December 2005
December 2005
SPECIAL
CAMP ISSUE
by
Terry Abrahams terry.abrahams@verizon.net
This December issue of our newsletter is a special CAMP
ISSUE and MOST important. Every item
has something to do with camp, will hopefully answer all of your questions and
presumably will draw replies from you to help make our camp complete. I suggest you read EVERY WORD.
What you are getting from us in this
issue:
1.
Lots
of articles with camp information;
2.
Two
bios of both teachers, and their website addresses;
3.
The
camp website – previously given to you;
4.
Directions
to the camp;
5.
Alternate
living arrangements, should you not want to use the camp cabins, includes
details of our camp, in case you change your mind;
6.
Registration
form for you to fill out and send to Pat.
What we want from you:
1.
Offers
to do evening snacks. It can be Fri,
Sat or Sun, they should be ethnic, but if all else fails – just snacks. (We
will give you suggestions if you want.)
Your club will be reimbursed for the food. Jean will be in charge of the overall task.
2.
Suggestions
for Olga Princi scholarships; young rising stars, need not help at camp, but
help your group remember the dances when you go back to your own group. (see
details in different article)
3.
Offer
to decorate the dance hall – bring and do – use your creativity;
4.
Requests
for work scholarships; help at camp, but does not interfere with dancing
(wiping tables after meals and sweeping the dance hall once a day, playing CDs
during instruction.) Anyone may apply,
for any reason, just tell me what it is.
We want everyone there!
5.
Someone
to help devise menus for meals. (Wanda
is finding recipes, as am I, but more people helping would make this even
better. We need recipes for the cook,
so that she can order what we need.
6.
Your
registration form filled out IN FULL.
Don’t Forget Anything. Yes, Mom.
7.
Suggested
list of dances you can’t live without at this weekend. Put them on the back of the registration
form. John is going to make up programs
prior to camp, similar to the Fall Fling idea.
There will be 10 dances at a time, 7 of which he will have
pre-determined 3 blanks for you to fill in with request. 1 out of 5 will be a couple dance. Teaching from each day will be inserted into
the evening as John sees fit. Of course
your input ahead of time will ensure your favorites are played. This worked very well at the FF and was
great for those who labor at the music table, cutting down on way too much
work.
8.
All
replies except for the registration form should come to me (Terry).
Other thoughts:
1.
I know
you think Polish dances are difficult (but cool) couple dances. But Richard has managed to keep the basic
components and put them in a circle mode.
Any couple dances taught will be “like” moves should we be girl-girl
partners. So don’t let that keep you
from coming.
2.
I know
it’s further north than before.
So…??? Don’t let that keep you
from coming.
3.
The
cabins aren’t as posh, but they are very clean, open, airy, nice, heated large,
so don’t let that keep you from coming.
4.
Food
will be better – we get to plan our own meals (and no tickets this year to
forget in your cabin). So don’t let
that keep you from coming.
5.
Reminder – I’m sending syllabi out ahead of
camp by email. If you want to have a
hard copy at camp, print it out and bring it.
If you want to buy one at camp, you MUST check it on your registration
sheet and pay the extra $5.00. Only
those who ordered will receive.
6.
For
our costume pleasure, bring donations (clothing or otherwise) for the Olga
Princi silent auction. But if you’d
rather made a buck, bring outgrown, hardly used items for our sales table,
putting the price and your name on it, so someone can pay you. There may or may not be someone from the
outside selling ethnic stuff. The
teachers will be selling their own CDs. T-shirts will be available in white or
red if you remembered to check it on your registration form.
7.
Bring
an instrument for any jam sessions that might take place. Preferably, you should be able to play the
instrument – we don’t specify how well.
8.
Bring
your own bedding, toweling and toiletries.
If you’re flying in, let me know, I’ll make arrangements for bedding and
towels, you can still bring your own toiletries. Dance shoes are good.
Other shoes should be worn to get to the dance floor, so as not to dirty
the floor. Rain gear, jackets,
flashlights, all just in case. No
liquor. We should be able to take care
of your snack attacks, so hold off on stuff that would attract bugs and little
animals. Swim suit if you dare in February.
9.
Please,
Lord, don’t let me have left anything out.
If I did, write me and ask, call me and ask, or email me and ask.
