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Music: Andy Pollock is once again handling the music end.  I think everyone was happy with the program last year, so I’m happy he is doing a return engagement as the camp DJ.

Odds and Ends: There’ll buttons, T-shirts, and teacher CDs for sale and anything else anyone wants to sell (just tell me so I have tables there for you).  We’ll have our clothing exchange (don’t forget to bring what you no longer wear – preferably folky, but not necessarily,)  and maybe a small area for a silent auction if need be, a computer playing some dancing DVDs in the outside “nook” – I don’t know what to call it – if you have one you’d like played, bring it (I’m bringing the Daghestan dancers), and a few  games for those not dancing. Alrighty then – see you and your dancing shoes in Kissimmee on February 17.

Yuliyan Yordanov

Yuliyan Yordanov grew up in Doyrentsi, a village in the Lovech region of north-central Bulgaria, where he was immersed in dancing and singing from a young age.

He later completed his studies at the Academy of Music and Dance Art in Plovdiv, and for nine years worked professionally in Lovech as a traditional Bulgarian dance instructor, choreographer and artistic director of youth ensembles.

Along with his students, Yuliyan has participated in many festivals throughout Europe.

Since moving to the U.S. in 2001, Yuliyan has:

• worked, primarily with children, in the Bulgarian and Serbian communities in the Chicago-Milwaukee areas;
• started a recreational dance group in Chicago for Bulgarian adults interested in reconnecting with their tradition;
• danced in the traditional Greek dance troupe Mesoghios Greek Dancers in Madison;
• served as choreographer and artistic director for the Na Lesa Bulgarian Folk Dance Ensemble in Milwaukee;
• sung and played tupan with Malo Selo and Veseliyka, both based in Madison, WI

Yuliyan has taught at numerous camps, festivals and workshops throughout the folk dance communities of North America. He is presently based in Brooklyn, NY. There is a longer biography at

www.phantomranch.net/folkdanc/teachers/yordanov_y.htm

Andy Taylor-Blenis

Andy Taylor-Blenis will teach Scottish and Portuguese dances. She began international folk dancing as a young child under the guidance of her parents Marianne and Conny Taylor, cofounders of the Folk Arts Center of New England. One of Marianne’s passions was the Portuguese dances introduced by Madeline Green. Andy continues her work of reconstructing Portuguese dances.

Andy was certified in Scottish Country Dance at age seventeen. She is a graduate of the University of Massachusetts at Amhurst with a BFA in dance and minor in social anthropology. She continues to teach international dance through the Folk Arts Center of New England, Revels Inc. and Mass Movement, as well as in private and public schools and universities. In 2006, Andy founded and is the artistic director of Mladost Folk Ensemble in honor of her father, Conny Taylor. Andy is also currently artistic director for the RSCDS Demonstration Team and the Wheaton College Dance Group in Norton, Massachusetts. She continues to teach modern and jazz dance at the college level as well as teaching in local studios.  

Andy Taylor-Blenis in Portuguese Costume

Photo by Caroline Lanker

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Dancing with George Fogg

by Fannie Salerno

Friday January 6 started the George Fogg weekend in Melbourne Village, sponsored by our Brevard County Folk Dancers.  The purpose was to give international dancers experience with early American and English Country Dancing taught by an American icon, George Fogg. International dancers were given the first chance to register, then English country dancers.

The Friday night dancing started with George teaching English and then lapsed into international dances that he joined with us in dancing.

Saturday at 9 am George started teaching, carefully building on figures such as casting off, four hands around, and hands across (a star), from one dance to another more complicated dance. He encouraged elegant dancing with tips on styling that were helpful for everyone. By lunch, new dancers knew up the set from down and were progressing from one set to another.  Lunch was great – rolls and sandwiches of all sorts.

One o’clock found us learning triple minors and more complicated stuff such as wheelbarrow-like turns called pousettes. Then we tried some more advanced dances, which George made more fun than frustrating.

We broke for dinner on our own and came back for the evening, where we all danced a request list of international and American dances familiar to most of us and a few of the dances we learned during the day.

Sunday Morning we were back for coffee and breakfast cakes. George ran through some of the dances and had us select some we liked. His energy was amazing, matched only by Bernice. I hated to say goodbye to all my friends but realized we would be seeing each other at Presidents’ Weekend.

Thanks to Jean Murray, who coordinated the workshop.  She reports that 37 dancers attended and says that George was pleased that most of the attendees were international dancers – he had a wonderful time.

