inside this issue: 2013 dance award recipients texas camp 2013
TRANSCRIPT
NewsMay–July 2013
Volume 33, Issue 2www.tifd.org
Inside this Issue:
TIFD Board of Directors 2Next Board Meeting 2Calendar of Events 3Travel Opportunities 3News from Local Groups 4New Mexico August Folk Dance Camp: 30 Years & Counting! 5TIFD History – 1949 to 2013 5European Spring Trip 7Csárdás in Houston 8
2013 Dance Award Recipients
Two longtime TIFD members received awards at the 2013 San Antonio Folk Dance Festival.
Janice Mendelson (2013 National Dance Award)Dr. Janice Mendelson was born in EI Paso and spent most of her youth growing up in Tientsin, China. It was a wonderful experience in an international community that included military officers and missionaries from many countries. She returned to the U.S. to complete her last year of high school and to attend medical school. During the Vietnam War, she served near Saigon as a general surgeon and surgical and rehabilitation advisor. She did not know what her future profession would be, but knew she somehow would find a way to get people of diverse nationalities to know and appreciate each other, sharing their talents as she had learned to do from her Tientsin classmates. Dr. Mendelson eventually transferred to Ft. Sam Houston and, upon her retirement from the Army, settled in San Antonio. She felt it was time to start an Inter-national Folk Culture Center. Upon visiting Our Lady of the Lake University, she realized she had found the location of her dreams. With Dr. Mendelson’s assistance, the International Folk Culture Center (IFCC) at OLLU was officially opened in 1991. It is a place where groups and individuals of many different nationalities come to share their dances, their customs and their cultures. Although participants often do public performances, the real purpose of the IFCC is to bring people into a family atmosphere that shares the fun of dancing and celebrates each culture’s diversity. Dr. Mendelson sees a close connection between the principles and spirit of the IFCC and those of OLLU.
Lissa Bengtson (2013 Texas Dance Award)In her hometown of Austin, Texas, several influences converged to turn Lissa into a folk dancer. She grew up knowing that her parents had met during a “Paul Jones” (mixer) at a USO dance during World War II. Saturday nights during her childhood were spent watching the Lawrence Welk show, making Lissa think “I want to polka and waltz like Bobby and Sissy!” Finally, in high school, Lissa’s friend Ann Coltman took her to Saturday night dancing with the Austin International Folk Dancers.
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Janice Mendelson
Texas Camp 2013
Help us spread the word about our wonderful folk dance camp. We’ll be returning to Greene Family Camp again this Thanksgiving weekend, and we will be dancing in the dining hall again. Featured teachers, Steve and Su-san Kotansky, will present Hungarian couple dances and Balkan line dances, with a special focus on the dances of Albania. You can find more informa-tion at http://tifd.org/texas-camp/
Page 2 May–July 2013 TIFD News
Deadline for the next issue of TIFD News is
July 18
The TIFD Quarterly Newsletter is published on the first of the month, in February, May, August, and November; the eLetter is sent on the first of the remaining months. Send news to [email protected]. Articles received after the deadline may be postponed until the next issue or the next eLetter. Deadline for the June eLetter is May 24.
TIFD News is published four times a year for the members of Texas International Folk Dancers, a non-profit educational organization. Submissions for publication are welcome, yet subject to editing. All opinions expressed are those of the author exclusively. Material herein may be reproduced with the editor’s permission.
CALENDAR LISTINGS: Send email to [email protected] and [email protected].
ADDRESS CHANGES: For newsletter mailing list or TIFD Member Directory, contact TIFD, PO Box 4516, Austin, TX 78765, Attention: Chuck Roth, 512-453-8936, [email protected].
SOUTHWEST FOLK DANCE DIRECTORY: Contact board@tifd org if you want to take on this project.
GENERAL CONTRIBUTIONS: Email [email protected] or mail to TIFD News, PO Box 4516, Austin, TX 78765.
TIFD Board of Directors
Lissa Bengtson, President [email protected] Bloom [email protected] Bostwick [email protected] Chadwick [email protected] Clement [email protected] Karner [email protected] Talbot, Vice-President [email protected] Tsurikov, Secretary [email protected] Kathleen Yoder [email protected]
Ex-OfficioTIFD Treasurer: Georgia Horn [email protected] Chair: Chuck Roth [email protected] Camp Co-Chairs: Genevieve Kent Elbaor [email protected] Elbaor [email protected] News Editor: Jasmine Guha-Castle [email protected] Recognition Chair: Elaine Moczygemba
Next Board Meeting
The next TIFD Board meeting will be on May 25 in Farmington Commons [condos], 2611 Eisenhauer RD Unit 1007, San Antonio 78209, phone 210-332-0032. If you have an item you would like the Board to consider or if you would like to attend, please contact [email protected].