10. Get those tushies moving and LET’S
DANCE!!!!
Websites for your viewing pleasure
and information:
Camp
Crystal Lake – www.campcrystal.com
Richard
Schmidt – Polish – www.folkdance.ca
Miroslav
Marcetic – Serbian – www.marcetic.com
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Olga Princi
Scholarship
Deadline for Nominations
January 1, 2005
Each
year a few deserving dancers attend Florida Camp courtesy of the Olga Princi
Scholarship. Olga Princi was a talented young folk dancer from Daytona
Beach whose life was ended by a tragic automobile accident. In her
memory, contributions are accepted and a silent auction is held to make it
possible for some deserving dancers to come to camp. Over the years, a
variety of people of all ages have benefited from the scholarship. Some
have been new to folk dancing, while others have been long time dancers.
Some have been potential leaders of a new group. Nominations usually come
from leaders of Florida dance groups. You may also make a self nomination.
There is no application form. If you are interested or want to nominate
someone, please send a note with a brief description of the applicant’s
interest in dancing. Describe how the scholarship would encourage that
person to contribute either individually or as a leader to international dance
in Florida.
Send
to Terry Abrahams
701 W. Idlewild Ave.
Tampa, FL 33604
Email: terry.abrahams@verizon.net
(You will get a confirmation
that the email was received)
DIRECTIONS TO CAMP CRYSTAL
LAKE
(The location of FFDC Camp
2006)
The camp is located at 6724 Camp Crystal
Road about 5 miles north of Keystone Heights.
Since this is the first time for most of you to find this camp, we
highly recommend that you come in daylight hours. As a reference, it is probably 45 minutes further from the south
than our previous camp.
Directions are on this page,
but first, here are some maps to the camp area:
http://www.campcrystal.com/camp_camper_directions.asp
Here’s a picture of the map
to the camp area:
The above map is general.
For a detailed map, with every street listed, please use the following web site
and specify the following address…
Go here: http://maps.google.com/
And
type: 6724 Crystal Lake Rd, Keystone Heights, FL
(notice that this address
is different from the one printed at the Crystal Lake web site)
From the North
If you are on I-95:
Just north of Jacksonville, exit onto
A1A & US 301 S and go to Starke. Go through Starke on US 301 and then look
for a sign for the Keystone Heights Airport on your left. (If you get to Keystone Heights, you missed
the turn.) Turn left on Keystone
Airport Road. Go one mile and turn right on Camp Crystal Road. Follow the signs into camp.
(Note:
If you are in Jacksonville, take I-10 W to US 301 S and continue as
above.)
If you are on I-75:
Exit at Lake City onto US 90 E; go about a mile or two and then
turn right to take SR 100 East (You will actually be going south). Go through Starke and then look for a sign
for the Keystone Heights Airport on your left.
(If you get to Keystone Heights, you missed the turn.) Turn left on Keystone Airport Road. Go one
mile and turn right on Camp Crystal Road.
Follow the signs into camp.
.
From the South
If you are on I-95:
Exit at Flagler Beach on SR 100 W; continue through Keystone
Heights on SR 100 W; go 5 miles; turn right at Keystone Airport road. Go one
mile and turn right on Camp Crystal Road.
Follow the signs into camp.
If you are on I-75:
Exit in Ocala on US 27 E; go about 3 miles and turn left on US
301N (along with US 441 and others); go about 10 miles and stay on US 301 N
when it forks right from US 441N (Do NOT go to Gainesville); continue on US 301
through Waldo; about 5 miles from Waldo, look for a sign to Hampton and turn
right on Hwy 18 to Hampton; go about 4
miles and you will dead end at FL 100;
turn right onto SR 100 E; go 1 mile; turn left at Keystone Airport road. Go one
mile and turn right on Camp Crystal Road. Follow the signs into camp.
(Note: If you miss Hwy 18,
go to Starke and then take SR100 E to the camp.)
If you are lucky enough to
be coming from Gainesville:
Take Waldo Road (Hwy 24)
or take 39th Ave east to Waldo Road (Hwy 24) to Waldo; turn left
onto US 301N in Waldo; about 5 miles from Waldo, look for a sign to Hampton and
turn right on Hwy 18 to Hampton; go
about 4 miles and you will dead end at
FL 100; turn right onto SR 100 E; go 1 mile; turn left at Keystone
Airport road. Go one mile and turn right on Camp Crystal Road. Follow the signs
into camp.