George Fogg workshop dancers - in front: Ann Robinson, Barbara Wallk, George Fogg, Kay Demos, Doris Wolman, Laura Nonamaker, Bernice Roth, Aurora Frew; standing behind: Charlie Dyer, Sandra Suplicki, Jan Lathi, Fannie Salerno, Virginia Marszal, Onie Senyk, Adrienne Hornstein, Carol Miles, Pat Henderson, Esther Mazor, Marian Baum, Betty Nehemias, Mike Mellen, Eldona Mellen, Catie Geist, Lou Davia, David Davia, Gary Lanker, Terry Abrahams, Ruth Ann Fay, Doug Falasco, Caroline Lanker, Jean Murray, Marilyn Frew, Willa Davidsohn, Bob Frew, John Daly, Ursula Tison

Photo by Jean Marszal

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From the Editor

FFDC Presidents’ Weekend is almost here! Have you registered? If not, you have missed the deadline for the package deal at the hotel, but you can still come. Check with John Daly or Pat Henderson to find out what options are available to you.

Once again, Florida folk dancers have been busy – dancing, of course.  There’s plenty of evidence of it in this newsletter.  Gary and I managed to make it to some of the events.   We caught the Holiday Party in Orlando and the George Fogg workshop.

See Dancing with George Fogg. One of the joys of the George Fogg weekend for me was seeing South Florida dancing friends that I hadn’t seen in a while. As part of the fun, David Davia brought two cakes, into one of which he had baked a peppermint. The finder of the peppermint, Doris Wolman, was rewarded with a dance in her honor.

The following day, Monday, I went to the Scottish dance group to find George dancing Scottish with us. The night after that, George Fogg called and taught our Tuesday night English Country Dance. The hall was filled from stem to stern with dancers – two rows of couples up and down the Community Hall .

There were a lot of newcomers to English country dance, so George dug up some simple early dances that were very energetic. Everyone loved that. He also taught Winter Solstice, a really complicated dance, and managed to magically make it happen. It was fun to watch a master teacher. His eyes were all over the room and he was right there if the set had a problem. He also got after all of us lazy dancers about styling.  It made a big difference in the way we looked. Now we have to try to remember what he taught us.

A typical scene from the George Fogg workshop, with George (far right) calling from the floor to help dancers who had difficulties with the figures.

Photo by Terry Abrahams

George Fogg

Photo by Terry Abrahams

George Fogg workshop: procession honoring Doris Wolman, the finder of the peppermint in the cake. In the foreground, from the right: John Daly, Aurora Frew, with drum, and David Davia escort Doris to her place of honor, followed by a procession of dancers lining up to dance for Doris.

Photo by Gary Lanker

On January 21, Gary and I held one of our occasional folk dance parties at our house.  As usual, we started dancing in the afternoon, broke for a pot luck supper and danced again in the evening.  This time we tried something new – we invited a bunch of our square dance and round dance friends.  Not knowing whether any of them would really be interested, we sent out a lot of invitations.  We were very surprised and pleased when 19 of them attended.

Tampa dancers Andi Kapplin, Terry Abrahams, Judith and Ernesto Baizan, Ursula Tison and Andy Pollock also came, plus five other local people.   Thirty-two people participated, including 22 who were new to international folk dancing. It was definitely a record for us; our dance room was jam packed when everyone danced. 

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The Tampa folks and one local person arrived mid-afternoon and we did as many requests as we could squeeze in before the others started arriving about 5 pm.  From then on, we did mostly beginner dances – circle dances, line dances, a couple mixer, and a “square dance” – Gustav’s Skoal.   When we found out one couple were of Finnish descent, Andi taught the Finnish dance, Halte Mich Fest, that she’s been doing in Sarasota. They were pleased as punch. 

Everyone participated in the dancing and seemed to enjoy it. Having the Tampa dancers there along with the newcomers helped a lot. Of course, we had to show off just a bit, too. With the Tampa bunch, we did Rustemul as a demo. Gary and I did a hambo after one of our guests asked about it. All in all, it was a successful experiment. I don’t know where it may lead, but we will try it again in the future. 

On January 25, we attended the Sarasota Snow Ball. See Sarasota Grapeviners. Sarasota has introduced some interesting new customs in their club. One is periodically recognizing one of their long-time dancers, as described in the Sarasota article and Marion Hoechner. Another is asking a different dancer each week to lead Makedonsko Devojce as the last dance of the evening. What customs does your club observe?

