Electric Slide

A small group this week only 8 die hard dancers. The 3 Susans(reminds me of The 3 Doctors-any Doctor Who fans out there?) were not available this week. Dances taught and reviewed this week by yours truly were Ersko Kolo http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=G_wf06vizughttp://www.youtube.com/watch?v=G_wf06vizug ,
Electric Slide http://ric06379.tripod.com/id6.html ,
Hava Nagila http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ewFLSBJ8NkA&feature=related and a dance I choreographed to Esteban's Mediterana.

If any dance should be made the "official American Folk Dance", it should be the Electric Slide - in my humble opinion. It is the only dance that I've seen people of all ages get up and dance to on a regular basis.

The Hava Nagila taught in the above video is different than the one that I've done. If I teach again this week, I'll add the steps that are in this version. There is more variety.

Happy Dancing,
Another Day, Another Dance

Morningside Demonstration - Wheel chair dancing

The Charlottesville International Folk Dancers were invited to do a demonstration at Morningside Retirement Home on Thursday, Feb. 25, 2010. The facility had an International Theme for their monthly family dinner. They were a very receptive and appreciative audience. I only regret that I "asked" them to do a dance with us instead of just telling them that part of the "program" was audience participation. I lost my nerve because I hadn't done it before.

Zemer Atik is a perfect dance that can be adapted to wheelchair dancing. The first time I saw wheel chair dancing was in Ohio performing with Zivili in an outdoor festival. If anyone out there has some other ideas about dances to include in demonstrations with people who cannot fully participate, please reply to this post or email me at birdproject2010@gmail.com .

Of course, had I tried to do it on Thursday, I would have been "Flying by the seat of my pants", because I had only thought of the idea a couple of hours earlier. Now, I have more time to plan the specifics. Once I fully think it through, I will post the plans.

Another Day, Another Dance!

Technical Difficulties and First Video Instruction

Yes, I've been having technical difficulties in that the email address for this blog always goes to spam and is sent right back to me! Please email me with comments on this blog at BIRDProject2010@gmail.com and please add it to your address book.



Now for the videos. They are password protected so that only the participants from Charlottesville International Folk Dancers and guests are permitted to view them. In the future we may open them up to the public. This week it is instruction for Dhivaratikos.

Dhivaratikos 1 from M B Shaw on Vimeo.

Dhivaratikos 2 from M B Shaw on Vimeo.

Dhivaratikos 3 from M B Shaw on Vimeo.

Contributors

Just received updated information from the MIT International Folk Dance Group ( http://web.mit.edu/fdc/international.html ). Thank you.

It is exciting to have others support our efforts. In the coming weeks, we will continue to contact other organizations for their input.

The last post was a little serious. I just wonder how we can decrease the frustration of beginners. We naturally want them to come back. Unfortunately, we have many who try it but don't return. The MIT site has a "Catechism for Beginners". Any other suggestions? Please let us know.

Another Day, Another Dance.

The Definition of International Recreational Dance

The definition of International Recreational Dance as used in the Barboursville International Recreational Dance (BIRD) Project is movement(dance):

• for the purpose of enjoyment, exercise, and creating community
• from various ethnic origins