(Note: If you miss Hwy 18,
go to Starke and then take SR100 E to the camp.)
Lodging
Information
(for FFDC Camp 2006)
The
next Florida Camp will be at Camp Crystal Lake close to Keystone Heights. A new location will require adjustments to
new experiences. This article will
describe the cabins and offer information about off-campus accommodations so
that the new experiences will be pleasant.
If you do not stay at the camp, you can stay at a bed & breakfast in
Melrose about 7 miles away or at motels in Starke about 10 miles north of
camp. The Council has reserved all four
rooms at a Bayview Bed & Breakfast in Melrose, the closest city to camp with
accommodations.
First,
there are 10 cabins at Camp Crystal Lake and each has one entrance. They are very large with two sleeping areas
with an open walkway between them. The
opening does not have a door. The
bathroom opens to one of the bedrooms and has two showers, two toilets, three
sinks and a water fountain. There are 9
bunk beds between the two sides of the cabin.
It is our desire to have no more than 6 in the entire cabin so that is
why we are asking for your choice of cabin mates on the registration form. You may have more than 6 on Saturday night,
our busiest night. The cabin has a
cement floor and is heated. You may
want to bring throw rugs and folding chairs.
You may also want to bring a shower curtain rod (the kind with a spring)
and a shower curtain to add privacy.
There are no closets but we suggest using the top of the bunks for your
clothes. No one should have to sleep on
the top bunk. Every cabin has a lake
view. The camp also has some yurts
which are permanent tents. These are
off the ground on a platform. They are
located close to bathroom facilities.
The bathroom by the yurts can be used by anyone who wishes to bring
their own tent or RV.
A
second option is to reserve one of the 4 rooms at the Bayview Bed &
Breakfast in Melrose. There will be an
additional charge for these rooms which you would pay to FFDC with your
registration. The Bayview has two downstairs rooms, with one being larger and
more expensive than the rest. It has a
queen bed and a couch. The other
downstairs room has one queen bed. The
two upstairs bedrooms share a bath with one room having a king bed and the
other has two twin beds. Since the
rooms are different, the addition to full time camp fee will vary. We already deducted the $7 per day for
breakfast. If you want one of the B
& B rooms, please contact Pat Henderson (contact info in the
newsletter). Priority will be given to
full time campers since we have reserved the entire inn for all three
nights. We were able to obtain a
discount by reserving the entire facility.
Here are the rates per person:
Large, queen,
downstairs: $50 additional ($240 for
entire camp)
Regular queen,
downstairs: $40 additional ($230 for
entire camp)
King, upstairs, share
bath: $30 additional ($220 for
entire camp)
Two Twins, upstairs, share
bath: $30 additional ($220 for entire camp)
Yet, a third option is to
stay at one of the motels in Starke. This year’s camp is President's Day
Weekend once again so reservations in advance are highly recommended. You are responsible for you own reservations
at the motels.
Best Western
- 904-964-6744, 1-800-528-1234
Days Inn
- 904-964-7600 or 1-800-329-7466
Deluxe Inn
- 904-964-6784
Red Carpet Inn - 904-964-5590, 800-251-1962
A bed and breakfast in
Melrose:
Upcoming Dance Events
4-8, Wed.-Sunday: Greek
Festival, Tarpon Springs, http://levendia.org/schedule.htm
13-15, Fri-Sunday: English
Infusion Dance Weekend, O’Leno State Park, FL
(see article in issue Dec 2005 for more info and contact info)
13-15, Fri-Sunday: Ralph
Page Dance Legacy Weekend, Durham, NC
a New England folk dance event, call 603-436-8372 or www.neffa.org/rplw.html
February 2006
3,4, Friday, Saturday: Greek Festival, Ocala
17-20, Friday-Monday: FFDC Florida Camp, Camp Crystal Lake,
Keystone Heights, FL
25, Saturday, Spring Fling
in Port Orange, FL (see article in issue Dec. 2005)
note: this was previously advertised for April 22nd,
but Julius had to move the date
1,2, Saturday, Sunday: 19th
Annual Israeli Workshop at JCC of Greater Orlando
Guest Teacher: Ruth Goodman
7-9, Fri-Sunday: Rang Tang
2006, Stone Mountain, GA (see article in issue Dec. 2005)
Teacher will be Shawn Donaldson
----------------------------------------
Flagler Beachfrom Jan Lathi amarjan@bestnetpc.com Our Betty has recently lost her husband, Jack, after many years in a nursing care facility. She was surrounded by her children, grand children, and friends during the final days. We hope that she will find peace knowing that Jack has embarked on the next phase of his journey. Jack was a nuclear physicist and worked with the United Nations. I just returned from San Carlos, CA, where I spent time with my daughter and family. I hope everyone had a great Turkey Day and is looking forward to theend-of-the year festivities.