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Jeanie Whitehead

Jeanie Whitehead, born February 24, 1933, passed away at Mission Memorial Hospital in Asheville, NC on January 20, 2012. A memorial service was held for her in Bradenton on February 1. Another service will be held on February 11 in Franklin, NC.

Jeanie was a lifetime member of the Florida Folk Dance Council.  After moving to North Carolina, she kept up with our activities through the Florida Folk Dancer.  Contributions from her were published in the November 2006 and September 2008 issues, which can be found on the FFDC website, www.folkdance.org.

Jeanie’s son Craig Whitehead provided the following information.

Jeanie and her husband Culbreath (Cubby) Whitehead were among the co-founders of the Florida Folk Dance Council. They met in 1954 at the Methodist Youth Camp in Leesburg, Florida, when he was teaching folk dance and she was attending. They led the Sarasota folk dance group for many years. They gave performances around the state, with the highlight being at the Florida Folk Festival in White Springs, Florida, every year. In later years, they founded the Sarasota Scottish Country Dancers, again performing for Robert Burns Nights dinners and at White Springs.

In North Carolina, Jeanie joined a dulcimer group in Franklin and was on the Arts Council of Macon County. The photo al left, taken in 2007, shows Jeanie with her dulcimer.

In recent years, even though she was unable to dance anymore due to arthritis in her knees, Jeanie still enjoyed going to old-time dances and listening to the music and tapping her feet to the rhythm, as well as listening to Scottish Country Dance music.

Survivors include her husband, Cubby Whitehead, of Sarasota, Fl; son Craig Whitehead and his wife Paula of Candler, NC; daughters Randi Whitehead, of Sarasota, Fl; and Susanne Walker and her husband Mark and three grandchildren, Lincoln, Logan and Lucy, of Highlands, NC.

Jeanie is well remembered by long-time Florida dancers. Kathy Dudek (now in North Carolina) reports that she visited Jeanie in the hospital, along with Jeanie’s family. Catie Geist attended the memorial service in Bradenton. Judith and Ernesto Baizan remember the early years of FFDC, when Jeanie was dancing in Florida. “We have fond memories of special-occasion (New Year's Eve maybe?) potluck suppers and dancing in Cubby and Jeanie's backyard Quonset-hut dance hall at their jungle-surrounded Bradenton homestead.”

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Sarasota Grapeviners

by Judy Merkt

Our regular snowbirds are once again flying back into the Sarasota area and we are enjoying so much the annual reunion with these dance friends.  We love the swelling of our circle! This is also the time of year when we welcome many guest dancers who come to the area just for a week or two. They are always happy to be in Florida and we can't blame them one bit. Florida is such a joyous place to be anytime but particularly wonderful in December, January, and February. 

Another reason for celebration this time of year is that Andi Kapplin is back and teaching us once again – with her usual skill and grace. She does carry with her this season one thing she didn't have last season – lots of grandbaby pictures! Hopefully this child will have a dance brain like her Grandma Andi. Wouldn't that be a plus for folk dancing?!  In the meantime, Sam Rachel is busy being a happy growing baby girl.

At the Sarasota Snow Ball

Photos by Gary Lanker (top) and Judy Merkt

At the Sarasota Snow Ball: Left - June and Tom Morse; right - Marie Millett and Dmitri Babiak

Photos by Caroline Lanker

Another highlight of the evening was putting the spotlight (figuratively, at least) on one of our long-time dancers – Marion Hoercher. In the last year or so, we have been recognizing long-time Grapeviners by interviewing them and then reading a brief bio at our parties during the year. So far, we have done this for Andi Kapplin, Marie Millett, Eva Stunkel, and, at this year’s Snow Ball, for Marion Hoercher. It is quite interesting to hear our most loyal Grapeviners’ stories – not only their dance stories, but a little about their families, and their other interests and accomplishments. Even dancers who have known these long-time Grapeviners for years have been heard commenting “I didn’t know that about you …”.  So, we will continue to do these little bios every time we have a chance.

Turning to the future, our Annual World Dance Day celebration will be this April.  World Dance Day is officially April 29, but we may schedule it earlier in the month before all of our snowbirds "fly back," even if it means that it isn't during the last week of April.  Watch the FFDC website calendar for the date – a Wednesday evening, as usual.

