Another Pre-Camp Event!
Mark your calendars for this Saturday, 3p.m. CST

https://zoom.us/j/99158373518?pwd=dVh3dzhBTlVWV0l0QXdZQzhpQVp6Zz09
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To the tune of Space Oddity (with apologies to David Bowie)

Floor Control to Camper Tom
Floor Control to Camper Tom
There’s no floor this year; we’re dancing from our homes
Floor Control to Camper Tom
Commencing zoom feed, dance shoes on
On Thanksgiving day may our love be with you…

This is Floor Control to Camper Tom
Instead of hauling boards
We’ll be meeting on the weekend before Camp
For a preview with a special floor crew stamp

He-e-e-e-e-e-re is the zoom link you should follow
We-e-e-e-e-e’ll meet at three
We’ll share a snack or two
And then toast our gallant crew

Dear Campers,

In a normal year, we would be planning a little outing to Bruceville, TX the weekend prior to Camp to assemble the dance floor. That, of course, will not be happening, but be of brave heart, for instead we shall celebrate with a pre-Camp Floor Party, a Texa-Kolo teaser event (huzzah!!). This event will take place via Zoom from 3:00-5:00 CST on Saturday, November 21st. We’ll do some awesome dances, watch historical footage of authentic Texas […]

Kypseli Greek Dance Center

Virtual Holiday Party
with
DROMENO
Saturday, December 5, 2020
12 noon PT,
2 pm CT,
3 pm ET,
22:00 in Greece

via YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=NogcWuRHjqk
and Zoom: https://zoom.us/j/99879798930
Dromeno will play live music from their home in Seattle, WA

Invite others to this workshop!
Capacity expanded to 500 people.

Kypseli is presenting a series of workshops to support our Greek dance teachers, musicians and community during this difficult time.

Kypseli would like to return as a Greek music and dance venue.  Though we cannot meet in person, we want to stay connected to all of our supporters and participants.

We hope to come back to dance together as soon as it is safe to do so!

No fee to join but donations welcome.
Donate via PayPal to moc.loa@0301namlibfezoj, or via VENMO @jozef-bilman.
For alternate ways to donate e-mail Jozef or leave a message at 323-660-1030,
or e-mail Anne at moc.liamg@esperox.

Day: Wednesdays every other week
Time: 7:30-10 PM ET
Food: Bring a snack to eat (ok, in your own home)

NEW: A separate window will show the dance names!

MFD’s next parties:
Wednesday July 1 [Celebrating July b’days and anniversaries]
Wednesday July 22  [skipping a week because of virtual Stockton]

Always the same link: http://tinyurl.com/MFDparties
Zoom credentials should be unneeded, but here they are:
ID: 846 8641 6549
Password: 333333

Coming to you all the way from California…

…a playlist of Different Versions of the music we typically dance to. Some great and interesting arrangements and groups. Some you can dance to, all are interesting to listen to.

Click HERE to go to the playlist. Info about the dances below:

1. Kaim Krasniqi – does an Albanian version of the dance ‘Made in Romania’; dance is by Sonia Dion and Cristian Florescu.
2. Matt Dubb – Performs a slower, more melodic version of ‘Adama V’shamayim’; dance is by Gadi Bitton.
3. The Pennywhistlers – In 1966 perform ‘Shto Mi e Milo’. Usually danced to a Lesnoto, a folkloric dance.
4. Argir Manassiev – While we’re on ‘Sto Mi e Milo’, here’s a 1908 version from the Gevgelian area of Macedonia.
5. Bob Chilcott with the Fairfield Children’s Choir – A choral version of ‘Mairi’s Wedding’; dance devised by James B Cosh.
6. Loituma – A Finnish group performing ‘Tokyo Polka’; dance by Richard Powers. Some groups regularly use this version of the song for the dance.
7. Caatrin Finch – with an orchestra plays a peppy version of ‘

California has been busy! Here’s another playlist:

To pass the time….

… here’s a YouTube playlist with live performances of the dances we love to listen to and do, by the artists we’re most familiar with. Youtube links to the dances themselves are in the below descriptions.

