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The Year That Zoomed By at FACONE – March 27

The Year That Zoomed By
with Marcie Van Cleave and Ahmet Lüleci

Saturday, March 27: Noon–? ET (9am – ? PT)

Online via Zoom – To benefit the Folk Arts Center of New England

Celebrate with us as we commemorate the anniversary of when the Folk Arts Center aired its first Saturday afternoon workshop!

Who would have thought that 52 weeks later we would still be spending Saturday afternoons dancing together? Not to mention enjoying a Thursday SOFA (Some Other Folk Arts) series. And adding a Sunday late afternoon community dance?

But here we are, so we must celebrate! We are inviting all the teachers who have graced our online stage lo all these Saturdays to join us in leading a dance party! The program will be posted on the website when completed.

You’ll have the chance to review videos of the dances before the event as demonstrated by the teachers themselves! This collection of videos are reviews of the dances that will be programmed.

Visit our shop buy access to a collection of review videos, and support FAC’s programming.

Also note the earlier start time. We know the date is not ideal, […]

By |2021-03-24T19:54:08-07:00March 24th, 2021|Balkan, Culture, Dance, Information, International, Live, Party, Workshop|0 Comments
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Culture Corner with Yves Moreau and France Bourque-Moreau at FACONE Feb 27

Yves Moreau and France Bourque-Moreau Culture Corner

Saturday, February 27: 2–4:00pm EST

Online via Zoom – To benefit the Folk Arts Center of New England

World-renowned dance teachers and cultural emissaries Yves Moreau and France Bourque-Moreau will share memories of their Montreal-based folk ensemble «Les Gens de mon Pays» with whom they performed for 15 years in North America and Europe and show video excerpts from some of their performances

Yves will also share other interesting film clips and photos from Bulgaria. France will talk about her work teaching folk dances in public elementary schools in Quebec as part of a government subsidized program as well as some of her other projects over the years. There will be time set aside to answer your questions.

Learn more about Yves and France on their website.

Visit What you need to join to set up your computer or device to join the workshop online.
Donate on the FACONE website.
Please donate generously to FAC and help us through this period of social distancing when all of our events are postponed. We suggest a $10 minimum for attending this […]

By |2021-02-26T17:10:36-08:00February 26th, 2021|Culture, Information, International, Live, Workshop|0 Comments
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Special ‘Stockton Highlights’ program Feb 10

Special ‘Stockton Highlights’ program [TONIGHT!]

What some people said:
“I didn’t think I would be interested, but I stayed for the entire hour”
“For me, it was the highlight of the entire weekend”
“Really learned a lot, didn’t expect to”

Like perhaps most of you, I viewed contra and squares as a mostly white-America activity. This talk blew my mind.

Wednesday, Feb 10 [Yes, tonight]
Program starts: 7:30 PM [Eastern]
https://tinyurl.com/MFDparties
Zoom ID: 846 8641 6549
Passcode: 333333 (six 3’s)

Tony Parkes created a scholarly presentation on the African roots of dance calling, from slaves and “hired” musician-callers, Black presence in square dancing into the 20th C, all the way to indigenous groups above the Arctic circle. The lecture includes archival and relatively “rare” footage.

I strongly urge you to see “Diversity in Square Dancing”

Tony will be joining us LIVE for a chat after the presentation, where YOU can ask questions and learn more.

Tony has considerable “dance cred”: he’s taught in >70% of the states, Canada, 5 countries in Europe, and – along with calling Squares and Contras at many other festivals – has performed at every NEFFA festival since 1969.

We’ll be on for a bit over an […]

By |2021-02-10T11:13:17-08:00February 10th, 2021|Culture, Information, Live|0 Comments
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Dance Events Coming Up March thru April – Mark your calendars!

