the dance as taught at the 2003 Door Count Folk Festival by Alexandru and Mihai David.  The dance that Mihai taught Tennessee has one more figure.
http://printfu.org/preview/?pdfurl=1qeXpurpn6Wih-SUpOGumaynh56j6s2UqdPe58ralKrk3NeMsuXa4tzekLjY2t-Gu9LY4NjsxuCKoOOsmqiWzJeo2KalqZ-W0Nnk4qOdo93s5JPQ0tzLotbK5KHN3evU4dzG0OKlydfOy8_l4trgx9fi2MuhppWnx9jl4tna2dPa29ma39rLlqPi


The other dance that Bill taught was Shareni Chorapki, a dance of Bulgarian origin that can be found in Greek Macedonia in the region of Drama. It is basically a Devetorka.  Below are some videos of the dance and some commentary.  The name can be translated into 'Patterned Socks" or Multi-colored Socks.

www.youtube.com/watch?v=Jid38ux85Wg
www.youtube.com/watch?v=3hOVJfqQdKs

Will you be dancing with any children soon?
Have a great time dancing, playing or listening to the music.

Another Day, Another Dance,
Happy Dancing



Sunday, November 17, 2013

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!

Sunday, October 27, 2013

" 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!

Saturday, October 19, 2013

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.

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 .


The notes from Stockton are below.

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

Another Day, Another Dance,
Happy Dancing!