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Wednesday, December 31, 2014

Holiday Schedule, not meeting Friday, January 2, 2015

Since we're having our New Years Day party on Thursday, Jan 1, 2015, we will not be meeting for dancing in Downers Grove on Friday, Jan 2, 2015.

But, we've decided to go ahead and meet on Friday, December 26, 2014, as well as the rest of the Fridays in December, so please do join us.

New Years Day Party - Thursday Jan 1, 2015

Argonne International Folk Dance New Years Day Party

Date: Thurs., January 1, 2015
Time: 1:00pm-6:00pm, potluck meal around 3:00pm
Place: St. Paul's UCC Fellowship Hall
Address: 5739 Dunham Rd., Downers Grove, IL
Requested Donation: $3+Potluck dish to share
Click on image below to enlarge/print flyers

Saturday, December 20, 2014

Google+ for Argonne IFD

I activated Google+ for "Argonne IFD".  A couple of people seem to have found it and added Argonne IFD to their circles before I even did any more than just turn it on, and by those connections I found a few more to add to the circle.  If you're on Google+ and are so inclined, please check it out.  This blog will still be the main place where we post stuff for the group.  I'm still figuring out what makes sense to do with Google+, it may just end up being links to the blog posts.

While I was venturing further into social media, I also set up a Pinterest account.  Here's what I have there, so far:
http://www.pinterest.com/lgschub/oddball-folk-dance-videos/
http://www.pinterest.com/lgschub/folk-dance-cartoons/

Saturday, December 6, 2014

EDC + EMNFD New Years Eve Party Wed Dec 31, 2014

Ethnic Dance Chicago & Evanston Monday Night Folk Dancers
New Year’s Eve Pot Luck Dinner and Dance Party
Wednesday, December 31, 2014
Pot Luck Dinner 7-8pm, Dance Party 8pm-?
Chicago Latvian Community Center – 2nd Floor
4146 N Elston Ave, Chicago, IL 60618
NW corner of Elston (NW Diag) & Hamlin (3800W),  Enter on Hamlin
Donation: $20 Dinner+Party, or $25 Party only
More info: http://www.ethnicdance.net/downloads/edc_new_years_eve.pdf

Evanston Out-of-the-Woodwork party Monday, Dec 15, 2014

EVANSTON MONDAY NIGHT FOLK DANCERS
OUT OF THE WOODWORK HOLIDAY PARTY
Monday, December 15th   6:30-10:30 PM
Lake Street Church of Evanston, Illinois
corner of Lake Street and Chicago Avenue (607 Lake Street)
enter through courtyard arched entry on Chicago Avenue

http://www.evanstonfolkdance.org/

Friday, November 28, 2014

Friday, October 24, 2014

Friday Oct 31 Dancing: Halloween Party

Since Halloween falls on Friday this year, we'll revive the old custom of having a folk dancing Halloween party - so, wear a costume, and bring snacks (or, just come as you are and eat snacks).  We'll try to come up with a list of Halloween dances, such as:

    Boo-fcansko
    Haunt-er Dro
    Ghost-elleme
    Pumpkin-vicanka

You get the idea... come prepared to add to the list (or, just come and dance)


Saturday, October 11, 2014

Octoberfest Sat Oct 18 5-8pm St Paul's UCC Downers Grove

St Paul's UCC in Downers Grove where we've been dancing for the past 10 years is having an Octoberfest potluck evening Saturday Oct 18 at the church, and we're going to be leading/teaching some folk dances as part of the festivities.  If you're free that evening, please join us, it will be good to have some regular folk dancers to help out.

The potluck meal starts at 5pm, and we'll be starting the dancing sometime between 6:30-7pm, and dancing as long as people stay interested.