----------------------------------------
Happy Holidays from Ann
Kessler
It seems a long time since I last spoke
with you all, but anxiously read about all your many activities and see that
the ship is running so beautifully in very capable hands. Still can't believe
that I have retired from teaching dancing (it has always been such a major part
of my life) - retired from teaching but NOT from dancing. As a matter of
fact, have been polishing up Fred's ballroom dancing which we will partake more
of in our community (this is an over 55 community where the women can't get
pregnant and the men look like they are - except NOT my sweetie!). Here in
Highland Lakes they have a big lodge, among many other things, with a delicious
wooden floor - and we can have it all to ourselves in which to practice.
But must share with you my retirement
party which was overwhelmingly greater than I thought it would be. You
have already seen pictures of it in the last newsletter (and thanks to Terry
for her input there), but would like to share with you a poem which I wrote,
and read to the Grapeviners of Sarasota the following week. They were so
generous with all they did:
T'was a wonderful party
--
how can I thank all of you...
Ann for her
poetry - always skillfully done
And for the choir who sang it, voices blended as one
For Janet on piano, and Dolores for the bag
With artwork done by June - for which rightfully I can brag
And Frances for her artwork - a mural beyond
compare,
And Terry for her pin, which I can proudly wear.
All of you are such honeys -
And I thank you for the
money!
Eva too (via G & S) for her song and her dance
And for such a small 'young' lady, she really knows how to prance!
And what would a party be, without Edith's famous cake
Which is always the highlight of eatery, for everyone to partake.
And Tecki made a plaque which now hangs upon my wall
Which can be viewed at any time - just give me a little call.
All of you are such
honeys -
Did I forget to mention
the money??
Of course, this party didn't develop, out of the very thin air
Thoughtfully planned by Marie as always, showing how much she cares.
People came from far and wide - old timers and the new
Just when I thought it couldn't get better - my love grew&grew&grew...
And as for Andi I am sure, a great teacher she will be
I have a special gift for her, which she very soon shall see.
All of you are such dear
wonderful honeys -
Oh - and did I thank you
for all that
money???
The special gift for Andi (and inspired
by her own clever thinking (wish I had thought of that) was when she said that
the reason they hired her to replace me, was because "they did not have to
change the monograms on the towels") was - a finger tip towel that I had
embroidered with: "From one AK to another!"
All of you have wonderful happy, healthy holidays & (Terry, are you
listening) remember… You can live without dancing, but not as well.
- Your ex-prez, or immediate past prez...
Ann Kessler
----------------------------------------
NEWS FROM GATORLAND
Our group continues to evolve..... we've
been able to keep a core of 15-20 dancers .... while 7-8 come every week, and
the rest who seem to come every other week.
Now we've even been thinking of putting
on our performance shoes again....Except from informal debuts at fund raisers
for hurricane victims or cooking breakfast at Applebee's for the newly formed
GDMA organization here in Alachua county (for the benefit of all the local
dance groups), we've basically taken a break from dancing on any stages. Anyway
we'll probably work on a few dances for the March 2006 Kanapaha Spring Garden
Show. A magnificent atmosphere in a huge garden section of Alachua County where
we can dance and possibly interest any new folk who might have an inkling to
try their hand or feet at the art of folk dancing some time in their future.
GDMA has really expanded the use of our
dance room at 308 W. University. Now a - days when we begin dancing on Fridays
we have to wait until an Irish step dance group finishes their high stepping
and toe touching. A lovely lass teaches great styling for 3 hours(in 1 hour
class sessions) immediately before us.