1. Николина Чакърдъкова – Сватба е (Nikolina Čakardakova) – Sings the song ‘Svatba’, for the dance ‘Svatba’ by Belčo Stanev, taught in the US by Lee Otterholt.
2. Joe Dassin – Sings the song ‘Les Champs Elysee’, for the dance ‘Champs Elysee’, by Ira Weisburd.
3. Ileana Ciuculete – Sings the song ‘Ciorba de Curcan’, for the dance ‘Ciorba de Curcan’ by Sonia Dion and Cristian Florescu. Don’t see a video for this, so here’s one for another of their dances, ‘Opinca’.
4. Kiyoshi Hikawa – Sings the song ‘Tokimeki no Rumba’ for the dance ‘Tokimekino Rumba’, by Iwao Tamaoki. Also, here’s a video of ‘Baseball Ondo’.
5. Nicolae Gribincea & Plaiedii – Sings the song ‘La Bordeiul Cel Din Vale’, for the dance ‘La Bordeiul Cel Din Vale’ by Ira Weisburd.
6. The Oak Ridge Boys – Sing the song ‘Elvira’, for the dance ‘Elvira’, couple choreographer unknown.
7. Hatsune Miku – ‘Sings’ the song for the dance ‘Levan Polkka’, for the […]
   

From California:

Next up is a playlist of dances we do that done at parties, weddings, outdoor events, festivals, etc.

Click here for FD – Dances During Life – v1

Adony and Becky, part of the Peninsula Folk Dance Team

First lists of YouTube links of dances and related videos were being sent around. Then folk dancers started organizing online dancing events using Facebook Live, and Zoom!

Wow! I’m starting to be overwhelmed with the amount of information being dumped into my inbox. Now, I’m thinking I should relay that information to the dancers in my local groups. Well, of course, I should!

So, I’m dusting off my old website. I haven’t done anything other than installing all those WordPress and Avada updates for the last couple of years. My plan is to change it to blog format and publish the events I think are interesting, and then it will be a place for my dancers to go to look for things to do. I’ll also publish a newsletter, at least to let everyone know about this website.

It’s getting exciting! First folk dance party on March 28!

Thursday, March 12, was the last Surrey folk dance evening and was also Marj’s 80th birthday party. The party was planned ahead, before we knew about the coming virus crisis. Events of more than 250 people were still allowed, but by the next week, the schools were shut down. Actually it was Spring Break which gave authorities time to think, but it didn’t take long to decide to close the schools. Now gatherings of pretty much any size are forbidden. So SIFD is cancelled.

Social distancing was starting to be recommended so we had our party and danced individual dances. Some people were worried and didn’t attend, including Marj, so we had her birthday party without her. See SIFD final newsletter here. Birthday party photos and movie are in the newsletter.

Tuesday, March 17, was going to be Burnaby Folk Dancers St. Patrick’s Day party. On Sunday, March 15, the reminder email went out and the party was going to happen… but it was finally cancelled on Monday, March 16. The situation was changing so fast! See BIFD final newsletter here.

Sunday dancing in my home also cancelled as of Sunday, March 15.

Over the weekend of March 6 to 9, 2020, the world changed. The COVID-19 virus was sweeping the world and “social distancing” became a common phrase. Before that weekend, washing hands and using hand sanitizer were the things to do; afterwards, self-isolation, quarantine, sequestering at home, whatever you want to call it was recommended. Any gatherings of more than 1000 people, then more than 250 people, then 100, then 50, then finally I heard today, no more than 5 people should gather together.

Folk dance events were being cancelled, including our fabulous Lyrids Folk Dance Festival! It is postponed an entire year. Will the world be back to normal then? We hope!

The weekend of March 6-9, 2020 was the Laguna Folk Dance Festival, and what an amazing festival it was. We were sheltered there from the reality growing in the world, particularly China, Italy, and Iran. Other countries soon followed. None of us there realized that the Laguna festival would be the last folk dance gathering for a very long time.

Hard to believe that was only 2 weeks ago.