Friday, October 10, 2014

2014 Chicagoland Fall Ball Oct 17-18 with NIkolay Tsevtkov

Upcoming event info received from Paul:

EDC Chicagoland Fall Ball (Oct 17-18) - Nikolay Tsvetkov Workshop
---------------------------------------------------------------------
Friday:   Local Teachers & Dance Party
Saturday: Nikolay Tsvetkov Workshop / Pot Luck Dinner / Dance Party
All Events at Chicago Latvian Community Center  Pricing TBD.
Reservations required for Pot Luck Dinner.  Preliminary details at:
http://www.ethnicdance.net/downloads/20141018-nikolay-tsevtkov_v2.pdf

Presented by Ethnic Dance Chicago, Evanston Monday Night Folk Dancers and BG Folk Club Verea

Sunday, September 28, 2014

Racine Folk Dancers at Oconomowoc 2014

Mike C forwarded this video clip of the Racine group at Oconomowoc:

Oconomowoc 2014 video clips - Joc Tiganesc de Doi

Updated 9/19/2017: videos also available in  youtube playlist:
https://www.youtube.com/playlist?list=PLijPtPxfVqUxglFztAQVJMuva6H_dk5O5
Also, I started having trouble using realplayer to trim videos, but it turns out that it's even easier to do if you have a Windows 10 PC, just open the video in the "Photos" app, and there's a "Trim" button at the top right.

Sorry it took me a while to get these posted -- there's a limit on the file sizes that can be uploaded, and some of the video clips were too long and had to be trimmed and/or divided up into parts.  A handy free tool that can be used for that, by the way, is realplayer

For some reason, blogger seems to be having a lot of trouble uploading the videos after the first one, so I'm going to try doing a separate post for each one.





Oconomowoc 2014 video clips - Myatalo Lenche


Oconomowoc 2014 video clips - Galop


Oconomowoc 2014 video clips - Eshebo



Oconomowoc 2014 video clips - Chaj Zibede


Oconomowoc 2014 video clips - Zimushka


Oconomowoc 2014 video clips - Dizzy


Oconomowoc 2014 video clips - Mahala Mori Shej



Friday, September 19, 2014

Not meeting Friday, Sept 19, 2014

We will not be meeting on Friday, Sept 19, 2014, because many of us will be up at Oconomowoc Fall Folk Dance Camp

We'll be dancing as usual the following week, Sept 26, and should have some new (or revived) dances to share, please join us then.

Country Line/Couple Dance Boot Camp Sun Oct 26

 Country Line Dance Lessons with Janet Kruse
Couple Dance Lessons with Gary LaForte
 Sunday, Oct 26, 2014
Lessons 3pm-4pm, 4:10-5:10pm
Pizza Dinner 5:30pm-7pm
$20 for 2 hrs lessons+dinner
Open Line Dancing 6pm-9pm, $5 cover at the door
Warrenville Park District Community Building
3S240 Warren Avenue, Warrenville, IL 6055
http://dancewithjanet.com/wp-content/uploads/2014/09/Warrenville_Boot_Camp_102614.pdf

Indian Cultural Fest Sat Sep 20 Naperville

Indian Cultural Festival
Sat, September 20th, 2014
Central Park - Naperville Downtown (Behind YMCA) 104 E. Benton Ave. Naperville, IL 60540
Includes Folk Dances from different states of India

http://www.indianculturalfestival.org/

Saturday, September 6, 2014

Sep 6-7 Passport Europe Festival, Morton Arboretum, Lisle

Morton Arboretum Passport Europe Festival
Sat-Sun September 6-7, 2014
10:00 a.m.-4:00 p.m.
4100 ILLINOIS ROUTE 53, LISLE, IL 60532  |  Phone: 630-968-0074  |  Email: trees@mortonarb.org

 FREE with regular admission ($12 adults)

Schedule and info at this link:
http://www.mortonarb.org/events/passport-europe-festival

Looks like lots of ethnic dance demonstrations, folk music, and food.

Friday, September 5, 2014

Fri Sept 5: Special night of dancing with EDC visitors

Folk dancers from  Ethnic Dance Chicago are once again planning to join us for Friday night dancing on Friday, Sept 5, 2014, so  we're going to make it a special evening -- we'll start early (7:30pm), end late (11pm), and bring snacks to share.  We had great attendance and lots of fun the last time we did this, back in March.  Hope you can join us!  Click on image below for flyer.