Eventually, Lissa became an avid international folk dancer. In addition to AIFD, she danced with Csárdás, then found dancing in every city she moved to, from the Fort Worth Folk Dancers to Boulder’s Narodno/Tapestry performing group, to Tulsa IFD and the Tulsa Contra Dancers. After putting down roots in San Antonio, she danced with the South Texas Polish & Romanian Dancers, the Bluebonnet Scottish Country Dancers, and became Director of the International Folk Culture Center in 2008. In 2010 Lissa was treasurer for the annual Texas Line Dance Jamboree, and also became a Zumba® instructor, eventually qualifying for every type of Zumba license. She still teaches folk dancing, line dancing and Zumba® at the IFCC and elsewhere. Lissa has participated in many National Square Dance Conventions as a contra caller and calls for contra groups throughout Texas and Oklahoma. She is current president of the Texas International Folk Dancers and part of the steering committee of the San Antonio Folk Dance Festival.
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2013 Dance Award Recipientscontinued from page 1
Lissa Bengtson
Page 3 May–July 2013 TIFD News
Calendar of Events
May 17-19 Santa Barbara, CA. Statewide Folk Dance Festival. Featuring Iliana Bozhonova and Andy Taylor-Blenis, Veterans Memorial Building, 112 W. Cabrillo Blvd. http://socalfolkdance.com/statewide
May 24-26, Ennis, TX, National Polka Festival, featuring 14 polka bands, Czech food and cultural events. http://www.nationalpolkafestival.com
May 30-June 2 June Camp International Folk Dance weekend. Featuring Iliana Bozhanova (Bulgarian) and Jaap Leegwater (Dutch and ‘Whats hot in Europe’) and live music with Maimon Miller, Todor Yankov, Jaap Leegwater and others at Beloit College, Wisconsin. Email: [email protected] or call Mady Newfield 630-584-0825. http://sites.google.com/site/junecampifd
June 7-9, San Antonio, TX, Texas Folklife Festival. http://texasfolklifefestival.org
June 8-15, Mendocino Woodlands, CA, Scandia Camp Mendocino 2013. Swedish and Norwegian music and dance. http://scandiacampmendocino.org
June 22-29, Mendocino Woodlands, CA, Balkan Music and Dance Workshop. Info: http://eefc.org June 30-July 7, Littleton, NH, Camp Ogontz, Nordic Fiddles and Feet. Swedish and Norwegian music and dance. www.nordicfiddlesandfeet.org July 21-28 and July 28–August 4, Stockton, CA, Stockton Folk Dance Camp. www.folkdancecamp.org
August 1-4, 2013 Socorro, NM. Southwest International Folk Dance Institute, 30th annual New Mexico August Folk Dance camp. See story this page.