Happy New Year, everyone!  Hope to see many of you at the FFDC Presidents’ Weekend workshop in February.  I think there will be about ten or more of us from the Sarasota group attending this year.

We held our annual Snow Ball on January 25.  About 45 people attended that all-request night. We solicited requests ahead of time and Andi had a playlist all ready, so we could spend all our time dancing – except for the break, of course, which we spent mostly eating. The club furnished drinks, including non-alcoholic bubbly, and dancers brought snacks to share.

We had invited attendees to bring any folk items that they no longer used or wanted and place them on “for sale” or “for free” on tables. The fully loaded tables drew lots of activity. No one got rich, but lots of fun was had by all. We will donate remaining items to the FFDC Presidents’ Weekend auction.

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Sarasota Member Profile -

Marion Hoercher

Condensed from the original by Judy Merkt.

Marion is originally from Pittsford, NY, near Rochester.  Her love of dance started with ballet, from before she was three years old until she was 17. Later, after marrying and bearing four children, she returned to ballet and danced in Coppelia at Christmas – before she learned that number five was on his way!  While her children were growing up, Marion stayed active with tennis (which she played until two years ago), swimming and water ballet. She is also an accomplished weaver and usually weaves most of her Christmas presents.

Marion's entry into the folk dance world occurred in 1986 when she moved to Florida several years after Frank, her high school sweetheart and husband of 33 years, passed away. Besides folk dancing with the Sarasota Grapeviners, Marion also does Scottish Country Dance with the Sarasota and Dunedin groups. 

Marion's five children have given her a total of 12 grandchildren and 10 great-grandchildren with one more due in April.

The last of Marion's passions to relate is her love of travel and has she done some!  [The original listed 36 countries Marion has visited.]

Marion - we're very glad you're here - thank you for being a loyal "Grapeviner".

Marion Hoercher

Photo by Caroline Lanker

Olga Princi Memorial

Scholarship Auction

by Judith Baizan

Hey, all you would-be donors, if you haven't already come up with a donation for the auction at Presidents’ Weekend 2012, there's still time, and here are more ideas: your never-fail fudge recipe with sample box of fudge, a special bottle of wine,  a potted plant or tree; a jar of honey from your local beekeeper; a selection of your own home made exotic cookies; an original pottery piece. Anyone into quilling? Donate a few cards. Or how about something you might do – a private or a group thing – a demonstration, a lesson, a concert, a talk? Just put your mind to it and come up with something interesting, of value, or clever and fun.

Please notify Terry (president@folkdance.org) of your donation idea as soon as possible.  The Auction Committee needs to have this information before the Presidents’ Weekend. Fill out the label that appears on page 13 of this newsletter, and turn in the donated item with the attached label (or the label describing a donated service) at the Registration Table when you arrive for the weekend.

We are thrilled with the quality of the donations that have been offered so far and expect that bidding may get fast and furious. One very attractive item, tickets to a Bok Tower Gardens concert with optional bed and breakfast at the donors' home is date specific for Saturday, May 5, 2012, so check your calendar before the auction. This would make a lovely gift, so be ahead of the game and check the possible recipient's calendar, too. By the way, there is also a Sarasota area "pair of passes with bed and breakfast" item on the auction list. Other dancers are coming up with unique offerings you will only be able to acquire at the Olga Princi Memorial Scholarship Auction.

Whether we're donators or not, let us all participate in the auction with enthusiasm, knowing that every dollar collected will fund scholarships for those who will keep the dances and music we love alive for the years to come.

Published

Gainesville folk dancer, John Ward, wrote an opinion piece that was published in the Gainesville Sun newspaper on January 9. You can read it on the Gainesville Sun website, www.gainesville.com.  One quick way to find it is to search the site for "Ward Keystone".  The title of the article is "John L. Ward: Keystone XL pipeline a bad deal."

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Gainesville Parties

by Jack Seltzer 

Folkdancing Gainesvillians danced the year away in 2011!

Gainesville celebrated the end of 2011 in style, with two parties in two weeks.  We just rocked our little ole hearts out! Actually it began with Mireille giving us some of her French cuisine by cooking buckwheat galettes (a word used in An Dro Retournè) on Christmas Eve at a potluck in her home. She served them to use in crepes. With the help of others’ brew and ale, we passed the evening dancing and relaxing together in her huge living/Florida room.