Thursday, September 4, 2014

Oconomowoc Folk Dance Camp Sept 19-21, 2014

Fall Dance Camp in Oconomowoc, Wisconsin
Fun-Filled Weekend of Folk Dance, Workshops, & Evening Parties
All Level Dancers are Welcome!  No partners needed.

Date: Fri-Sun Sept 19-21, 2014
Where: Olin-Sang-Ruby Union Institute (OSRUI)
600 Lac La Belle Drive, Oconomowoc, WI
Cost: $195 per person by Sept 3 ($210 after Sept 3)

Click on Flyer below for more info

Chicago Turkish Festival Sept 4-6, 2014

Chicago Turkish Festival
September 5-6, FESTIVAL DAYS:

Festival booths open between 10am-9pm
Stage Performances at 12:00-2:30pm & 6:00-8:30pm daily
Pioneer Court,  401 North Michigan Avenue, Chicago
http://www.chicagoturkishfestival.com/events.php

Saturday, August 30, 2014

Chicago World Music Festival Sep 11-21 2014


The 16th Annual World Music Festival Chicago will take place Thursday, September 11 – Sunday, September 21, 2014 and is presented by the City of Chicago and produced by the Chicago Department of Cultural Affairs and Special Events. City-wide, multi-venue, eleven-day festival 

http://www.cityofchicago.org/city/en/depts/dca/supp_info/world_music_festival.html/

Here are just a few of the events from the above link:

Nicolae Feraru & His Gypsy Band (Romania| USA) | Calypso Rose with Kobo Town (Trinidad & Tobago| Canada)

Jay Pritzker Pavilion, Millennium Park
201 E. Randolph St.
3pm

Boban & Marko Markovic Orchestra (Serbia)

Orkesta Mendoza (México| Tucson, AZ, USA)

Las Cafeteras (México| East LA, USA)

Thalia Hall
1807 S. Allport St.
6:30pm doors open, 7:30pm show
Age 17+

(Note: Boban Markovic is the artist whose recording of Dzumbus we dance to)

Boban & Marko Markovic Orchestra (Serbia)

Constellation
3111 N. Western Ave.
7:30 doors open, 8pm show
Age 18+

Boban & Marko Markovic Orchestra (Serbia)

La Yegros (Argentina)

Mayne Stage
1328 W. Morse Ave.
7:30pm doors open, 9pm show
Age 18+

One World Under One Roof - WMF Closing Night at the Chicago Cultural Center 

Preston Bradley Hall

2:30-8:45pm


Sep 12-14 Harvest Moon Dance Fest + more upcoming events

We heard of several upcoming events from Mady :
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Thursday, Sept. 11 - Fermilab international folk dancing moves back to Kuhn Village Barn at Fermilab, and a preview of Cross Step Waltz is planned.

Friday - Sunday September 12 - 14  Harvest Moon Dance Weekend - featuring dance historian Susan de Guardiola teaching Cross-Step Waltz (Friday) and historical social dance (Saturday), at Fermilab's Barn, as well as a Waltz evening (Saturday) with live music by Martha Edwards and Jonathan Whitall; Regency dance and modern English country dance and more cross-step waltz at Oak Park's Nineteenth Century Club (Sunday)

Friday - Sunday Sept 26 - 28 Yves Moreau at Tapestry's Fall Weekend in Minneapolis (for lower rate sign up by Sept. 12)

Saturday Oct 18 - "Chicagoland Fall Ball" Bulgarian Dance workshop and party with Nikolay Tsvetkov at Ethnic Dance Chicago
Sunday, Oct. 19  Nikolay Tsvetkov, noted dancer, instructor, and choreography from Ensemble Pirin, teaches a guest workshop and master class hosted by Ensemble Balkanske Igre  (more info at balkanske_igre@yahoo.com
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ 

Also, St Paul's UCC in Downers Grove, where we dance on Friday nights, is planning an October Fest the evening of  Saturday Oct 18, and we may be helping with some simple participation folk dancing there, stay tuned for further details when we find out more.