But we plug in at 8:05 and away we go to
other far-away places besides Ireland. Lately Julieta's been bringing back
dances from Lee Otterholt......Linda & I did some Judith & Kalman
Magyar Hungarian jumping dances......Joyce her usual quick-quicks from Serbia
or there abouts.....John with his well researched lesnotos(and he goes back a
few years and numerous workshops from the 60s) and we're finally getting that
"In Gradina lui lon" dance that we've been ironing out more smoothly....and
Margaret has brought back Rustemul de La Intoarsa and Ya Abud.....
November was a fun quick month. Dancing a
few days after Thanksgiving with family members in attendance(we had Linda's
brother, Rick, in town from hurricane ravaged Gulfport), as we brought dancing
into a more relaxed family feeling for sometimes fast paced Gainesville.
Now we're getting ready for new year's
dance celebrations and the return of Gary & Peggy from Europe and the
northeast United States & Canada. They're a trip, as they say.
We'll party at our regular place on
the 30th and at Julieta's on the 31st. It's always mucho-fun bringing in the
new year with a celebratory dance or two.
Well we're trying to ready as many folk
as possible for dance camp this year. Thank you FFDC officers Terry, John and
Pat, and Dan, for all the energy you've given already for camp this year.....We
hope to corral a good bunch of us for this year's Camp Crystal affair. Polish
& Serbian sounds great!!!
----------------------------------------
OIFDC ANNUAL HOLIDAY PARTY
Pat Henderson says the OIFDC
annual party will be Wednesday, December 14, at 6:30. Location: Bobby and
Pat’s place in Orlando, of course!! It’s a pot luck dinner, so bring a dish and
also bring family members who are not ‘dancers’.
----------------------------------------
RANG TANG 2006
The
Atlanta International Folk Dancers announce their annual workshop, Rang Tang
2006, to be held April 7-9, 2006 in Stone Mountain, Ga. (metropolitan Atlanta
area). The teacher will be Shawn Donaldson, who will feature Bulgarian
dances on Friday night, and Armenian-American party dances on Saturday.
Musicians are not yet confirmed, but we hope to have a Bulgarian band for the
Friday night party, and an Armenian trio for the Saturday night party. Flyers
will be out soon! Contact person: Liz Nunan, liznunan@hotmail.com
----------------------------------------
SOFTWARE NEWS
… learning Greek on your PC!
To those going to Greece in October, 2006 with Lee
Otterholt and Jim Gold: Here is a
computer program to learn some Greek, plus 30 other languages, including
Yiddish, Thai, Arabic and Ukrainian. A voice speaks words and phrases as you
look at the transliterated words. You don't see the Greek letters, or at least
I haven't found real Greek letters yet. If you have a microphone, the program
will compare your pronunciation with the correct pronunciation. You can also
learn everyday dialogs. There are up to 5,000 words per language. It's pretty
easy to use and hearing the pronunciation is amazing.
It works on PC/Windows and Macs. It's called Languages Of The World, by
Transparent Language, Inc., ISBN 1-59251-045-0. I found it at Staples Office
Supply for $10.
--From Carol McGinn, formerly of Melbourne International Folk Dancers, now
living in Albuquerque.
----------------------------------------
SPRING FLINGSaturday, March 25, 2006*11 am – 11 pm *Previously advertised for April 22 and April 29, 2006, the new date is March 25th. Julius told me this date in an email 12-05-2005. The Port Orange Folk Dance Club will hold its annual Spring Fling from 11 am to 11 pm on Saturday 25 March 2006 at the Port Orange Adult Activity Center, 4790 South Ridgewood Avenue (US-1) Port Orange (South of Daytona Beach). Turn East off I-95 at Old Exit 85 (The Port Orange Exit) onto Dunlawton Ave., Turn right onto Ridgewood Ave (US-1) just before the bridge. The center will be about six blocks south of Dunlawton Ave. on the right. Corner of White Street. Parking behind the building. Sorry – no wood floor. Building is Air conditioned. Spring Fling is a full day of request international folk dancing and is, as usual, free to all dancers! Visiting instructors are asked to share a favorite dance or two to help "cross pollinate" our groups. Please invite your friends to join you in this full day of International Folk Dance fun. Of course, there will be plenty of refreshments. Again this year – an ethnic flea market! Bring those items you wish to sell: costumes, ethnic collectables, books, music, videos, etc. You keep all the proceeds!! This is not for the Olga Princi scholarship fund (unless you so wish). The purpose is to let you clean out your closets and shelves of great ethnic stuff – so you can refill them with different great ethnic stuff. It should be great fun! (Please tag items with your price and name before you place them on the sale tables. Thank you!) Everyone enjoys the exhibition dances by our own FFDC groups. Share your favorite performance dance with us. All individuals, couples, and groups are welcome!!! No pets are permitted in or around the building. -- city law!Questions? Problems? Suggestions? Please call or write Julius. See you in Port Orange on March 25th! Julius Horvath386-252-5738julhorvath@aol.comwww.folkdance.org
President’s note – all of this is AFTER CAMP. There
will also be a selling table at camp, note my note!