San Antonio Folk Dance Festival – March 12-14:  safdf.org
National Folk Organization Conference – April 7–11: nfo-usa.org/annual-conference
Lyrids/Kyklos Folk Dance Festival – April 23–25:  lyridsfolkdancefestival.org
New England Folk Festival – April 23–25:  www.neffa.org/neffa-online

By |2020-12-25T15:17:37-08:00December 25th, 2020|Dance, Information, International, Live, Party, Workshop|0 Comments
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STOCKTON FOLK DANCE CAMP WINTER WEEKEND Jan 22-25

REGISTRATION OPENS!
Registration if now open! Everyone who registers will get a post-camp link to access the more than 18 hours of new dances, presentations, cooking, and fun that will be presented between January 22 and 25, 2021.

In addition to this, there will be >20 hours of additional dance parties and fun to watch and participate in.

If you don’t register, you’ll still be able to watch all of our weekend camp, but registration is free and simple.

Keep watching, spread the word, register, and send us your feedback and ideas!

The Stockton Folk Dance Winter Weekend is free to all, thanks to the generous donations made during the July Virtual Camp!

By |2020-12-25T14:56:47-08:00December 25th, 2020|Dance, Information, International, Live, Party, Workshop|0 Comments
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STOCKTON FOLK DANCE CAMP WINTER WEEKEND Jan 22-24

EXCITING NEWS!
Instead of making you wait all the way to July to enjoy the wonders of Stockton Folk Dance Camp, we’ve decided to assemble the usual cast of dynamic international dance stars and musicians to entertain, educate, and amuse you — via Zoom, of course.

We’ve finalized the faculty for a January online event with a mix of teachers who have taught at Stockton in previous years, as well as two teachers who will be part of our faculty for the first time. We welcome our first timers to the team: Bianca de Jong, teaching international dances and Polly Tapia Ferber teaching drumming for nonmusicians. They’ll be joined by familiar favorites Ahmet Luleci, Roberto Bagnoli, Aaron Alpert, Tineke van Geel, Maurits van Geel, Richard Powers, Tony Parkes, Gergana Panova, Vlasto Petkovski, Kay Munn, Miamon Miller, Michele Simon, Bill Cope, Janie Cowan, and Michael Lawson.

Click here to download the informational flyer. Spread the word! Forward it to your friends!

Don’t let the dates confuse you. This will be 24-hours-day, with both live and recorded presentations. The full schedule and details on the programming are coming soon!

The Stockton Folk Dance Winter Weekend is free to all, thanks to the […]

By |2020-11-10T16:01:43-08:00November 10th, 2020|Dance, Information, International, Live, Party, Workshop|1 Comment
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Susan Worland & Richard Powers at SOFA Thursdays at FACONE Nov 5 and 12

Guy Fawkes Adventure

with Susan Worland

Thursday, November 5, 2020
7:00-8:30pm EDT

Online via Zoom – To benefit the Folk Arts Center of New England

Remember, remember, the 5th of November!

Susan Worland, fiddler extraordinaire, presents a Guy Fawkes Adventure! In Britain Guy Fawkes Day is celebrated as Bonfire Night; on November 5 crowds gather to eat, drink, and socialize outdoors with friends. Susan will give us some history and play some music, then move on to a few of the tasty foods and beverages that might be enjoyed at a Guy Fawkes Day bonfire.

→Join this workshop via Zoom by activating this link.

Donate on the FAC website.

Visit What you need to join to set up your computer or device to join the workshop online.

Please donate generously to FAC and help us through this period of social distancing when all of our events are postponed. We suggest a $10 minimum for attending this workshop but any and all contributions will be greatly appreciated. Thank you for supporting the Folk Arts Center of New England!

Richard Powers

CanCan and Apache […]

By |2020-10-31T22:09:34-07:00October 31st, 2020|Culture, Information, Live|0 Comments
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NorCal preview of the History of the Embrace in Tango Dance Nov 8

We’re hosting a private viewing of “The History of the Embrace in Tango Dance”. Dedicated to the unfolding development of the famous “abrazo de tango”, this documentary short by Argentine dance researcher Gustavo Benzecry Sabá is live from Buenos Aires during a private showing via Zoom. Bring along your favorite Argentine wine & popcorn.

Note: This is a nice complement to Richard Powers’ talk at the 2020 camp. He’s listed as one of the research resources, too.