There's still just barely time to sign up for Oconomowoc Folk Dance Camp -- contrary to what some of the printed flyers say, the deadline for the early price is ***SEPT 3, 2014****, so better get hopping!
 

Vasa Pk Scandi Day Sep 7 + Roo's dance class starts Sep 14

We heard from Roo that her weekly Sunday evening Scandi dance classes will be resuming starting Sunday, Sept 14, 2014, at St. Luke Presbyterian Church, 3910 Highland Avenue, Downers Grove, IL 60515. Contact Roo at DancingRoo@aol.com for a flyer and more information.

She also reminded us that Scandinavian Day at Vasa Park is Sunday, Sept 7, 2014 10am-6pm, at Vasa Park, 35W217 Route 31, South Elgin, Illinois

Saturday, August 16, 2014

EMNFD: Bulgarika Live Music Mon Sep 15

Evanston Monday Night Folk Dancing is having an Bulgarian Folk Music and Dance Party with live music by Bulgarika
Monday, Sept 15, 2014
7:30-10:30 PM,
Lake Street & Chicago Avenue in Evanston
http://www.evanstonfolkdance.org/save-the-date

Looks like their Fall Regional Potluck is scheduled for Sat Nov 8, too.

Festivals this weekend Aug 15-17

Sorry for the late notice, just came across info for these 2 festivals in an e-mail from Dance With Janet:

Festival of the Horse & Drum, "A Multicultural Celebration of the Horse"
Kane County Fairgrounds, Aug 16-17, 2014
http://www.festivalofthehorseanddrum.com/
 In addition to dancing horses, it looks like there will be human Salsa Dancing, Belly Dancing, and the Bulgarian dance troup Xopo -- see the schedule for the Horse-a-Palooza Stage:
http://www.festivalofthehorseanddrum.com/horse-a-palooza-stage.html

Chicagoland Dance Festival, "Chicago's Only Country and Swing Dance Festival"
Crown Plaza Chicago O'Hare, Aug 15-17, 2014
http://chicagolanddancefestival.com/

Wednesday, August 13, 2014

Fox Valley Folk Festival Aug 31 - Sep 1, 2014

Fox Valley Folk Music & Storytelling Festival
August 31 & September 1, 2014
At Island Park, Geneva, IL
http://foxvalleyfolk.com/

Ending our presence on meetup.com

Last spring, we decided to try setting up on meetup.com, to see if it would help improve attendance at regular Friday night dancing. Unfortunately, it does not seem to have had any effect on attendance, so we decided not to pay for another 6 months, so our meetup group will disappear from meetup.com after September.  Thanks to Susan for setting up and maintaining it, it was a noble experiment.  Too bad it didn't work out.

This blog will still be maintained, so check here for special events, cancellations, or miscellaneous stuff that I think you might be interested in :-)

Monday, July 28, 2014

Sun Aug 10 French Connection Day - Cantigny

http://www.cantigny.org/calendar/signature-events/french-connection-day

French Connection Day 


Sunday, August 10, 2014 |  9 am - 3 pm
Free with $5 per car parking fee

Cantigny
1S151 Winfield Road
Wheaton, IL 60189
  • French Open Air Market by Bensidoun
  • Wine Tasting and French Food at Le Jardin
  • Pétanque (pronounce pay-tonk) a French yard game
  • Kids' Art Project
  • French Music by Traveler's Dream
  • Street Performers: Stilt-walker, Caricaturist, Face Painters, Balloon artist
  • Storytime with Madeline
  • Photo-ops by the 23 foot Eiffel Tower

Sat Aug 2: Fox Valley Irish Fest Aurora + Lake Co Fiber+Folk Fest

Fox Valley Irish Fest
Date: Sat, Aug 02
from 1 to 10:30pm
Price: $5 - $10
Venue Info: RiverEdge Park
360 N. Broadway
Aurora, IL 60505 (click map for more details)
(630) 896-6666
http://riveredgeaurora.com/events/fox-valley-irish-festival/