A week later it was time for our annual New Year’s Eve party at Jualene’s spacious home.  It’s always a fine showing in her kitchen/dining/dance room. This year, instead of turning off her big TV while we danced all night, we viewed ourselves dancing with her Russian performers in an old video. What a blast! It’s not very often we can see ourselves dancing with Russians while doing our usual Albanian-Bulgarian dance repertoire.

Now we’re ready for 2012! Finishing 2011 with two folkdance parties in the last two weeks is bound to pick you up! See you all at President’s Weekend.

Dancing, with our video on the TV. Clockwise, from left: Charles Willett, Diane Forkel, Bobby Quibodeaux, Linda Seltzer, Mireille, Pat Henderson, John Ward, June Littler, Arlene Bargad

June Littler, John Ward, Mireille, and Jack Seltzer doing Hot Pretzels

Our dinner table, with Max and Diane Forkel and Jualene Lewis

Mireille making galettes on Christmas Eve. The other photos on this page are from New Year's Eve

Doing Goralski: Linda Seltzer, Jack Seltzer, John Ward, Arlene Bargad, Mireille, June Littler,  Pat Henderson

Photos by Jack and Linda Seltzer and Julieta Brambila

Bobby Quibodeaux doing Agir Halay

Singing Auld Lang Syne at midnight: Diane Forkel, Nancy Starrett, Jack Seltzer, Alene Bargad, Charles Willett, Bobby Quibodeaux, Pat Henderson, Linda Seltzer, June Littler, and Jualene Lewis

[On a sad note, just as this issue of FFD was almost complete, Jack reported that Charles Willett passed away over the weekend (February 4-5) at the age of 80. You can see Charles very much alive and dancing on New Year's Eve in the photos on this page. Our condolences to the Gainesville folk dancers.

- Editor]

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Orlando International Folk Dance Club

by Pat Henderson

We held our annual Holiday Party on December 14 with a fabulous potluck dinner and dancing afterwards. There were around 25 in attendance.

Bobby and I and Phyllis and Ed Dammer enjoyed holiday trips.  Bobby and I visited Colorado the second week of December to ski and see our daughter. We danced with the Boulder international group one night and the Nederland (where our daughter now lives) international group on another.  We saw Tom Masterson at both dances; he was the teacher and leader of the Nederland group. To refresh your memory, Tom taught us Ukrainian dances at Florida Camp a while back.  Phyllis Dammer enjoyed a week with her husband, Ed, and family on Anna Maria Island for the holidays.

The club welcomed back Analise Mostert, from Holland, who will be here for three months.  She is now retired and can stay longer than she did previously. Laura Nonamaker is back in Florida to stay.  We are happy to have them both dancing with us again.

The weekend of January 6 was the George Fogg Weekend in Melbourne. Ann Robinson and I went for Friday and Saturday; Betty Nehemias and Jan Lathi came down for Saturday. Bobby joined the group for dinner and dancing on Saturday night. It was a good turnout and we had fun seeing George again. The same weekend, Kelly Fagan and Deane Jordan went to Tarpon Springs for the Ephipany celebration and the diving for the cross. We heard from Kay Demos, who was also there on January 6, that they had to throw a second cross after the first one was not found! Kay left Tarpon after the festivities and drove to Melbourne for the George Fogg Weekend.

Bobby and I took a trip to south Florida and danced with Ira Weisburd on Saturday, January 14, in Margate.  He had a large group of 50 people dancing with him.  We saw two ladies there who previously danced with our Israeli group in Orlando.  We saw a few others who used to come to our camp and also a couple from Washington, D.C. who were on the Yves Moreau cruise last September.

Top right: Pat Henderson explaining the dinner dishes, which included pork, lamb, tamales, plantains and vegetables, to Nicki Wise and Jan Lathi, with Palmira Mora-Valls.

Center right: Kelly Fagan and Deane Jordan singing Kelly's songs for Manuel from the spiral staircase.

Lower right: Manuel confirming that Palmira has a long list of "honey-do's" to keep him busy in retirement.

Our biggest news is that Manuel Mora-Valls retired from the Orange County 9th Judicial Court system at the end of 2011 and the club held a big retirement party for him on Wednesday, January 18. We started the evening early with a dinner. Palmira Mora-Valls made most of the food and sangria to go with it. Thank you, Palmira, so much, for a great dinner!  We had 32 people in our home. It was fortunate that it was a warm evening, since around eight of us dined on the balcony. When we danced, we had to make two circles to have enough room for everyone.  We are so fortunate to have such a friendly and happy group! 