Sun, Nov 8, 4 pm start

$10 general admission / $9 for SFDC attendees

Purchase at www.tangoandmoredance.com

To get the Stockton Folk Dance Camp promo code, email Gigi at

Gigi (510) 326-6415

By |2020-10-29T15:37:34-07:00October 29th, 2020|Culture, Information, Live|1 Comment
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Upcoming Web Chat: Let’s Talk About Reentry Oct 21

– Working Together Now for a Strong Return to Dancing

An online discussion for contra, English country, and community dance organizers

Wednesday, Oct. 21 7:00-8:30 p.m. EDT (4pm PT)

So much of what we love is on hold or shifting to online formats. But there will be a time when we dance together again. And there is work we can be doing during this down time to ensure a joyful and fulfilling return to the dance floor! In this second installment of the Let’s Talk About Reentry series, we’ll talk about our evolving expectations for reentry, the changes we need to prepare for, and the important role organizers can play in preparing our communities for a bright future.

Please note: Based on feedback, we’ll be changing our usual format a bit for this Web Chat. Instead of lining up guest speakers, we’ll have a kick-off message from Katy, followed by longer chat room sessions that will include conversation prompts and time for interactive follow-up and discussion.

REGISTER online by October 19.

Soon after you register, Zoom will send you a confirmation email with your own personal link. You’ll need this info for joining the Web Chat! To keep track of […]

By |2020-10-14T12:20:17-07:00October 14th, 2020|Dance, Information, Live, Musing|0 Comments
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SOFA Thursdays at FACONE

SOFA Thursdays is “A Thing”!

Last week we officially, but quietly, launched our SOFA Thursdays series. SOFA is an acronym for Some Other Folk Arts, to differentiate its subject matter from our Saturday dance workshop series!

Tonight on the SOFA we introduce Bennett Clifford who is presenting a cooking class based on his experiences in Georgia where he lived, worked, and studied. The recipes he will share with us are posted on his page along with other details!

Topics and leaders coming up include Kathryn Black presenting her Estonian Craft Experience (September 24), Susan Lind-Sinanian demonstrating Making Paklava (October 1), and An Evening with Zdravets (October 8).

The Online Series page lists all the workshops, and includes links to event-specific pages that give you even more information.

Speaking of links ….

We always post a link to the Zoom link for the week’s offerings on the event-specific pages. It is encased in a bright yellow box, outlined in red and the link itself – “activating this link” – are in bold and burgundy-colored. You can’t miss it!

Saturday’s Miroslav (Bata) Marcetic Serbian workshop!

The Folk Arts Center is absolutely delighted to host Miroslav on Saturday! Many of you have enjoyed workshops and […]

By |2020-09-17T12:57:19-07:00September 17th, 2020|Culture, Information, Live|0 Comments
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FACONE New Thursday Series starts Sept 10

The Folk Arts Center has a new committee of volunteers, the Group Advising on Strategic Planning (acronymically known as GASP!). The series is designed to highlight other traditional arts forms – Some Other Folk Arts (or SOFA), if you will. Therefore, the Thursday series will spotlight a wide-ranging collection of artists and artisans demonstrating and/or talking about their crafts!

We will kick off the series next Thursday, September 10, with Richard Powers, who will be with us as we re-broadcast his recent talk on the Swing and Jazz age. If you missed it the first time, we hope you can clear your calendar and join us next week. And if you were there and are like me, it will be a great opportunity to watch it again and pick up all the tangy details you missed the first time around!

The next week is Bennett Clifford, live from his kitchen on September 17 as he shares with us recipes he enjoyed and mastered while he lived in the Republic of Georgia! We will appreciate not only the cooking, but stories of his experiences in Georgia to go along with it!

October 1 will feature Susan Lind-Sinanian making Armenian paklava. Many of you […]

By |2020-09-04T10:40:44-07:00September 4th, 2020|Culture, Dance, Information, Live, Workshop|0 Comments
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Sit Down & Watch: Replays of Stockton Folk Dance Camp Highlights

Can’t dance in your home? These replays are all sit down and watch events. You do not want to miss these!

