TEXAS INTERNATIONAL FOLK DANCERS

Contact Newsletter editor Sally Jenkins and eLetter editor Anne Schaffer with your news at editor@tifd.org. By emailing editor@tifd.org, you get both. Sally does the 4 quarterly newsletters and Anne the 8 eLetters each year. The deadline for sending in information for the August newsletter is July 18th and for the September eLetter August 26th.

Austin. Arguably the most important dance event of the last two months was the Richard Powers vintage dance weekend on May 1st and 2nd. Saturday night featured the Bizourka (a low-impact mazurka from Belgium and northern France) and a quick history of American line dances (from the first one, the Madison, to the present). Sunday included the Cross-Step Waltz, the Lindy Hop, Blues, and One-Step variations. Dance descriptions and other notes can be found at http://socialdance.stanford.edu/syllabi/2010Austin.html. For line dance aficionados, go to http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=I6pOXjQLh7Y to view the famous café dance from Jean-Luc Goddard's 1964 film "Bande a Part" (Band of Outsiders), which became a hit in Europe and was called the Madison, though it is actually the Hully-Gully.

AIFD elected new board members in May; Misi Tsurikov is the new president and Jay Elbaor is continuing on as vice-president. Genevieve Kent, the outgoing president (and the youngest to serve), left in mid-June for a second year-long stay in Eastern Europe. She will be mostly in Transylvania (Romania), where she hopes to audition for Hungarian dance groups. As a much-loved and long-standing member of Csardas, she will be sorely missed in Austin's folk-dance community. (Anne Schaffer)

Dallas. On April 18th Bulgarian singer Poly Paskova gave an afternoon concert at the Plaza Arts Center sponsored by Bulgare, the Bulgarian American Cultural Center. She is known for her contemporary treatments of traditional tunes. She received the grand prize for best-selling album of the year in Bulgaria in 2008 for her album "Luck." Traditional Bulgarian food and drinks were available for sale. (Anne Schaffer)

Houston. Spring was a particularly busy time for HIFD dancers. First came the annual Galveston Island beach party on April 24th, hosted by Toy and John Halsey at their beach house. Then came the annual Maypole Party—the 19th!—on May 2nd, hosted by Joan Furstenberg. (More about these in the August newsletter…I hope.) These were followed by the annual Accordion Kings and Queens concert at Miller Outdoor Theatre on June 5th. At one point I counted 16 HIFD dancers on the orchestra pit floor, spurred on by the energetic Czech, Cajun, Zydeco, and Tejano music. Two local ethnic-based folk groups resident in Houston gave their annual concerts in June as well: the Colombian Folkloric Ballet on the llth at Zilka Hall and the Houston Balalaika Society (with the Uzori Russian Folk Dance Ensemble) on the 19th at the Becker Theatre. The former made national TV when it performed at the 9th Latin Grammy award show held at the Toyota Center in Houston in 2008.

HIFD elected new board members in April; Kristin Lucas will continue to serve as president. John Clement has finished the tedious job of posting on the Internet Archive the folk dance music from the HIFD collection that is in the public domain. It is now available at www.archive.org/details/InternationalFolkDances. (Anne Schaffer)

Oklahoma City. A group of folk dancers has started a Balkan singing group that meets twice monthly. Their focus is to learn songs they can dance to in order to enhance their dance experience. Currently the group is all women, but they would love to have some men join. The OKC dancers have also been renovating a barn for dancing on Mark Cashion's property, called Wayward Hall. Right after the floor was finished, the group initiated the floor with a contra dance, followed by Trugnala Rumjana, which was sung a cappella as they danced. It was quite an incredible experience. Alice Byrd said, "Everyone was dirty and sweaty, it was dark, the moon was full, and we all had huge grins on our faces. I would say we all experienced a bit of bliss." The Balkan Singing Group was very proud and happy to be able, finally, to sing while they all danced.

Also in OKC news, Old Country Weekend is back! Save the dates of November 5th to 7th. It will take place at the usual venue on beautiful Lake Texoma. Organizers are looking at a new format this year, with an emphasis on live music, both vocal and instrumental. Don Weeda and Anne Alexander will have a big hand in that. Dances will be taught by local dancers rather than by a hired teacher. Stay tuned. Information will be posted at www.OKCifd.org in the near future. (Joni McSpadden & Alice Byrd)

July 25-31 and August 1-7, Stockton, CA, Stockton Folk Dance Camp. www.folkdancecamp.org

August 5-8, Socorro, NM, New Mexico August Folk Dance Camp. Zeljko Jergan teaching Croatian dances, Bare Necessities playing for English Country dances. www.swifdi.org

August 7-14, Iroquois Springs, Rock Hill, NY, Balkan Music & Dance Workshop. www.eefc.org

August 8-15, Raft Island, WA, Ti Ti Tabor. Hungarian Music and Dance Camp, with dance teachers Norbert Kovacs and Hortenzia Lorincz and music by the Duvo Egyuttes. www.tititabor.org

August 13-15, Folklore Village, Dodgeville, WI, German Folkdance Weekend. www.folklorevillage.org

August 15-Sept. 4, Fryeburg, Maine, Mainewoods Dance Camp. Three week-long sessions with different teachers and musicians each week. www.mainewoodsdancecamp.org

September 10-12, Black Mountain, NC, Mountain Playshop. This 25th anniversary camp features teaching by Jim Gold. http://mountainplayshop.org

TRAVEL OPPORTUNITIES

Several folk dance teachers lead tours and cruises with an emphasis on folk dancing. Here is a sampling.

Martha Forsyth:

Bulgaria

, from approximately July 30-August 16. Includes the Koprivshtitsa festival. Information from theforsyths@verizon.net

Petur Iliev: Bulgaria, August 2-14. Organized by his Dance Art Foundation, it includes the Koprivshtitsa festival and a visit to his home village. Information from natalia.sheljaskow@gmail.com or ipetur63@yahoo.com

Laura Shannon: Bulgaria, August 2-14. Focusses on women's ritual dances and traditions. Led by Laura Shannon and the Bisserov Sisters. Information at www.laurashannon.net

Tineke Van Geel: Armenia, September 2010. Information at www.tinekevangeel.nl

Jim Gold leads several tours to Europe each year. The remaining 2010 tours are:

TRAVEL OPPORTUNITIES

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