Category: Dancers - Stacy Rose, Dance Instructor

Selecting dances

4/3/2016

A lot of what I do as a dance instructor has to do with preparation. As I spend time figuring out who I'll be working with, I think about their skills, the reason for the dance/why they are there, how much time we'll have together... there are several things to think about.

My spring 2016 class got underway last week. Best compliment ever: more than one person commented on how much they liked the dances I selected this term. Yay! Without fail, I always think I've put together a great assortment of dances -- because I obsess over it, make endless changes until the plan is exactly what I think it should be. But to have a dancer - and more than one! - say that they like the selection of dances, well - music to my ears. Thank you!!

Pole dancing... or Happy May Day!

5/6/2015

How many girls get to say, "I've got a Maypole!"? Well, thanks to a very nice man, I have one!
And I'm lucky to know a group of dancers who are willing to tap into their child within and enjoy dancing around it!

"that was so COOL!"

4/5/2015

Yesterday, I led dances at the Celtic Fest Revue. The event was co-sponsored by Bayside Terrace Assisted Living and South Coast Folk Society. Over 40 people attended this mid-day celebration of Celtic dance, song and music. The show opened with two musicians performing lively dance tunes and swoony waltzes on fiddle and guitar.

I asked my sweet wife to waltz with me, and she flatly turned me down. Who wants to be a spectacle, dancing in front of so many people? Who wants their pedestrian dancing to detract from the glorious music being performed?

Off to the side of the room, behind the audience, there was a young girl -- probably 4 or 5 years old at most -- with her mother. That girl had come to dance! She wore her beautiful Easter dress, tights and shiny shoes. She was dancing freely and openly. I had found a dance partner. I approached her, careful not to intrude in what she was doing, and started dancing, as well. Sweeping arm motions with step-together-steps... turns and spins (girls of all ages love to spin)... and when the music ended, a low bow. Her mother was visibly kvelling - bursting with pride and delight. I don't know what pleased the little girl most, but when the music ended, she looked up and proclaimed with such enthusiasm, "That was so cool!"

Made my day!

Big waves ahead...

2/20/2015

One thing I've learned as a contra dance caller is that in order to have a successful event, I need to be flexible when programming an evening of dancing. I've read callers' blogs and have had many late-night chats with visiting callers - I've heard it many times. In my head, I understand that it is not only okay, but advisable to be able to change gears in mid stream. Last weekend's contra dance gave me an opportunity to practice this skill, and hopefully not only ingrain it in my head, but also in my heart.

Our dance season runs from Sept through May. The Feb dance is mid year. My program was designed to help dancers in my community build on the moves that they'd been exposed to previously in the dance season, and help cement those moves into their repertoire. My first hint of the storm to come was during the beginners' lesson. Who were all these people I'd never seen before in my life?! Because it was Valentine's Day, I had expected a low turnout that night. But the room was teeming with people ready to dance! And after all, isn't that what all of our advertising efforts are intended to do?

As is typical for our contra dance, we had all ages and all levels of ability. This is actually one of things I boast about when describing our dance community. I think it's great! But it is not for the caller who is faint of heart. It takes more teaching than calling to work with a group of first-time dancers. Of the 52 attendees that night, only 8 were members of the local folk society. Many of our experienced dancers were out of town at a dance festival or enjoying a Valentine's evening that didn't involve contra dancing. I was facing a roomful of beginners.

It wasn't the first time I'd ever announced, "New program!", while discarding the lineup of dances I'd chosen (and practiced!) for that night. I reached into my trusty treasure box of calling cards and pulled out all of the dances from the category "one night stand". We do-si-do'ed, and did a circle mixer... We had enough people to do Intersection Reel, an X-shaped dance in which all four couples from the outermost parts of the X sashay through X to the opposite side. My friend Eric requests this dance every time I call, and we had enough people that night to do it.

But as the evening went on and some people left, we had fewer new dancers. Slowly, I introduced dances from the program I intended to share with them. Before the night was over, they were doing heys, balancing wavy lines and doing Rory O'More spins! I wanted to teach contra corners and hoped to introduce the chestnut dance Chorus Jig, but we didn't get to it, and I'll have to save that for another night.

The next time I need to change gears at the beginning of the evening with a "new program", I hope to remember this weekend's dance. Rather than considering the new program as a personal failure in planning poorly, as a fallback plan, a plan B, or a remedial plan, I want to regard a new, impromptu program simply as the more appropriate plan... a helpful vehicle that can guide dancers through the evening's dance successfully.

We were just working on our mazurka...

1/17/2015

One of my favorite dances from last year's Stockton Dance Camp was Pletený a circle dance from the Czech Republic, as presented by Jitka Bonušová. This dance symbolizes the traditional girls’ pastime of weaving wreaths of flowers picked in the meadows in spring. It can be danced by girls or women only or by couples in a big circle. I'm teaching it in my class this session as couples in a big circle. The first part of the dance has a grand right and left done in a moderate tempo waltz step. In the second part of the dance, the music changes and the steps are performed to a mazurka. Like the waltz, a mazurka is done in a triple meter, but it is has a lively tempo.
I have a new dancer in my class this session. It's her first time folk dancing, and I'm so very excited to have her in class! I called her earlier this week to talk about something totally not related to dance - coincidentally, I called her about flowers. She said, "we were just working on our mazurka. I can do it to the right, but then when we turn around and do it to the left..." Well, that presented a difficulty. So she and her partner were working on it. At home. In the middle of any ordinary day.
Admittedly, I put together a CD of all the music we do in class and make copies for everyone who signs up for the session. But imagine my delight to call a dancer at home, and hear that she had just been working on a dance. A highlight of my week.