Link and Dates for Special Programs

Link: http://tinyurl.com/MFDparties
Times: 7:30 – ~9? PM EDT
Zoom credentials should be unneeded, but here they are: ID: 846 8641 6549 Passcode: 333333

Dates:
– Mon Aug 31
– Tue Sep 1
– Mon Sep 7
– Wed Sep 9
– Mon Sep 14

Replay of Stockton Highlights

Last month, I announced we’ll broadcast special selections from Stockton 2020.  Some segments were so exceptional/insightful/memorable/funny, I wanted to share these with you all.

Broadcasts dates follow.  This is one series you do not want to miss!  Richard Powers is a particularly engaging speaker. These presentations use illustrations drawn from Richard’s private collection of *thousands* of vintage lithographs.  Andy Taylor is a spirited and entertaining speaker whose family had pivotal influence on America’s love affair with folkdance.  Sonia and Cristian are dance teachers and choreographers extraordinaire who have brought many of our most beloved Romanian dances.

Dates & shows (content is subject to change, but unlikely):

Mon Aug 31: Richard Powers: The History of the Ragtime Era PLUS “Newly Wed Game” sendup with Yves & France, Sonia & Cristian, and Tineke & Maurits

Tue Sep […]

By |2020-08-25T19:46:58-07:00August 23rd, 2020|Culture, Information, International, Live, Uncategorised|0 Comments
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“East Coast” Virtual Camp August 14 – 16, 2020

Happy Saturday, everyone!
After a really fun “West Coast” weekend, we’ve decided to do it again–with an East Coast twist. Join us for our second Virtual Camp on August 14-16, 2020. Our website will update with faculty and performers as they’re added, and you can register here. Read on for additional details!
__________
In 1977, the EEFC offered the first of many wonderful getaway Balkan Music & Dance Workshops. In 2020, we’re excited to roll with the punches and debut our online edition, which you can enjoy from the comfort of home.
Thanks to high-speed internet, we continue to welcome new friends and old to our community of musicians, singers, dancers, and those who love them. Beginners and advanced practitioners will continue to “rub shoulders” while benefiting from the expertise of our extraordinary teaching staff and enjoying bliss-inducing live-music performances. We can’t provide the traditional rustic redwoods setting nor a superb glamping experience in the Catskills, but this Virtual Camp weekend retains our signature style—an immersive learning experience that opens hearts and minds to the beauty of Balkan music, dance, and culture.
The Platform
We’re using 
By |2020-08-06T14:08:01-07:00August 6th, 2020|Balkan, Dance, Information, Live, Party, Singing, Workshop|0 Comments
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Folk Dancing Activities – and calendars

Regarding the Folk Dance calendar, thanks go to Judith English for starting the Event calendar on this site in March when it was clear that it was needed to keep track of all the events, and to not miss them!

Then Noel Kropf came, and then Paul Collins joined in, and it’s clear from discussions with the three of them that the calendar is going to get better and better as time goes on, and it likely won’t be going away when we starting meeting in person again! Yay! Thank you!

The calendar will continue to be a great resource for us all, especially when we start travelling! Who can imagine that?

Right now, there are lots of calendars out there for you to refer to, besides ours. Be sure to check them out! Here are some I know about. Do you know of others? I’ll add them to this list.

Happy dancing everyone!

As our Dr. Bonnie Henry says: ‘be kind, be calm and be safe’

By |2020-06-27T14:29:12-07:00June 27th, 2020|Information, Musing|0 Comments
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Stockton Folk Dance Camp Roundtable June 20

The next step with the 2020 Stockton Folk Dance Camp will be a Q&A with 8 of our faculty where we’ll share our ideas on this year’s camp, answer your questions, and have some fun catching up with our friends.

Please join us on Facebook at 9am, Saturday June 20th (Pacific Time Zone). Just search for the Stockton Folk Dance Camp Page and you’ll see us there.

