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Kanapaha Botanical Gardens Performance

by Jack Seltzer

On a perfectly beautiful morning, March 29, under the big oak tree at the entrance to this fantastic botanical garden, Gainesville International Folkdance gave a performance for the botanical gardens’ Open House. This annual weekend event is now phenomenally attended by many in this and surrounding counties. Our performance began at 10:30 AM and the parking was full all the way back to Archer Road by that time.

Between looking at all the plants for purchase, delightful aromatic foods to eat and windy strolls down all the magnificent paths all over the woods and well displayed trails, we blew away the natural sounds with the great sound system (huge speakers) and our unique melodies, rhythms and new drum versions of some of our oldies.

We did a dozen dances from a dozen different countries, including Gori More, learned recently from Lee Otterholt at the NFO workshop.  We had our usual blast and I think we all tried to smile a little more when we weren’t watching what we were stepping on under the tree. See some of our photos of the fun event below. 

Berea College Country Dancers

by Caroline Lanker

On April 3, Gary and I went to see the Berea College Country Dancers perform at the Heart Missionary Training Institute near Lake Wales.  In the last issue of FFD I told you about one of their dancers, Priya Thoresen, who got her start folk dancing, along with her family, with Gary and me at our house.  We were eager to see how she had progressed as a dancer, and we were not disappointed.  The group of about twenty dancers, five musicians and the director/announcer presented a lively program of Danish, English and American country dances.   Only two dances were familiar to us – the dance I know as the Swedish Ox Dance and the English Gathering Peascods. 

They introduced us to some interesting aspects of English and American dances.  The program included some clogging dances and some Morris dances.  They indicated that Morris dancing is a living tradition in both England and the US, with new dances being created and groups of either men or women performing them.   A couple of American dances were done without instrumental music, with the dancers either singing or keeping time by stamping and slapping their thighs.  Several dances were done with various props including ribbons, pipes, and sticks. 

The performance was held in a relatively small space, in which the audience filled every seat and the dancers and musicians filled the whole stage.  So everyone got to see the performance up close.  Such joy and energy!  Oh, to be twenty years old again!

Top: Linda Seltzer, Peggy Kirkpatrick, an audience participant, Arlene Bargad, John Ward, Dea Browning, June Littler, an audience participant, Gary Kirkpatrick, Joyce Dewsbury, Jack Seltzer, Xylena Apotheloz. Above: Linda, Gary, Peggy, John, Dea, Jack

Above: Priya Thoresen and partner; men's stick dance;

right: women's dance with implements

Photos by Caroline Lanker

Gainesville Photos by Isabel Peiretti

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Sarasota Grapeviners

by Judy Merkt

April was a busy month for the Sarasota Grapeviners.  We had to say good-bye to a number of our seasonal members as they returned to their northern homes.  As I was whining selfishly about missing some of these folks all summer, one of our seasonal members, Kathy Fico, reminded me that their northern dance groups miss them all winter — I stopped whining!

We've also had reason to celebrate.  Long-time members of our group, Edith and Sydney Iwens, loved by everyone, just celebrated their 60th wedding anniversary.  At our evening break, we gobbled up one of Edith's famous cakes – it's bad when you have to bake your own cake, but nobody can compete with Edith's baking skills!  After stuffing our faces with cake and ice cream, Herb Falk led us (masterfully, I might add) in song, with Irving Berlin's "I'll Be Loving You, Always".  It was a lovely celebration indeed.

And on April 30, we celebrated World Dance Day (which is actually April 29).  I honestly don't remember how I heard about World Dance Day, but subsequent research tells me that World Dance Day was established in 1982 by the International Dance Committee of the UNESCO International Theatre Institute.  It is promoted by the International Dance Council, an umbrella organization within UNESCO for all kinds of dance.  Among the goals of World Dance Day are to increase the awareness of the importance of dance among the general public, as well as to persuade governments all over the world to provide a proper place for dance in all systems of education, from primary to higher.