By the way, check out the Croatia/Slovenia trip in July with Jim Gold (www.jimgold.com). Bobby will be the dance leader on the trip!

Photos by Bert Mostert

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Songs for Manuel

by Kelly Fagan

These are the songs that Kelly and Deane sang for Manuel Mora-Valls at his retirement party.

Song 1: to the tune of "Those Were the Days"

Now you've come to this, the next transition,

What you choose to do is up to you...

Barcelona calls, let's pause to hear it... (pose)

Catalan your blood and so are you......

These are the days, my friend,

To play and rest, no end,

To sing and dance, forever and a day,

You'll choose the fun, you'll choose,

You'll dance and never snooze,

For you are young at heart

and primed to play!

Lai, lai, lai, lai .....(all join in)

You'll choose the fun, you'll choose,

You'll dance and never snooze,

For you are young at heart

and primed to play!

Song 2: to the tune of "Girl from Ipanema"

Tall and toned, one handsome hombre,

The man from Barcelona goes walking,

And when he passes,

He smiles,

An hombre at plaaaaay....

Ohhhhh, all the time on his hands, now,

Ohhhhh, what will he choose to build, now?

Ohhhhh, all the places to see, now,

But he'd better find something to do,

Or Palmira will give him the shoe!

Tall and toned, that andsome hombre,

Manuel's the man we honor this Wednesday,

And when he passes,

We smile,

For he's finally free,

Oh! I wish it were meeeeeeee!

Song 3: to the tune of "Miserlou"

The Spaniard's retired now,

He's off to Spain

Renewed, we shall drop him off,

To take the plane.

Once he is there, we know he will dance and sing,

Kick up his heels and dance the Sardana fling.

Ooo, oo-oo-ooo, oo-oo-ooo, oo-oo-ooo, oo-oo-ooo,

The food and wine, the country devine to heee;

All of his kin, those sacred to him will see......

Song 4: to the tune of "Spanish Eyes"

Oh, Manuel's retired,

What will he do with his free time? Indeed!

Oh, now he's freeee,

All of his friends are hoping yet to seeee!

Aaaaah, how he's loved,

We wish you the best, dear friend,

All blessings above,

We wish you the best, dear friend,

All blessings above...

(cha cha cha)

…to Carol McGinn

Carol McGinn's husband Ray Baker passed away on January 24th in Albuquerque, NM. He was in failing health for the past few years. There will be a memorial dance in his memory in Albuquerque in the near future, probably February 15.

Condolences

… to Beverly Mann

Beverly Mann’s husband, Sonny, passed away on February 3. Sonny had been ill for several years.  Beverly is a year-round Sarasota Grapeviner. She has been pictured in the Florida Folk Dancer, most recently in group photos with Sarasota Grapeviner news articles in the July/August 2011 and November/December 2011 issues. 

I met Ray Baker at a folk dance club at Iowa State University, where he taught zoology.  I was a new instructor in the Physical Education Department in 1974 and was assigned a folk dance class.  So, I joined the folk dance group and met Ray on the first night. I was a "wall flower" and Ray chose me for a dance. When I heard the music for Salty Dog Rag, I knew I wanted to learn it and teach it to my classes. It's still my favorite.  

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Ray and his brother had square danced in college. When I was assigned a square dance class to teach, he helped me again.   When a social dance club formed at ISU, Ray and I joined it. The girls lined up to dance with Ray.   He could lead, dance a variety of steps, and talk at the same time – very rare for social dancers.

My mother, who lived in Rockledge, Florida, died in 1993. We came soon after to "settle the estate" and stayed until April 2003, when we moved to Albuquerque, where Ray's brother and his wife live. On June 29, 2003 Ray had his first seizure, fell out of bed and broke his neck.  Later in the decade he had another seizure, then a stroke.  His mind remained clear, though his mobility suffered.   I was able to continue folk dancing in Albuquerque (we have two groups) because a wonderful woman stayed with Ray when he wasn't safe to leave alone. Ray's brother and his wife are also dancers and live just across the Rio Grande River.  They have been wonderful and supportive.

February 17 – 20 FFDC Presidents' Weekend

Place: Holiday Inn Main Gate East, 5711 W. Irlo Bronson Memorial Hwy (US192), Kissimmee, FL

Time: 4:00 pm Friday to noon Monday

Contact: Terry Abrahams, 813-234-1231, tabrahams@tampabay.rr.com

Information: See Prez Sez.