Once upon a time, a very long time ago...

12/7/2014

Invite a friend to folk dancing. You never know how it will end up.

35 years ago, my friend Elka invited me to her folk dance class. It was a community ed class held at the local community college. It was my first introduction to hearing all of this wonderful music from around the world. Every week, I would go with Elka and her daughter Raychel (far right in the picture above). Sometimes after class we'd stop and enjoy a piece of pie or french fries with brown gravy. It was social, recreational, and SO fun to learn those fascinating dance patterns.

Our teacher was Linda Lowell. She wore calf-high red boots when she danced, and in my mind I can still see those red boots clear as day. As a beginner, my eyes were usually glued on Linda's feet! Linda had an amazing amount of energy and taught us tons of dances. She taught us to hambo. She taught us Cimpoi, Floricica, Trei Pazeste, Salty Dog Rag, Ciuleandra, and many more of what are still some of my favorite dances today. Linda helped us to sew costumes and booked us to do dance demonstrations in the community. In the picture above and below, our dance group was doing a performance as part of the Haydn Festival in Coos Bay.

To share that experience with Elka (and so much more) makes her a significant person in my life. Last week, Elka came to my class! We hadn't folk danced together since our days together in the 1980s. It was nothing short of thrilling to dance once again with Elka. As we did Ma Na'avu side by side, it was as smooth
and easy as it was over three decades when we have done it last. I am forever indebted to Elka for inviting me to folk dance class - for introducing me to this wonderful hobby that has become so much a part of my life.

Dancing in the pub

11/14/2014

I love dancing at Liberty Pub. There's something about the combination of good food & drink, the fine company of friendly dancers, and dancing to lively music that fills my heart with so much joy.

This week, dancers in my class teamed up with two dancers from the Florence international folk dance group and the local band Cultural Ecology to present a demonstration of dances from around the world. We presented the following dances:
Hora Mare Bucovineana - Romania
Tzadik Katamar - Israel
Dashing White Sergeants - Scotland
Godecki Cacek - Bulgaria
Miserlou - Greek American
Chilili - Bolivia

Then we invited people from the audience to join us. I didn't know the dance floor at Liberty Pub could accommodate up to 20 dancers! We had LOTS of audience members come up and learn these beginning level dances:
Savila Se Bela Losa - Serbia
Zemer Atik - Israel
Sasha - Russia
Hora pe Gheata
La Bastringue - French Canadian
Waves - Hong Kong

The audience members were great sports! They were willing to step out of their comfort zone and try a new kind of dancing. The dancers in my class were fabulous - they introduced the demonstration dances, they welcomed the audience members and really took great care of them.

The evening was a fund raiser for South Coast Folk Week, a week-long celebration of traditional music, song and dance set for October 4-10, 2015 in Coos Bay. I don't think I can move my class to the pub on a regular basis, but I can't wait until the next time we dance in the pub!

Dancing saves lives

10/29/2014

A cute picture, isn't it? The truth is, for me and many others, dancing can turn around a mood, an outlook, even a situation. We have dancers in class who arrive tired after working all day, and leave less tired. In fact, dancers report being happier after class than when they arrived - they are more energized after exercising. Isn't that something!?

Last night in class, we gathered for the first dance. I started the line (open circle) with a typical hand hold (hands held relaxed at our sides). Dancers joined the line and held hands with the person next to them. But, instead of launching right into the first dance, I started talking about other things. Remarkably, none of the dancers let go of each others' hands. There we were, a group of adults, holding hands. Comfortably. Leisurely. It was wonderful!

From health.com: Whether it's a squeeze of the hand, a big bear hug, a kneading massage, touch is shaping up to be the ultimate mind-body medicine. From lowering blood pressure and heart rate to increasing immune function and relieving pain, getting touched or doing some touching makes you healthier -- not to mention happier and less anxious.

I believe that unless we intentionally create them, there aren't many opportunities during the course of a typical day to touch another person. Dance gives us a safe place to connect with other people, to hold hands, to hold people in our arms and smile at them. Dancing -- going to the Hokey Pokey Clinic -- gives us exercise AND physical connection with other people.

The Universe has a sense of humor

9/28/2014

The same week our dear Louise embarks on her trip to New Mexico, we welcomed a lovely new dancer to class - Anne. She's new in town... moved to our community to start a new job... she moved here from New Mexico. Thank you, Universe.

Louise

9/8/2014

Louise has been a dancer in my class for the past four years. She has attended regular classes, advanced dance classes, she's gone on group road trips to dance in other towns, been a regular at the local folklore society's monthly dance party, and participated in public demonstration dancing ("does anyone really know where Macedonia is?"). She has reliably interjected warmth, good questions and laughter in class. It's hard to believe that Louise is leaving our community -- taking off in her RV and heading south.

There are folk dance communities all over the place. However, the town where Louise is going doesn't have a regular folk dance series. Yet. I'm hoping Louise will make that different.

If you are traveling, there are online resources to find dancing. A quick Google search connected us to dancers within an hour of Louise's destination. An email brought multiple immediate responses from people who were so willing to share information about their dances and nearby dances. Open, welcoming people! Lucky people - who will get to dance with our Louise.