Well, those are pretty heady goals, so we're starting small in Sarasota.  A couple of weeks prior to our last dance session in April, we announced to our members that we wanted to celebrate World Dance Day and asked each person to do two things:

1) no later than April 25th, to give us the name of a favorite dance from our repertoire to include in the planned program for April 30th

2)  to dress up that night – in traditional costume if possible, or else just something festive.

We gave all the dance names to Andi, who arranged the requests into a wonderfully exuberant, yet soulful program, and we had a simply grand evening.  The photos on this pagge show some of the exuberance!  Thirty-four people attended, with several visitors from other clubs.  That was an excellent turnout for this time of year here in Sarasota.  We hope to expand on our celebration of World Dance Day each year, but in the meantime, we were just happy to have such a wonderful crowd having such a wonderful time doing what we do best – dance. 

Gainesville dancers: Linda Seltzer, Gary Kirkpatrick, Mireille Perrotte , John Ward, Arlene Bargad

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Top: Andi Kapplin teaching, with Dmitri Babiak, Judith Merkt, Estrella Englehardt and Varda Ruskin. Above left: Estrella Englehardt leading Vira do Minho (Dance of Minho), a Portugese dance she choreographed. Above right: Bill Schwarz and Ann Kessler.

Photos by Caroline Lanker and Judy Merkt

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Dancing in Berkeley

by Pat Henderson

During my recent trip to California, I squeezed in a night of dance in Berkeley.  Karen Green, a former Orlando folk dancer, hosted me on Friday, March 21 and took me to dance in Berkeley.  It was my first time there and I was pleased to see Bill and Louise Lidicker and Mel and Ester Mann.  Bill and Louise were in Orlando for NFO, so some of you may have met them then.  Mel and Ester organize the Dance on the Water cruises.  It was good to reconnect with them. 

The Berkeley groups have folk dancing Monday through Friday at one location in a community park building with a wood floor.  Monday through Thursday, there are dances at different levels from beginning to advanced.  On Fridays, they have an all request night, except Fun Night once a month.  I went to a Fun Night with a Romanian theme.  They had a preselected program and every third dance was a beginner dance.  I had a lot of fun.  Karen enjoyed it, too, and may try to get back into dancing.  It was interesting how many couple dances they did and at least three of those were tangos!  They displayed the dances on a board, with each dance having a strip to slide in a slot. 

I had previously heard that they have a certain number of dances and that one dance is removed from the repertoire when one is added.  I noticed that they put on Dana (a Romanian dance we learned at camp this year) during the "intermission!"   The picture shows me with Sunni Bloland, who lives in the area.  Sunni taught dance at Berkeley for over 30 years.  She remembered her visit to Florida in the early years of our FFDC Camp. 

I also stayed one night with Pat and Al Lisin in Cupertino; Pat and Al came to our camp in 2001.  We were going to attend a dance party in Palo Alto, but my plane arrived too late.  We did attend a St. Patrick's Day Festival on Sunday, March 16 in Dublin, CA.  There we saw Irish step dancing and a wonderful band called Golden Bough. 

Pat Henderson and Sunni Bloland, in Berkeley

First place, youth: The Highlanders of Marshallville, GA, Scottish

First and fourth places, adult: Philippine Performing Arts Company (PPAC) of Tampa Bay, FL

World Culture Dance Competition

Azalea International Folk Fair’s third annual World Culture Dance Competition took place in Valdosta, Georgia on March 8, 2008.   Julius Horvath participated as one of the panel of judges.  Serena Huang, one of the organizers of the competition wrote:

“Thanks for bringing wonderful Mr. Horvath to us. What a gentleman who has stolen our (at least my) hearts.

“In 2008, the competition grew to 24 teams representing 18 countries, with youth (14 and under) and adult (15 and older) categories.  For 2008, we had contestants from Georgia and Florida.   The contestants are limited to amateur folk dancers.  The youngest dancer was five years old and the oldest was 60 years old. 

“I also hope our Azalea International Folk Fair and Dance Competition may build a partnership with Florida Folk Dance Council.”

See pictures below, of the youth and adult first place winners.