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Events

Look for more event notices on the calendar of the FFDC website.

On the Web

February 20 Israeli Dance Workshop

with Dany Benshalom and Ruthy Slann

Place: Jewish Community Center, 851 N. Maitland Ave., Maitland, FL

Time: 7 – 10 pm

Contact: Debbie Meitin, 407-257-9147, dmeitin@cfl.rr.com

February 23-26 Greek Festival – Lecanto

Place: Archangel Michael Greek Orthodox Church, 4705 W. Gulf-to-Lake Hwy [SR 44 West], Lecanto, Florida

Contact: 352-527-0766

Information: www.stmichaelgoc.org/festival.html

February 23 Israeli Dance Workshop

with Dany Benshalom and Ruthy Slann

Place: Menorah Manor, 255 59th Street North, St. Petersburg, FL

Time: 7 – 10 pm

Contact: 727-392-3683, dlevine@tampabay.rr.com

February 24 - 26 Greek Festival – Ft. Myers

Place: Annunciation Greek Orthodox Church, 8210 Cypress Lake Drive , Ft. Myers, FL

Time: Friday and Saturday 11 am – 11 pm; Sunday: noon - 7 pm

Information: www.greekfestfortmyers.com

February 24 - 26 Greek Festival – Winter Haven

Place: St. Sophia Greek Orthodox Church, 1030 Bradbury Rd., Winter Haven, FL

Time: 11 am - 9 pm Fri. & Sat.; 11 am - 6 pm Sun.

Contact: 863-299-4532

Information: www.saintsophiawinterhaven.org/

GreekFest2012.dsp

February 25 Duquesne University Tamburitzans

Place: Palace Theatre, 7600 Nob Hill Rd., Tamarac, FL

Time: 8 pm

Information for all Tamburitzan shows: www.duq.edu/tamburitzans

February 25  International Festival

Place: Florida Institute of Technology, 150 West University Boulevard, Panther Plaza, Melbourne, FL

Time: Noon - 5 pm

Information: www.fit.edu/isss/international-fest.php

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March 10 World's Festival 2012

Sponsor: Rotary Club of Casselberry

Place:  Metro Life Auditorium, 910 S. Winter Park Drive, Casselberry, FL

Time: Noon - 6 pm

Information:  worldfestival.community.officelive.com/default.aspx

March 10 World Culture Dance Competition

at the Azalea International Folk Fair

Place:  Valdosta, Georgia

 Time: 10 am - 6 pm

Information:  www.GAinternationalfolkfair.org

March 16-18 San Antonio Folk Dance Festival

Teachers: Yves Moreau, Ira Weisburd, George Fogg

Place:  on the campus of Our Lady of the Lake University, San Antonio, Texas.  See the website, below for a map to the venues

Contact:  info@safdf.org

Information:  safdf.org

March 16-18 Spring Scandinavian Workshop

Swedish teachers

Place:  Boulder, Colorado

Contact:  spmorris@eccentral.com

Information:  norcalspelmanslag.org/ncsotherevents.html

March 23 – 25 Chicago Spring Festival

Teachers: Atanas Kolarovski, Ahmet Luleci, Ventzi Sotirov

Place:  International House, Chicago, IL

Contact:  847-331-7842

Information:  www.chicagospringfestival.org

March 31 Spring Fling

Place: Whirl & Twirl Square Dance Hall, 6949 Venture Circle, Orlando, FL

Time: 11:30 am – 7:30 pm

Bring food for pot luck lunch.

Contact: Pat Henderson, 407-275-6247

henderp@bellsouth.net

February 27 Duquesne University Tamburitzans

Place: Watson B. Duncan III Theatre, 4200 S. Congress Ave., Lake Worth, F

Time: 2 pm

Contact: 877-826-6437

February 28 Duquesne University Tamburitzans

Place: Huntington Pointe Theater, 6251 North Oriole Boulevard,  Huntington Pointe Community,Del Ray Beach, FL

Time: 8 pm Contact:  561-498-9861

February 29 Duquesne University Tamburitzans

Place: Tarpon Springs Performing Arts Center, 101 South Pinellas Avenue, Tarpon Springs, FL

Time: 2 pm and 8 pm

Contact:  727-942-5605

March 1 Duquesne University Tamburitzans

Time: 7 pm

Contact:  941-552-5325

March  2 Duquesne University Tamburitzans

Place: Fine Arts Theatre, Polk State College, 999 Avenue H NE, Winter Haven, FL

Time: 7:30 pm

Contact:  863-297-1050

March 3 Duquesne University Tamburitzans

Place: Atlantic High School, 1250 Reed Canal Road, Daytona Beach, FL

Time:  4 pm

Contact: 386-760-9623

March  3 – 4 Shen Yun Chinese Dance Performance

Place:  Straz Center for the Performing Arts, Carol Morsani Hall, 1010 N Macinnes Pl., Tampa, FL

Times: Saturday 8 pm, Sunday 2 and 7:30 p.m.