We’ll be joined live by:

  • Sonia Dion and Cristian Florescu
  • Roberto Bagnoli
  • Ahmet Luleci
  • Tineke and Maurits van Geel
  • Bill Cope
  • Aaron Alpert

Also online will be some of the people putting camp on; Lisa Michael, Gordon Deeg, Bobi Ashley, and Julie East, and maybe some more .

See you there, bring your questions Our informational flyer is attached, we appreciate you forwarding this to your friends.

thanks,

Adony, on behalf of the Stockton Folk Dance Camp (73rd year!)

p.s. Don’t forget to go to the FACONE live event right after our roundtable.

 

By |2020-06-18T22:56:16-07:00June 18th, 2020|Dance, Information, International, Live|0 Comments
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Online Culture Corner with Yves Moreau and France Bourque-Moreau

Yves Moreau and France Bourque-MoreauThis Saturday, May 23, 2-4pm EDT:

ONLINE Culture Corner with Yves Moreau and France Bourque-Moreau

Join folklore specialists Yves Moreau and France Bourque-Moreau, and the Folk Arts Center as we present our next online event via Zoom. There are details about what to do in preparation for Saturday’s workshop on the Folk Art Center’s Online Events webpages: how to make your donation, and how to install Zoom on the device of your choice. We suggest a donation of $10, but of course anything above that would be gratefully accepted and most appreciated.

Yves is a grand storyteller with much knowledge of all things related to Bulgarian folk dancing; France is an expert teacher of folk dancing for children and conducts special seminars to train school teachers in this field. Her current repertoire includes hundreds of dances and rounds from all parts of the world especially designed and adapted to various age and experience levels.

This is the ninth in a series of online events featuring some of your favorite dance leaders, with the proceeds benefiting FAC. This series […]

By |2020-05-21T15:33:29-07:00May 21st, 2020|Balkan, Culture, Information, Live|0 Comments
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Virtual Cultural Talks sponsored by Helene Eriksen & ANAR DANA

Friday May 29th, 2020
Helene Eriksen and special guest Harout Arakelian
Armenian Dance and Music in the Diaspora: Fresno, CA in the 1950’s

10am-12pm PDT (UTC-7)
For your reference:
10 am PDT (UTC-7) West Coast USA =
14:00 ART (UTC-3) in Argentina =
19:00 CEST/MESZ (UTC+2) in Western Europe

As ANAR DANA has gone virtual we are now able to offer access to our cultural talks to anyone interested wherever you are in the world.

A special feature of the ANAR DANA Projects is our Cultural Talk Series. On the Friday before our rehearsal weekend we get together to learn about one of the regions of our project. I present the history and ethnography and we look at films, photos, costumes and listen to music and discuss of one of the regions in depth.
Especially now these talks are open to everyone!

Suggested donation is 15 Euros (but no one is turned away for lack of funds and we have different options for donating).

Go to www.helene-eriksen.de for an easy button to donate. If you prefer to pay by check in the US or make a bank transfer in Europe, please contact me at

Please feel free to […]

By |2020-05-21T15:01:19-07:00May 21st, 2020|Culture, Information, Live|0 Comments
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Dragi Spasovski podcast episode 45 published

Interested in discussions and samples of Macedonian folk songs?
David Bilides and Dragi Spasovski are back with another podcast for you in their series of expanded discussions for each of the 54 songs in Dragi’s 3-CD set.

Episode 45: Neli si se naspalo

This is a love song of the Macedonian Muslims living in the greater Šar Planina area. Dragi talks about the Isjanovska sisters, describes the Macedonian Muslim dialect, and discusses that singing tradition, both its continuity and its evolution.

You can…

1) Download the podcast directly from the site: http://podcasts.izvormusic.com
2) Listen to the podcast without downloading it, as an audio stream from the same page on the site;
3) Subscribe to the entire series from the same page on the site or through iTunes or similar software.
4) Get more information about the 3-CD set here: http://www.izvormusic.com/cds

Episodes on the site have additional audio and links discussed in the podcast.

As always, comments and suggestions are welcome.
Have fun listening!

http://izvormusic.com

By |2020-05-04T21:49:12-07:00May 4th, 2020|Anytime, Balkan, Culture, Information, Singing|0 Comments
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