Mark your calendar for March 7, 2009, for the fourth annual competition. For more details, visit the website at www.gainternationalfolkfair.org and also enjoy video clips of this year’s competition at www.youtube.com/azaleainternational.  A video of the introduction of the judges, including Julius, is at www.youtube.com/watch?v=kd9N6KZJGPk.

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Orlando IFDC

by Pat Henderson

Our club has been a very exciting place the past month or two with many nights attendance reaching 20.  We have had a lot of out of town visitors including Bob Monaghan from N.J. who used to dance with us and also Margie Bohm, from Wisconsin, who was on the Greek trip with many of us.  Tom and Linda Black from Washington State have danced with us quite a few times.  Linda will be here through June, since their daughter is an intern at Disney.  Tom had to return to cultivate their grape vines. 

On April 19, Bobby and I, Palmira and Manuel Mora-Valls, along with Mary Jean Linn traveled to Frostproof for the Lankers' party to initiate their beautiful new wooden dance floor.  (See From the Editor.) We enjoyed dancing with the them, the Baizans, Virgina Marszal, and some local dancers. 

Also in April, Phyllis Dammer traveled to Gatlinburg and saw several ethnic dance groups during their International Week. Also traveling in April was Eva Gaber to California for a family visit for Passover.  Eva Meyer enjoyed a trip to New York and Connecticut.

On May 3, a few of us traveled to Lecanto for their Greek Festival.  It was one of the best ever and we were happy to see Gary and Peg Kirkpatrick, June Littler and Julieta Brambila from Gainesville there.  We had the band cheering our Tik!  The Greek Performing Group from Tampa entertained us when the band took a break. 

Our group held a post Cinco de Mayo party on May 7.  We had some Mexican food and did every Mexican dance that we knew.  A few dancers wore Mexican costumes or a combination with our club shirt (that we wear on the first dance of the month). 

Several Palm Coast dancers now come almost every week so we are counting them as regular members of our group.  I revised our directory to include them.  We bid goodbye for the summer to Joan and Wally Washington.  Ruby Durian, of Flagler Beach, left for the summer to her second home in Connecticut.  

Since there was so much other news last month, I did not write an article so I have to catch you up on March events.  First, I took a trip to the San Francisco area, Sequoia National Park and Big Sur with my sister and my aunt in mid-March.  See Dancing in Berkeley on page 3.

At the end of March, Juanita Schockey, Joy Herndon, Phyllis Dammer and Eva Meyer were part of the Class Act Variety show with three performances at their community, Fairways.  They danced Above the Rainbow, choreographed by Juanita with lines facing each other to look like dancers from Riverdance. 

OIFDC April 2: Margie Bohm, Joan Washington, Emilie Brozek, Wally Washington, Mary Jean Linn,  Eva Meyer,  Bob Monaghan, Joy Herndon,  Joe Birkemeier, Kelly Fagan, Lucy Birkemeier, Dylan Conway, Pat Henderson, Ann Robinson, Linda Black, Tom Black, Palmira Mora-Valls, Juanita Schockey, Manuel Mora-Valls

Photo by Bobby Quibodeaux

We will not dance on Wednesday, June 18, since several of our members will be out of town.  Also, we will take our summer hiatus in July and August.

OIFDC May 7, top: Ann Robinson, Juanita Schockey; Palmira and Manuel Mora-Valls, Betty Nehemias;

above: Phyllis Dammer; Kelly Fagan; Pat Henderson.

Photos by Caroline Lanker

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Letters

Editor’s Note: Kay Demos sent the following news, excerpted from a longer note, about Marianne Taylor.   Some of us met or at least saw Marianne at the NFO workshop in Orlando March 1.  Her picture was in the last issue of FFD.

Dear Folk Dancing Friends,

Some of you may already have heard this news, but for those of you who haven't....

Kay

--- On 4/21/08, Folk Arts Center <fac@facone.org> wrote:

Many of you have heard about Marianne Taylor's recent health issues which have landed her in the hospital twice in the last three weeks. 

Pain in her leg led to a course of action which resulted in the doctors finding that a sarcoma (cancer) has emerged.  She is soon to be under the excellent care of people at Dana-Farber, and she is very, very hopeful about the outcome.