August 4-11, Raft Island, WA, Ti Ti Tábor, Hungarian Music and Dance Camp, with teachers Norbert ,Kovács and Beáta Gaschler, singing by Erika Juhász, and music by Düvö Együttes. www.tititabor.org
August 10-17, Iroquois Springs, Rock Hill, NY, Balkan Music and Dance Workshop. www.eefc.org
August 18-24 and August 25-31, Freyeburg, ME, Mainewoods Dance Camp. Two week-long sessions with different teachers and musicians each week. www.mainewoodsdancecamp.org
August 30-September 2 Camp Angelos, OR (near Portland). balkanalia! Dimitrios Kontogiannis and Jaap Leegwater, teachers. http://balkanalia.org
November 28-December 1 Bruceville, TX. Texas International Folk Dancers Texas Camp. Steve and Susan Kotansky teach Hungarian, Albanian, and Balkan dances. www.tifd.org
Travel Opportunities
Jim GoldMay 7-12, 2013, Amsterdam, led by Jim Gold and Tineke van GeelMay 12-23, 2013, Armenia, led by Jim Gold and Tineke van GeelJune 9-24, 2013, Poland, led by Richard SchmidtJune 15-25, 2013, Norway, led by Lee OtterholtJuly 28-August 11, 2013, Bulgaria, Macedonia, and Greece, led by Jim GoldJuly 30-August 12, 2013, Hungary, led by Adam MolnárOctober 6-18, 2013, Albania and Corfu, led by Jim Gold and Lee OtterholtMarch 8-21, 2014, Israel, led by Jim Gold with Dr. Joe FreedmanMay 4-15, 2014, Armenia, led by Jim Gold with Tineke Van GeelJune 29 - July 11, 2014, Greece, Santorini July 10 - 13, led by Jim Gold and Lee Otterholtwww.jimgold.com
Mel MannJune 26-July 13, 2013 City of Prague 2013 Three Rivers Cruise, led by TBDSeptember 3-19, 2013, India’s Golden Triangle and Hooghly River, dancing led by TBDwww.folkdanceonthewater.org
Yves and France MoreauJune 15-26, 2013 Cruise Italy and Croatia --Anniversary Cruise for Yves 65th birthday. guest teacher Zeljko Jergan - Croatian dances) www.folkdancecruise.com
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News from Local Groups
Tulsa International Folk Dancers celebrated our 44th year as an organization with dinner and dancing on Friday night, March 1. We started with a delicious pot-luck of international foods, followed by folk dancing to live accordion music by Nick Bratkovich. Tulsa IFD members were joined by some guests from the German American Society of Tulsa (GAST) as well as the Tulsa Accordion Band (invited by fellow accordion player Jan Erdman). The only “first-nighter” in attendance this year was Katherine Hanson, who has been a member of our group since its founding in 1969. Several of the Tulsa IFD scrapbooks were on display to help bring back memories of days gone by.
Nick Bratkovich with some of the dancers. Members of Tulsa IFD and GAST
Nick Bratkovich played accordion and sang.
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TIFD History – 1949 to 2013by Chuck Roth
Texas International Folk Dancers started out as a group of folk dancers who got together very informally to hold a folk dance camp. The first camp was held in Dallas in January 1949 with Jane Farwell as staff. Another camp was held Thanksgiving 1949, and a camp has been held every Thanksgiving since that time. Under the leadership of Roy and Zibby McCutchan camp moved to Bastrop State Park in 1954 and remained there through 1966. When the park tore down the dance hall, camp moved to Camp Hoblitzelle (a Salvation Army camp near Midlothian), and in 1979 we moved to Greene Family Camp near Waco. After many years of dancing on a hard floor, TIFD undertook the construction of a portable wood floor. John Alexander designed the floor and supervised its construction. This engineering marvel was first deployed in 1991, and dancers at Texas Camp have enjoyed dancing on it every year since that time. In 1963, under the leadership of Alan Barnes, Texas International folk Dancers was formally organized and incorporated as a non-profit educational organization. The primary activity of TIFD continued to be putting on an annual Thanksgiving Folk Dance Camp. At that time, the Board of Directors consisted of past presidents of camp and representatives from every folk dance group in the area. The Board continued to grow in size until it could no longer transact business effectively. For this reason, and because of the need to expand its activities, TIFD was reorganized in 1979, and new bylaws were adopted. Since that time, TIFD has been governed by a 9-member Board of Trustees, with 3 members elected each year. These are the purposes for which TIFD was organized, as stated in the Articles of Incorporation:
“The purpose for which the corporation is organized is educational to wit:1. To promote or sponsor educational courses in
traditional folk dances, arts, and crafts native to a variety of countries.
2. To promote or sponsor educational courses and materials for teachers, instructors, recreational leaders, and interested persons in the use of folk dances, arts, and crafts for physical education, recreational, and social purposes.
3. To disseminate information relating to its purpose among its members and interested persons.
4. To encourage and assist local groups with programs or interests similar to that of the corporation’s or to charter local groups to carry out the corporation’s purpose.
5. To engage in such other ancillary activities as may be necessary to carry out the corporation’s purpose.”
New Mexico August Folk Dance Camp: 30 Years & Counting!