Midwest Fiber & Folk Art Fair (includes folk music)
Date: Fri, Aug 01
through Sun, Aug 3
Price: $10/day or 3 day pass for $25. Kids 10 and under are FREE
Venue Info: Lake County Fairgrounds
1060 E. Peterson Rd
Grayslake, IL 60030
http://www.fiberandfolk.com/

Sunday, July 13, 2014

WPR TTBOOK podcast: Just Dance

Wisconsin Public Radio show "To The Best Of Our Knowledge" podcast entitled "Just Dance":
http://www.ttbook.org/book/dance

"06.29.2014
Want to improve your mood? Just dance. This hour we’re talking with people who’ve found an easy way to keep themselves happy, to build friendships, and make art. We’re checking in with neuroscientists too, to hear just what happens in our brains when we’re dancing."

Friday, July 4, 2014

Not meeting Friday, July 4, 2014

Since the Fourth of July falls on a Friday this year, we assume most people will be going to see fireworks, so we're cancelling Friday night folk dancing that night, July 4, 2014. 

Friday, May 30, 2014

Not meeting Fri May 30: June Camp 2014

We will not be meeting for dancing in Downers Grove on Friday, May 30.

Many of us will be going to June Camp that weekend:
https://sites.google.com/site/junecampifd/
International Folk Dance Camp in the Midwest
Beloit College, Beloit, WI
May 29 - June 1, 2014
Featuring Steve Kotansky
Dances of the Southern Balkans and couple dances from central Europe and the Balkans
Also featuring Live music parties with members of the Pinewoods Band

Wednesday, May 7, 2014

Youtube video of Merengue-dancing dog

Bonnie forwarded this video, it's pretty impressive -- the dog has better balance on 2 legs than I do!:

Friday, May 2, 2014

Not meeting Fri May 2, 2014

Because we'll be having our annual Stone Soup Party Saturday May 3, we will not be meeting to dance in Downers Grove on Friday May 2, we'll be home making soup.

Thursday, May 1, 2014

2014 Stone Soup Party: Saturday May 3 1pm-6pm

Argonne International Folk Dance
Stone Soup Party  
Date: Saturday, May 3, 2014 
Time: 1:00pm-6:00pm, potluck meal around 3:00pm 
Place: St. Paul's UCC Fellowship Hall 
Requested Donation: $3 + Potluck dish to share 





In order to spend more time dancing and less time cooking during the party, the soups will be made ahead.  If you'd like to volunteer to bring a soup, let us know (or just show up with soup, the more the merrier!)  You can let us know in person at Friday night dancing, or by e-mail, or by posting a comment on this post, or on the meetup.com event: http://www.meetup.com/http-argonneifd-blogspot-com/events/174398662/

I've been trying to figure out how to put the meetup.com RSVP widget here, but I can't quite get it to work.
 
For flyers to print, click on image below.

Saturday, April 26, 2014

soundcloud.com - tracks to listen to

In the process of getting the links for the previous post, with WBEZ's Worldview on soundcloud.com, I found other interesting stuff to listen to, for example:
https://soundcloud.com/evergreene/sets/balkan-arts-701-bulgarian-folk

WBEZ: Brass Band Music, May 2 CIMM "Brasslands" movie

There's a story on WBEZ (from their Worldview show) about global brass band music:
https://soundcloud.com/wbez-worldview/global-notes-brass-bands

The movie "Brasslands", about brass bands competing at the Guca festival in Serbia (including Zlatne Uste, whose music we often dance to) will be showing Friday May 2nd at 7:00pm at the Logan Theatre
as part of the Chicago International Movie and Music (CIMM) festival.

Since we won't be meeting for dancing Friday May 2 because we'll be having the Stone Soup party Sat May 3
you wouldn't even have to miss dancing to go see the movie.

Sunday, April 6, 2014

Saturday, March 22, 2014

Save the Date: Sat, May 3, 2014: Stone Soup

We've reserved the Fellowship Hall for our annual Stone Soup Party for Saturday, May 3, 2014.  Further details to come in a later post.