She would like everyone to know that she is upbeat, feeling better, glad there is a diagnosis which is resulting in timely treatment, and looking forward to licking this and seeing you on the dance floor soon.

If you'd like to send her a note or card, her address is:

Marianne Taylor

If you'd like to submit something by email to be forwarded to her, send it here to the office and we'll include it in the Get Well Book we'll have.

--- More from Kay on 5/6/08:

The last update that I had was about four days ago.  She had undergone two surgeries and was preparing for a third.  She was very upbeat and confident that she was going to beat the problem.  The email sounded very, very positive.

“Dance to a Different Beat” with GIFD.org

Gainesville International Folkdance is proud to announce its two new catch phrases.  Gary and Peggy Kirkpatrick, along with June Littler, Julieta Brambila and others in the Gainesville area have been busy bees lately with these new babies!

The first catch phrase is “Dance to a Different Beat”, now on bumper stickers that Julieta and Gary have been collaborating on for the past few months. Wow – a fantastic yellow sticker with flashy black lettering we all are putting all over the place (I think Gary has three on his car).

The second catch phrase is “GIFD.org” – our new up-and-going website as of about April 20. Check it out. We’re hoping to put more photos, snippets of music, video of our dancing, etc. on it, eventually. Gary and I will enjoy working on that one with contributions from all the other regular dancers.   

Exciting, but we have to mind our P’s and Q’s over copyright laws on music (please inform us of what you know about using someone else’s music).

Anyway, we’re hoping all this new impetus will be successful in attracting new folk. We just lost Mireille Perrotte back to Brittany and the Gaspé Peninsula and our numbers are dwindling a little. We catch a mother (Heather) and cute five year old daughter (Iris) a few nights – they’re a refreshing blast of energy.

People have been coming and going a lot. Arlene and Charles, newly betrothed,  back and forth to the Boston area and now Vienna in August; Gary and Peg to Paris and Pennsylvania, Julieta to Memphis and South Florida, June to everywhere in Florida where there’s a women’s meeting, John Ward to the Philly area for his sister’s passing away (sad), and Dea Browning to all the local folk events.

Linda and I go to Orlando a lot and at the end of this month we’re off to Louisiana for our nephew Kevin’s wedding in Baton Rouge.  We’re ready for some crawfish.

Check out our new website some time and look for more timely info every so often as we work to keep it updated. Also if you’re interested in our new bumper sticker, give us a call.

Happy dance feet to everyone. – Jack

Recipes from unCamp 2008

Jajek (Cucumber Yogurt Salad)

3 cups whole milk yogurt         

1 1/2 cucumbers or 1 English cucumber

1 teaspoon crushed dried mint or 1-2 tablespoons fresh minced mint            

2 cloves garlic

1 tsp Kosher salt

Dice or grate cucumber (peeled, if waxed).  In a bowl, crush minced garlic cloves with kosher salt.  Beat into yogurt.  Stir in cucumbers and mint.  Refrigerate.  Put in serving bowl; garnish with mint.

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Easy Stuffed Grape Leaves

(about 14 grape leaves per recipe)

1 can Turkish vegetarian stuffed grape leaves (available at Publix and Sweet Bay; make sure you do not get the stuffed cabbage which is in a similar can.)

1 fresh lemon

2 cloves fresh garlic, minced or pressed

1/4 cup olive oil

1/2 teaspoon chopped fresh mint

1 teaspoon chopped parsley

1 teaspoon dried zante currents (optional)

5-6 kalamata olives (optional)

lemon curls or wedges (optional)

Put the grape leaves in a single layer in a microwavable dish.  Microwave until hot in 30 second bursts.  Set on counter.

Put the lemon juice, garlic, oil, herbs and zante currents in a microwavable cup and microwave 1 minute.  Pour over the grape leaves and let set, at least 1/2 hour.  Garnish with kalamata olives and lemon curls or wedges.

Serve warm or room temperature, with bread to sop up the lovely garlicy juices.

