General questions
- What is "international folk dance"?
-
International Folk Dance (IFD) is a group dance activity focusing on dances
from the traditional cultures of various ethnic groups. Most IFD dances
are group, non-partner line dances, where the dancers form a line with hands joined, all
doing the same dance. Usually there is a leader at one end to move the line forward and who
also serves as a model for the rest of the line to follow. The dances are not called and
all are invited to join the line or follow behind the line to pick up the steps.
Some dances are partner dances, some of which follow specific patterns, while others are completely
free form, and can be learned by dancing with an experienced partner.
Mixers are partner dances where couples are arranged
in a circle and dancers progress to a new partner after each time through the dance.
IFD can be just a way to get exercise, it can be a hobby, or it can even be
an avocation and profession. There is much that can be learned about culture,
music, even language, and, of course, dance, through folk dancing.
- Where do the dances come from? Is it Greek dancing?
- We do Greek dances, but also dances from many other
countries. Many of the dances come from southeastern Europe (known as the
"Balkans"), which includes Greece but also Serbia, Croatia, Bulgaria, Albania,
Macedonia, Bosnia, Romania, and even Turkey. For historical reasons, this area
has very rich and living folk traditions. There are dances from other
regions and cultures as well: Brittany in northern France, Armenia, Israel,
and other countries in the Middle East, including Iraq. We do a smattering of
dances from the USA, Russia, Poland, Slovenia, Hungary, Slovakia, Czech Republic,
Germany, Scandinavian countries, and others.
We also do "novelty" dances from the USA to recordings such as "Car Wash".
We do the line Hustle almost every week.
- Do I need a partner?
- No. The vast majority of the dances are line dances.
You are in the line
as an individual, not part of a couple.
- How can I learn the dances?
- Come on Friday night and try them.
To learn a new dance it is often best to dance behind someone in the line who
knows the dance well and even very experienced dancers do this sometimes.
Experienced dancers will help you.
There are many hundreds of dances and no one knows all of them; however,
most dances are only 6, 8, 12, 16 counts long and there is a repertoire
of basic steps that are used over and over again, so once you're able to do
some of those steps you can start to learn many different dances pretty quickly.
- What is a typical folk dance evening like?
- We start around 8:30 or so and the music is pretty much
continuous until 11:30. There may be teaching at around 9:00. During the evening
we'll play 50-60 different tunes, each with a specific dance associated with it.
The recordings average about 3 minutes; some are as short as 1½ minutes,
and some are as long as 6 minutes, and rarely 10 minutes. We begin with slower,
simpler, and familiar dances. We do these kinds of dances throughout the evening,
but occasionally throw in more complicated and difficult dances as the evening
progresses. We also do a few partner dances or a mixer.
So, you can be dancing or trying to learn new dances all night long, or, of
course,
just sit down, talk, enjoy a refreshment, and watch the dancing if you choose.
- When and how often can people participate in folk dance?
- There is a regular
dance evening every Friday at St. James in Ferndale from about 8:30 to 11:30PM,
during which there may be some teaching, but which is basically continuous music
and dance. We also have a class on Monday evening.
Membership
- What does membership cost?
- $20
- What benefits are there to being a member?
- Mainly, when you pay the $20 membership you get in for
$1 less on a Friday ($6 instead of $7); since there are about 45 dances each
year, you save money even if you only come half the time as a member.
You also can participate in decision making about club activities. There are
no obligations.
- Can I join any time?
- Yes, but memberships are calendar based and run from
September through August. All memberships reset at the end of August, so if you
join in the middle of the year you still pay the $20 but have fewer dances to
attend to make it back.