April 26-29 National Folk Organization (NFO) Annual Conference

Includes a dance party with a Bulgarian band.

Place:  Bethesda, MD; Hotel for the conference: Residence Inn by Marriott Bethesda Downtown; most meetings in the Lawton Community Center

Information:  www.nfo-usa.org

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International Folk Dance Tours

Please note: The Florida FolkDancer 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!)

Auction Label

Auction donors : please print or copy and fill out the following label for each item or service you are donating. See Olga Princi Memorial Scholarship Auction.

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ITEM ___________________________________________________________________________

SPECIFICS ______________________________________________________________________

________________________________________________________________________________

________________________________________________________________________________

________________________________________________________________________________

ESTIMATED VALUE _________ MINIMUM SALE PRICE___________ STARTING BID _________

DONOR ___________________________________________ 

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Item: Briefly, what the item or service is.

Specifics:  Important descriptive information like size, if new or used, date and/or city of an event, history, etc.  Additional information that could help the auctioneer build interest for the item could be written out on a separate card and attached.

Estimated Value: What it would probably cost to acquire this or something similar.

Minimum Sale Price: There may not be enough time to auction off every item donated so a few could end up in a silent auction or on a sale table afterward for purchase at this price.

Starting Bid:  Name an amount, or let the auctioneer set the starting bid.

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July 16-30 Tour to Croatia and Slovenia

Led by Jim Gold

Ljubljana, Zagreb Folk Festival, Split, Dubrovnik Summer Festival.

Bobby Quibodeaux will lead dancing.

July 22 - August 3 13th Seminar of Greek Dance

with Kyriakos Moisidis

Place: Northern Greece

Contact: moisidiskyriakos@gmail.com

Information: www.moisidis-dance.gr/en

July 31 – August 13 Hungary Tour

A Jim Gold tour; led by Adam Molnar

Budapest, Eger, Mezokovesd Folk Festival,  Jászberény Folk Dance Camp

July 21 – 29 Dance Vacation to Bali (Indonesia)

Sponsor: Armenia Holiday

Dance teachers: Tineke Van Geel,  Yves Moreau

June 9 –19 Tour of Norway

A Jim Gold tour, led by Lee Otterholt

Oslo, Bergen, Hovin, Voss

Contact for all Jim Gold tours: 201-836-0362, jimgold@jimgold.com

Information: www.jimgold.com

June 30 – July 10 Dance on the Water Cruise of the Lower Danube

Led by Mel Mann and Lee Otterholt

Austria, Slovakia, Serbia, Hungary, Croatia, Bulgaria, Romania

Contact: 510-526-4033, meldancing@aol.com

Information: www.folkdanceonthewater.org

October 7-20 Eastern Turkey

Led by: Jim Gold and Lee Otterholt

Kurdish, Pontic/Black Sea, Georgian, Armenian regions

5 day/4 night Istanbul extension: Oct. 20-24

Return Address:

Florida FolkDancer

1963 S. Lake Reedy Blvd.

Frostproof, FL 33843

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.

2011 FFDC OFFICERS:

President: Terry Abrahams

813-234-1231,

president@folkdance.org

VP: Judy Merkt

 941-379-6302 
jamerkt@comcast.net 

Secretary/Treasurer: John Daly

P.O. Box 500856, Malabar, FL 32950

321-482-6818

treasurer@folkdance.org

Corresponding Secretary: Pat Henderson

407-275-6247, henderp@bellsouth.net

Historian: Dan Lampert

dan300@dlc2.com

Newsletter Editor: Caroline Lanker

1963 S. Lake Reedy Blvd.

Frostproof, FL 33843

863-635-9366

editor@folkdance.org

Submissions: Send event notices for the calendar or the newsletter to Pat Henderson. Send all other 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