By Dorothea Migliori
From Francisco Vasquez de Coronado, who came searching for gold in the 16th century, to the scientists of the Manhattan Project, who came searching for an end to the Second World War, New Mexico has always been a place for seekers. lts eclectic mix of Hispanic, lndian, and Anglo cultures; its dramatic landscapes of rose-colored deserts, stark mesas, and snow-capped peaks—all contributed to its nickname, “The Land of Enchantment.” It would seem natural, then, that a folkdance camp dreamed up by dancers in Santa Fe and Albuquerque would reflect this mix of sophistication and simplicity, and so it has for each of its 30 years. For four magical days, New Mexico August Camp offers an island in time. Tucked away from the world on the pretty campus of New Mexico Tech in tiny Socorro, NM, just an hour south of Albuquerque, it attracts world-class teachers and a wide range of dancers from all over the United States and even farther afield. August Camp strives to be challenging and fun, restful and exciting, startling and familiar, silly and serious, friendly and easy, all in an atmosphere that, like New Mexico itself, is designed to be enchanting. Laughter is one of the special benefits of camp, especially at mealtimes and at the start of every party. Our offbeat themes have ranged from Lemon Lime to Cowboys & Aliens, making for some hilarious costumes that add spice to every evening. The party programs are carefully balanced to mix couple, line, and classic dances in near-perfect proportion. August Camp is also unusual in that children are not only welcomed, but also are invited, and those ages 3-12 will find a fully realized program of activities waiting for them, including dance lessons with our teachers. Over the years, August Camp’s teaching staff has read like a directory of the most-respected folk dance teachers. This year, Sonia Dion and Christian Florescu will return to regale us once again with their irresistible charm and their joyful presentation of excellent Romanian dances. ln addition, Roman Lewkowicz will bring us Ukrainian dances of the Carpathian Mountains-—his first time at August Camp, and the first time we will be learning dances of this region. African dance teacher Romy Keegan will also be at Camp, sharing her 20 years of expertise and the warmth of her smile with all who want to add yet another layer to their camp experience. Every level of dancer will find something to enjoy in our special 30th anniversary year. We hope you will decide to join us for a four-day vacation with 100 of your newest best friends. We look forward to welcoming you! For more information about this year’s camp, visit us on the Web at www.swifdi.org, or contact our registrar, Charles Cummings, at (505) 256-3807 or [email protected].
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Publication of TIFD News began in 1979 and continues to this day. In 1989, TIFD completed publication of a national folk dance directory. The TIFD eLetter was added in 2005 to keep members up-to-date between issues of the TIFD News.
In recent years, TIFD has sponsored live music workshops, a folk dance teacher training workshop, and a folk dance leadership workshop. In 2000-2001 TIFD held a series of long-range planning sessions, which were facilitated by Joane Rylander. The result of these sessions was a series of recommended short-term, intermediate-term, and long-term activities designed to help TIFD meet its long-range planning goals. This mission statement was adopted in 2000:
The mission of the Texas International Folk Dancers (TIFD) is to promote dance, music and culture from around the world through community dance activities and education, in order to promote multicultural understanding in a fun recreational environment.
During the past 25 years, participation in International Folk Dancing has been on the decline in the U.S. The number of active folk dancers in Texas and surrounding states has decreased significantly. Consequently, attendance at Texas Camp and TIFD membership have also declined. 270 dancers attended our 50th Texas Camp in 1997, and last year attendance was about 100 dancers. TIFD membership has declined from 369 in 1998 to 216 in 2013. The graphs on page 6 show attendance at Texas Camp from 2006 through 2012 and TIFD membership from 2001 through 2013. The TIFD Board has been considering ways to reverse these trends. In 2012, TIFD expanded the scope of its activities by becoming one of the sponsors of the San Antonio Folk Dance Festival. In 2013, TIFD held its first weekend Board retreat at Camp Cho Yeh. Participants at the retreat came up with a number of recommendations for increasing Texas Camp attendance and for helping its members and member groups promote folk dancing. These recommendations were detailed in an article that appeared in the February-April 2013 issue of TIFD News. As a TIFD member, you can help revitalize folk dancing in Texas. Your suggestions and comments are most welcome. Please send them to [email protected] .