----------------------------------------
ENGLISH INFUSION DANCE WEEKENDby Catie Condran Geistcatiegeist@att.net Friday through Sunday, 13-15 January 2006. O'Leno State Park, High Springs, Florida. Philadelphia's Scott Higgs, caller and teacher. Florida's own Full Circle Band and Irrational Exuberance. An overstuffed weekend of dances and workshops showcasing English dance traditions old and new with something for everyone from novice to expert! For more information go to www.p2c2e.net/infusion E-mail Tara Bolker at tara@p2c2e.netCall 352-271-0046 $80 for registrations postmarked by December 20, 2005.
Last month, I (Dan Lampert)
wrote about Greek Dancing with my friend Dean, but he emailed me later, saying
“It is spelled Deane....long story....”. So, there you have it. The editor
regrets assuming the spelling of Deane’s name.
----------------------------------------
Reflections on Dance
by Dan Lampert
At
the Greek Festival recently, I discovered another purpose in dancing. It’s an
idea that I’d like you to carry forward to our dance camp in February.
There I was, in Daytona Beach on November
12, 2005, dancing underneath a clear night with twinkling stars. It was a cool
evening, and the moon was nearly full. We had danced much, and enjoyed Greek
food and wine with strangers -- people who spoke Greek at the table. I felt
like I was in a painting. And then came a moment when I was dancing shoulder-to-shoulder
with Deane, and I looked up at the moon (we were dancing outside near the bay
waters), and I stopped “thinking” about dancing. I just went with the “flow” of
everything around me. My eyes took in the entire scene, and my mind thought
once more about “why we dance”.
Why do we dance? I’ve listed many reasons
in these articles over the last 2 years, but at the Greek Festival that
evening, it all merged together. It became a feeling -- a feeling that I could
not express in words. I had to search for a while, but soon, I found the right
word -- “interconnectedness”.
In past issues, I’ve written about
dancing as a social thing, an exercise for the body, an exercise for the mind,
and something that’s inherently fun. There were many reasons. But when you
think of how dancing brings us together, and how it connects us to the world
around us, that’s a much “bigger” idea. And that’s the idea that I express with
the word “interconnectedness”.
So, with that, I end my articles for the
year 2005. I hope I’ve given you something to think about. Please send your
ideas to <dan@webuniv.com>. Have a
super 2006!
FLORIDA FOLK DANCER
Florida Folk Dancer is a
monthly publication of the Florida Folk Dance Council, Inc., a non-profit
corporation whose purpose is to further knowledge, performance, and
recreational enjoyment of International Folk Dance.
2005 FFDC OFFICERS:
President: Terry
Abrahams
813-324-1231
VP: John Daly
321-951-9623
Treasurer:
Pat Henderson
407-275-6247
-
Return
Address
FFDC
Newsletter Editor
Post
Office Box 151719
Altamonte
Springs, FL 32715-1719
USA
FIRST
CLASS
Secretary:
Jean Murray
321-952-7025
Editor / Dan
Lampert
Historian: PO
Box 151719
Altamonte
Spgs., FL 32715
dan@webuniv.com
Send all submissions to the
Editor during the last week of the month, to be published the first week of the
next month.
Copyright: articles in the
Florida Folk Dancer are copyright by the Florida Folk Dance Council, Inc., or
by their individual authors.
Subscriptions are $15 per
year and include membership in the Florida Folk Dance Council. The membership year runs from one Annual
Camp (usually February) to the next.
Members can receive the newsletter electronically if desired.
For more info: www.folkdance.org