Wonderful Baba Ganoush

2 medium eggplant, peeled and cut into 1 inch cubes    

3 tablespoons olive oil (extra virgin)     

3 cloves garlic

1/3 cup sesame tahini 

2 tablespoons fresh lemon juice           

1/4 cup olive oil (extra virgin)

1/4 cup chopped parsley                                     

1/2 teaspoon paprika 

toasted pita triangles

Preheat oven to 450F.  Toss eggplant cubes, 3 tablespoons olive oil and salt and pepper in bowl.  Line a baking sheet with aluminum foil.  Spread out veggies. Roast stirring occasionally 15 -20 minutes.  You want them dark and crispy on some edges.  Let cool.  Combine eggplant, garlic, tahini, lemon juice, 1/4 cup olive oil, parsley and paprika in a food processor or blender and blend until smooth (or mash with potato masher).  Serve with pita wedges.

Note: The best eggplant is actually roasted over coals until charred and smoky, then let cool.  The skin is peeled off and the eggplant mashed with the same ingredients above.  The taste is subtle and wonderful!

FFDC Treasurer’s Report

May 1, 2008

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Tampa Two-Steps

by Terry Abrahams

We're all in flux as summer appears in Tampa.  Andi leaves next week for her sojourn to Vancouver, Ursula is in India and Bhutan as this is being written (April 27), Ken will go to camp again, Judith and Ernesto come and go very quickly, taking great advantage of their daughter's job at the airline – I continue to be jealous, but I too am off to the wilds!  First, I'm joining many other folkdancers on the Vasilescus’ last official tour through Romania - looks to be 29 people thus far, many from our camp.  What a ball we're going to have! That is in June; then in July I'll do Africa – finally – with Jodi!  A 25 day trip mostly in tents – should be intense – sorry, but I had to say it....

Spring Fling is coming; whether or not this newsletter comes out in time, I hope to see as many of you as possible. I'm sorry about the English Country conflict.  I tried to avoid it, but it's so difficult to find an affordable place at a time we can all make it. We're looking forward to hosting you in a new venue in Pinellas Park.   We're hoping to get another good response from former Tampa dancers. 

Tomorrow is a dinner to celebrate Wanda's birthday, Kathie's completion at USF, and my radiation is done and over!  For me, it's a great milestone – that's why I'm treating myself to Romania!  Appreciate all of your well wishes through this whole thing, but hopefully by the next time you see me, lots and lots of energy will appear – and my hair already has started to!   "And we should consider every day lost on which we have not danced at least once."

Events

May 17-18 Orlando Israeli Dance Workshop

With choreographer Shmulik Gov-Ari

Place: Jewish Community Center of Greater Orlando, HDS Multi Purpose Room

Schedule: Saturday: 7:30 - 11:30 PM; Sunday: 9 - 10:30 AM; 11 AM - 12:30 PM; 2 – 5 PM, followed by pot luck and request dancing

Price: Full workshop $60 at the door; also part time and family rates.

Directions: I-4, exit 90A, Maitland Blvd. East, turn R on Maitland Avenue, first R into JCC Parking Lot.

Contact: Julie: 407-645-5933 x238, juliev@orlandojcc.org or Debbie Meitin,

407-788-7277, dmeitin@cfl.rr.com

From the Editor

Since our last issue, spring has sprung and we have, collectively, been springing, leaping, hopping, and skipping around Florida, Georgia and well beyond.

Gary and I have been both hosts and guests as we enjoy dancing wherever we can.   Early in April we saw a performance by the Berea College Country Dancers. (See article on page 2.)   We were not able to dance at our house for a few weeks while we installed a new hardwood floor in our dance room.  That done, we have now had two dance parties to celebrate. 

The first party was on April 19.  Bobby Quibodeaux, Pat Henderson, Manuel and Palmira Mora-Valls, and Mary Jean Linn came from the Orlando area; Judith and Ernesto Baizan came from Tampa; and Virginia and Jean Marszal came up from Miami, all arriving in the afternoon.  Three Thoresens, a guest of theirs, and another local dancer, Emily, came for supper and evening dancing.   Only the guest was a novice dancer and she picked up steps quickly, so we did a lot of dancing that day.  The floor was pronounced a success, especially after it gained a patina of dust, which made turning easier.