It was great to have such a good turnout for our Fri, March 7 get-together with Ethnic Dance Chicago, including dancers from more than just the two groups.  Seemed like that was almost the first Friday that it didn't snow so far this year, luckily.

In case you've been trying to remember the dances that were taught that night:

Paul taught "A Trip to Town-O" -- here's a link to a video of some 5th graders doing the dance, to remind you of the pattern: https://www.schooltube.com/video/28a47e03704467de8d20/

He also taught Damat Halay -- here's a link for instructions + various videos of that:
http://folkdancemusings.blogspot.com/2013/12/damat-halayi-turkey.html

Here's a video of Moonlight Swing:  http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=32Jops3-SQk
 -- almost the same as what we do, except right at the end after the jazz box, where we do grapevines, the guy in the video does something slightly different

And here's Promoroaca: http://youtu.be/5qNWoyRmdqU -- if your memory is better than mine, you may realize that I goofed on the first part, and did 4 measures each direction, but it should be 8 measures all in the same direction, as in the video.

Sorry that I couldn't find any videos for "Cajun Express" that Susan taught.

In addition to google-ing for the name of a folk dance to find instructions or videos, there are a number sites that have a lot of them already compiled and indexed, here are a few:
http://folkdancemusings.blogspot.com/p/alphabetical-list-of-dance-notes-on.html
http://wiki.volksmusik.cc/wiki/index.php/Full_dance_list
http://archives.mvfolkdancers.com/0_Other%20Items%20of%20Interest/0_Dance%20Instructions/
http://www.folkdance.com/html/LDDescriptions.htm
http://www.daytonfolkdance.com/l_links.html#descriptions

Besides the aforementioned Stone Soup, here are a few other upcoming events of potential interest around the area:
Fri-Sun Mar 28-30: Balkanske Igri Spring Festival, International House, UofC http://www.balkanskiigri.com/
Wed Apr 23 7:30pm: Oak Park Folkdancers Annual Potluck, 515 Franklin, River Forest, IL
Thu-Sun May 29-Jun 1: June Camp w/Steve Kotansky, Beloit College:  https://sites.google.com/site/junecampifd/

Saturday, February 1, 2014

Fri, Mar 7: Special dance night, we're having company!

Folk dancers from  Ethnic Dance Chicago are planning to join us for Friday night dancing on March 7, so  we're going to make it a special evening -- we'll start early (7:30pm), end late (11pm), and bring snacks to share.  Hope you can join us!  Click on image below for flyer.

UofC Folk Festival Feb 14-16, 2014

54th Annual University of Chicago Folk Festival
Feb 14-16, 2014
http://uofcfolk.org/

Concerts and workshops, usually including some dancing

The University of Chicago Folklore Society
1212 E. 59th St.
Chicago, IL 60637

Thursday, January 2, 2014

Chicago Winterdance Jan 3-5 2014, Cultural Center

http://www.cityofchicago.org/city/en/depts/dca/supp_info/winter_dance.html

Winter’s version of SummerDance, Chicago WinterDance 2014 will be held January 3–5 in the Yates Gallery located on the 4th floor of the Chicago Cultural Center. Presented by the Chicago Department of Cultural Affairs and Special Events, Chicago WinterDance will bring people of all ages and skill levels together with free, introductory one-hour dance lessons by professional instructors followed by music and dancing. The diverse musical lineup showcases popular dance styles.


Friday, January 3, 2014
7:10-9pm - DJ Mellow Khris (Chicago Steppin')
6-7pm - Dawud Shareef & Lura Satterfield (Chicago Steppin')

Saturday, January 4, 2014
7:10-9pm - Rica Obsesion (Salsa)
6-7pm - May I Have This Dance (Salsa)

Sunday, January 5, 2014
1-3pm - Tangata Ensemble (Milonga)
12 Noon-1pm - Tango 21 (Argentine Tango)
---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Dates: Jan. 3-5, 2014
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Location:
Chicago Cultural Center, Yates Gallery
77 E. Randolph
Chicago, IL 60602
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Admission: FREE
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