Not exactly folk dancing video

This isn't exactly international folk dancing, but it does involve a lot of folk, and dancing, and it is international... Where the Hell is Matt? (2008) from Matthew Harding on Vimeo.

Soudclick widget - scroll down at bottom

I came across a posting on rec.folk-dancing about a book of Balkan music arranged for guitar, by Allan Alexander, and a link where you can listen to the music. On the soundclick.com site, they also provide a "widget" that can be added to blogs for listening to the music, so I did -- if you scroll to the bottom of the blog, you should be able to click and listen to some nice versions of familiar Balkan tunes.

Chicago Arabesque June 25-28 Daley Plaza

Chicago Arabesque

June 25-28, 2008
Daley Plaza
Wed-Fri: 10am-3pm
Sat: 10am-7pm
Free Admission
Bazaar (Souk), food, crafts, gifts, entertainment from the Arab World.
Also workshops, children's activities and henna body painting.

www.chicagoarabesque.com

EMNFD: 6/23 Solstice celebration

Received from Harry:

Evanston Monday Night Folk Dancers announce

Monday, June 23

Celebrate the arrival of summer and
the continuing good dancing weather

Bring a snack to share if you care to – we’ll bring ice and fruit

Lake Street Church of Evanston – Lake St and Chicago Ave
enter from courtyard – 7:30-10:30pm

always $5

Mark your calendars:

July 9-13 – Door County Folk Festival (www.dcff.net)

July 21 – Live music at EMNFD with Balkan Cabaret

Summerdance in Grant Park Michigan & Balbo - 6:00-9:30pm

July 10 Slavic Soul Party with John Kuo

July 18 Boban i Marko Markovic Orkestar with Paul Collins

more at www.ChicagoSummerDance.org

Fermilab ECD/Scottish/waltz news

Received from Mady:

Friday: English country dance and Jane Austen fans are welcome to come to a practice session this Friday, June 20th, at 7:30 p.m. to go over the Jane Austen dances we will be teaching for the Ball at the the Jane Austen Society annual general meeting in October. It will take place in Oak Park in the ballroom of the Oak Park Arms Retirement Community, 408 S. Oak Park Ave (60302). Fancy dress is optional. We will have an audience of the members of the retirement community. Putting on Aires will play. No admittance fee, just bring some money for tipping the band. $5 suggested.

Saturday: You can indulge in your love of things Scottish (including dancing) at the Chicago Highland Games, Friday evening and all day Saturday at the Oak Brook Polo Grounds. Come by the combined RSCDS Chicago Branch and Evanston Scottish Country Dancers tent to visit and find out about that kind of dancing. There will be demos at 10 a.m. and 4 p.m. and teaching at 11:15 a.m. at least. More info and schedules at www.chicago-scots.org

Sunday: There is a Waltz "Playshop" at this Sunday, June 22, at S.P.A.C.E. in Evanston, 1245 Chicago Ave. (at the corner of Dempster) from 7 to 10 p.m. There will be several bands, taking turns playing. A mini-workshop to show a few of the moves we learned at the "cross step" sessions several weeks ago will take place sometime during the evening, and there will be a few group dances. Admission is $5 at the door to cover rent, tipping the musicians is encouraged and a potluck dessert to share will be welcomed. More info at http://www.chicagobarndance.com/events.html

Hope to see you at one of these….

Happy dancing,

Mady

NPR: Polka in America's Small Towns

Here's a link to an NPR story about polka:

http://www.npr.org/templates/story/story.php?storyId=91514650&ft=1&f=1008

The blurb says:

Weekend Edition Saturday, June 14, 2008 - A recent polka jam in Winton, Minn., offered free tickets to people under 40; not a single person took up the offer. Mike Jankovec, who runs polka jams and polka programming on a community TV station in Ely, Minn., talks to NPR's Scott Simon about reviving the polka scene in the upper Midwest.

Scottish Festival and Highland Games June 20-21 Oak Brook, IL

Illinois St. Andrews Society 22nd Annual Scottish Festival and Highland Games
June 20-21, 2008
Oak Brook Polo Grounds
Friday 4:00 p.m. - 10:00 p.m.
Saturday 8:00 a.m. -10:00 p.m.