On May 3, we held another dance party with a totally different set of people - all Quaker friends, including Lyn Cope, who is a Scottish dancer from Melbourne Beach, and Elizabeth Cave, a Quaker who teaches folk dance in London, England.  Elizabeth had recently been to Rwanda on a tour with the Friendly Folk Dancers – the Quaker folk dancers with whom I toured Florida in March 2007.  The other guests were all novices at international folk dancing, so all dances had to be taught.  We did Bare Necessities and Black Nag in honor of Elizabeth’s visit. 

On April 30, we attended the Sarasota World Dance Day celebration – see Sarasota Grapeviners.   On May 7 we went to Orlando for their Mexican night (a belated Cinco de Mayo celebration) – see Orlando IFDC.   It is such fun to dance with different groups.  Some favorite dances, like Dana, are reinforced, and we see some unique ones at each place.

Those of you who were at the annual meeting at unCamp or read the meeting minutes know that the Florida Folk Dancer will not be coming out every month as in the past.  I have agreed to do at least six issues a year and am aiming at eight.  They will probably be farther apart in the summer and more frequent in the winter.

– Caroline

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Please note: The Florida Folk Dancer 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!).

International Folk Dance Tours and Workshops

July 4 – 7 Israeli & International Folk Dance Weekend

Choreographer and Instructor: Ira Weisburd.  Workshops at all levels; special International Line Dance Workshop.

Place: Hudson Valley Resort and Spa, Kerhonkson, NY, www.hudsonvalleyresort.com

Price: (4 Days, 3 Nights): $450 (Double Occupancy)

Contact: Sasha Gottlieb, 212-929-5698, sashjac@rcn.com

View two dances choreographed by Ira Weisburd: "Sonata" and "Borat" at

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_r1irRTji44  and

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=188lKJOA5gw.

June 16-22 Historical Dance Summer Workshop

with vintage dance teacher Richard Power, et al

Place: Goucher College in Baltimore, MD

Schedule: June 16 – 22 Professional Studies in French Theatrical Dance before 1790; June 21 – 22 Weekend Intensive: Social Dances from the Renaissance to Modern Times

Information: http://socialdancestanford.edu/workshops.htm

June 27-29 Stanford Dance Weekend – Waltz, Swing and More

with vintage dance teacher Richard Power, et al

Place: The Roble Studio, Stanford, CA

Information: http://socialdancestanford.edu/workshops.htm

August 16 - 22 Mainewoods Dance Camp

Session 1, featuring Italian, Balkan, Israeli

Place: Camp Indian Acres in Fryeburg, Maine

Information: www.mainewoodsdancecamp.org

August 23 – 29 Mainewoods Dance Camp

Session 2, featuring: Scottish, Bulgarian, International

Place and website above.

May 23 - 25 Florida Folk Festival

Dance performances, workshops, and recreational dance each evening, along with music, stories, crafts and food; 2008 theme: cattle ranching.

Place: Stephen Foster Folk Culture Center State Park, on U.S. 41 in White Springs, FL.; 9 miles north of I-10 and 3 miles east of I-75.

Accommodations: Campgrounds, RV parks and motels in White Springs and nearby Lake City, Jasper, Jennings and Live Oak.

Price: one day $20, weekend $40

Return Address:

Florida Folk Dancer

3001 Conner Lane

Kissimmee, FL 34741

USA

FIRST CLASS

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.

2007 FFDC OFFICERS:

President: John Daly

321-482-6818

jdaly@palmnet.net

VP: Fannie Salerno

772-664-0580

fansale@aol.com

Treasurer: Jan Lathi

386-447-8396

amarjan1@bellsouth.net

Secretary: Willa Davidsohn

321-254-7090

annona2@earthlink.net

Historian: Dan Lampert

PO Box 151719

Altamonte Springs, FL 32715

dan300@dlc2.com

Newsletter Editor: Caroline Lanker

1963 S. Lake Reedy Blvd.

Frostproof, FL 33843

863-635-9366

lanker2@attglobal.net

Submissions: Send all 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