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European Spring TripBy Dena & Franklin Houston
This was our seventh trip to Hungary and our third to France. Our first stop was in Hungary for the Spring Festival in Budapest, a 16-day celebration of all kinds of dance and music that takes place throughout the city. The highlight of the festival was the Tanchaztalakazo (dance house gathering), a two-day ethnic arts and culture fair in a huge indoor sports arena. As we were strolling among the vendors, a news team from the national television station, Duna Television, spotted us as being Americans and interviewed us about why we were at the festival and what we liked about Hungary. That evening, while having dinner with Hungarian friends, one of the guests said, “I saw you on television!” Two days later,
on Easter Monday at an outdoor dance performance, a total stranger looked at us and said, “I saw you on television!” Shortly after that, we went to a performance by Marta Sebestyen, a very famous Hungarian singer. The performance was in a castle courtyard, where we sat on the front row. After a few songs, Marta was talking to the audience in Hungarian and mentioned the word “Texas.” She then pointed to us and said in English, “I am saying this in English for our friends from Texas; I
saw you on television!” It was a real pleasure visiting with her after the performance, which focused on the evolution of ancient European music to current Hungarian folk music. While in Budapest and Szentendre (a charming town north of Budapest), we saw old friends, did some dancing and revisited the historical sites we love. One afternoon, while riding on a very long escalator up out of the Budapest subway, the man in front of us turned around and said, “Franklin?” It was Farouk Guzbur, a man who used to live and play music in Austin. He had married a Hungarian woman, had a 10-year-old daughter and had been living in Budapest for 15 years. What a small world! The weather in Hungary was unseasonably cold (rarely above freezing). We had freezing rain and, on one day, 6 inches of snow during our first week in
Budapest. We were not prepared for that but, with some long underwear and gloves loaned to us by a friend, the cold hardly slowed us down – it just made the trip more interesting. After two weeks in Budapest, we flew to Paris, where it was still cold and sometimes rainy, but nonetheless beautiful and romantic. We went to many of the places that tourists visit, but this time also took a train out to Giverny, the home of Claude Monet, the famous Impressionist painter. It was thrilling to see the gardens and ponds that inspired his paintings. It was also on one of the few sunny days we were in France, so we felt like we had been transported back in time to the beginning of the 20th Century. Although we didn’t get to as many chocolate shops in Paris as we had wanted, we did happen upon Le Bon Marché, the most expensive boutique department store we had ever seen. We also had a lovely meal with two friends we had met on an earlier trip to Paris and admired their 9th floor apartment view of the Parisian skyline and the Eiffel Tower, which still goes
Franklin dancing at a rehearsal of Csil-lagszemu, a perfor-mance group lead by Boske and Sandor Timar in Budapest.
The Marta Sebestyen concert in Budapest. Marta is in the middle.
Dena standing by the Chain Bridge in Budapest.
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Csárdás in HoustonBy Anne-Louise Schaffer
On Sunday, March 10th, the Hungarian American Cultural Association of Houston (HACAH) held its annual event in remembrance of the March 15th anniversary of the Hungarian revolution of 1848-9 against Austrian hegemony. It was held at the Alliance Française, which has a nice large back room with adjoining kitchen. It was a potluck event with food spread out on tables along one side, most of it being homemade Hungarian food. Tables and chairs filled most of the room, leaving a small performing area at the far end. People grazed at the buffet during the entire five-hour event, even during the organized portion, which began around 4:00 pm. The program for the day consisted of poetry readings in Hungarian, a set of opera arias by a young local couple (one of whom was Hungarian), and four dance suites by the Csárdás Hungarian Dancers from Austin. They were my main reason for attending. Though I had seen them perform on stage many times with the entire ensemble, I had never seen them in a small, intimate performance. Six members took part: three female dancers, two male dancers, and Dena Houston, who did the announcing. The dance suites included two from Transylvania (Kalotaszeg and Mezőség) and two from Hungary proper (Tyukod and Kalocsa). In addition to the regional variety, interest was maintained by varying the number of people dancing: a trio, a pair, and two pairs together. The women’s costumes were spectacular, with petticoats galore visible during the fast turns. When the group was first announced and strolled into the room, the crowd of Hungarians visibly sat up and got excited. Throughout the performance they responded enthusiastically with claps and shouts. There was an obvious intimacy between performers and audience. After the performance, all were invited to join in a simple circle dance. So many people responded that two concentric circles were needed. Many of the young couples present had brought their babies and young children to the event and joined the circles with them. (I had a little three-year-old girl on each side of me!) This joyful bonding of dancers, ethnic Hungarians, and Americans brought home to me how much more satisfying an intimate performance can be—as opposed to a large theatrical staged performance. When I mentioned this to some of the dancers afterwards, they all agreed.
Left: Misi Tsurikov and Judit Györgyey Ries performing the Kalocsa suite
into “twinkle mode” in the evenings every hour for 15 minutes. These places continue to be magical for us – Hungary with its exotic old world charm and Paris with its joie de vivre.
European Spring Tripcontinued from page 7