Karen Sandler

Category: Traditions

  • Dance Camp – Last Thoughts & Talent Show

    For some reason, the first few days of dance camp seem to go by more slowly, maybe because there are so many days ahead, it seems to be wonderfully endless. We’ll just keep dancing and dancing, learning new steps and styles, twirling and spinning, grapevining and circling with our friends, old and new-found.

    Then with an unexpected suddenness comes Saturday and we’re near the end. We’ve learned twenty or thirty or even forty new dances, and are charged with taking those pieces of culture back to our “villages,” our own dance groups back home.

    Imagine a time when folk dancing was an everyday experience, when this village or that would have a certain special dance, or several that were passed down from parents to children. They might do the same dance as in another village, but with a twist–two turns instead of one, a grapevine that starts with a forward cross instead of backward. They might travel to another village and bring with them those variations or even entirely new dances. Their unique twist on an integral part of their lives–dancing–would be shared beyond their small world, from one village to the next, down the generations.

    I like to think that those who attend dance camp–this one in Stockton and other camps and workshops around the world–have an opportunity to send out into the world new ways of thinking about things (and not just dance) in the same way that a villager from the past shared with others and thereby shared their culture. As I said in a previous post, if we’d only dance together, we wouldn’t have time to argue, we wouldn’t have time to fight. We’d just dance.

    Here is a video and a few photos from this afternoon’s talent show:

    [youtube=http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=dVFSjC_68vI]

  • Dance Camp – Once-a-Year Friends

    Stockton CA, where Folk Dance Camp takes place, is fairly close to where I live (about an hour-and-a-half drive). That means that many of my local dance community also attend. It’s nice to see at camp the familiar faces of those I dance with on a regular basis. But even more special are the friendships I renew with those who I see only for a week, once a year at camp.

    There are several in particular I feel a special connection to. First, there’s Tony. My first year at camp, my husband couldn’t attend. That left me without a ready partner for the couples dance classes.

    Not only did Tony pair up with me in several classes, he’s such a great dancer that he pulled my fumbling feet through many a tricky step. His wife, Lynn, is a delight too and it’s great to see her at the Saturday party each year.

    Next is Valerie, who started attending Folk Dance Camp the same year as me. She would sometimes partner with me, taking the man’s part so I could learn the ladies part.

    She was such a friendly face for me that first time and it’s really great to see her, if only once a year.

     

     

    Karen (left) and Nila (right) are two more lovely ladies who I renew friendships with each year at Stockton. My connection with Karen is pretty obvious (same first names). But she’s also such a friendly, happy & generous person (obviously a trait of all Karens).

    I haven’t known Nila as long, but she is a love. She’s Thai, but lives in Japan. Since my son lives in Osaka, whenever I see Nila I feel a little bit of a connection to him.

    Last, but certainly not least, are Randi & Murray from New Jersey. First of all they’re great dancers and love folk dance. Second, they’re glad to share their joy of dance. Since they teach folk dance in New Jersey, they can offer tips and assistance when I’m having trouble with a step. Third, they’re hysterically funny. The skit/song they regularly perform at the Saturday night talent show is not to be missed.

    It can be sad saying goodbye to all these folks I only see once a year, but I’m grateful to know them. And if I’m ever in Japan, or New Jersey or Spokane, WA, I know I’ll always have someone to dance with.

  • Dance Camp Traditions

    Yeah, dance camp is about dancing. Like yesterday’s dances–a smoking hot Israeli dance I barely kept up with (Orot Ve Ashan), or the cool Bulgarian during the afternoon workshop or the tricky English Country dance, Chocolate for Breakfast. The delightful Canon Polska Schottische and the challenging Vira Cruzada. Plus the always frantic fun squares.

    But Stockton Folk Dance Camp also has its traditions. The picture day on Tuesday night where we all shared our finest costumes. The Wednesday night live auction, which always includes a chocolate Kahlua cake that this year went for something like $175. Our squares caller, Jerry Helt, runs the auction with his trademark patter.

    Then there’s Hat Night on Thursday. We all don our most beautiful, most outlandish, craziest and just plain ugly headwear and proudly dance around the room showing them off. What a great opportunity for a bunch of adults to just plain get silly.

    Here are a few of my favorites:

  • Dance Camp – Sore Feet

    It’s only halfway through Tuesday and my feet are already sore! And my back, and my hips. But I’ve learned some fun, fun dances just since Sunday. Great Portuguese, cool vintage, the completely confusing Israeli dance Debka Medabeket (I swear, just give me another 20 times or so and I’ll get it!), and some cool English set dances.

    My husband and I have been asked to be the demo dancers for the DVD taping of the English dances. Which means we have to learn the whole week’s worth of English dances by tomorrow. We’ve learned half of them, so the rest shouldn’t be too bad. It’ll be kind of strange knowing we’ll be on the DVD for “eternity,” teaching other dancers the proper way to do Cockle Shells or Chocolate for Breakfast.

    At Monday night’s party, I was allowed to take photos of some of the dancers and the band while we did warm up dances (pictures below). After the warmup came Once Over Lightly (OOL) which is review of all of Monday’s dances, with the addition of a few square dance rounds. OOL ended about 11:10pm. I went to bed around midnight, but the after party went on until 2pm.

    That's my son on the far left and my daughter-in-law is in red.

     

    The band, Miamon Miller & Friends. Great band.

    Good friends enjoying a line dance.

     

  • Dance Camp – Settling In

    The first day is relatively easy. We got ourselves registered around 4pm, then some helping hands (my son and a young volunteer) helped us schlep stuff up to the room. You’ll see from the picture below it’s a typical dorm room, and just as messy as any college kid’s room.

    Because the camp-sponsored meals don’t start until Monday morning, a group of us headed out to dinner, looking for a place hubby had spotted on the way in. Due to faulty directions (mine), everyone promptly got lost. When we’d finally all gathered, it turned out the chosen restaurant was closed and we had to regroup at a Mexican place.

    Dance camp starts at 8pm on Sunday with a program of old favorites danced to a live band. After the old favorites, each of the camp instructors give a sample of what they plan to teach, offering up an easy (sort of) dance. Eight instructors means eight dances taught (twelve if you count both square dances, the contra, and the last waltz), so that part of the evening wasn’t over until 10:30pm. It was followed by the after party which we passed on, although we could hear it since our room overlooks the courtyard that’s outside the party room.

    This morning (Monday), the program officially began, with four class sessions in the morning, a cultural assembly and special workshops in the afternoon. I spent the first hour of classes babysitting my beautiful granddaughter, then took three classes–Vintage dance, Portuguese and Israeli. All fun, but in Israeli I learned (mostly) this wild-crazy dance I’d seen my daughter-in-law do that I’d always wanted to learn (Adama Veshamayim). I’d also planned to attend the “What’s Hot in Europe” workshop, but I was kind of dazed after my nap, so I missed out. I’m hoping to catch it tomorrow.

    If you’re not an official photographer here, you can’t take pics during the classes, so I don’t have much to share yet. Later in the week, I should have some cool photos of folks in their costumes.

    The pictures below, in order: (1) registration, (2) our very messy dorm room, (3) the big ballroom, (4) flags hung behind the stage in the ballroom, and (4) a map showing where the instructors are from.