05/12/2019
Club News June 2019
by Barb Puigh
COME ONE, COME ALL TO IFDR’S 65TH ANNUAL FESTIVAL October 4-6, 2019.
In addition to regional instructors teaching a variety of international dances, a highlight of this anniversary festival will be live music from the fantastic group, Osem i Devet with Tedy and Dina.
We heard from Michael Lawson on accordion that he and David Bilides on tapan will be joined by two vocalists: Teodora Dimitrova (Tedy) and Dina Trageser, founder and director of Dunava Balkan Women’s Choir. Tedy is also a member of Dunava and the lead singer for Orkestar RTW. She studied singing and tambura at the “Philip Kutev” School of Music in Kotel, Blugaria. David plays and teaches music from the Balkans on the tapan, kaval, tambura and santouri. Michael’s resume is also very long. He has directed several folk dance bands, including Nisava, and Balkan Cabaret, which came to Richland in 2004 for our 50th Anniversary Festival.
Other good news on the Festival is that Northwest Folkdancers, Inc. (NFDI) will again be a sponsor of the festival. This will mean a $7 discount off the weekend fee for NFDI members.
Friday night’s party will be at the Richland Community Center. Shuffler Shanty in Kennewick is the location for the instruction on Saturday, Sunday, and the Saturday night party. The Festival is headed up by Gene Carbaugh ([email protected]) and Anne Schur ([email protected]). For more details see future newsletters, with ads and a registration form, or contact Gene or Anne. We hope you can join us.
Thanks to Gretchen Makinson for hosting our "first Saturday party" in May with a Greek theme. The potluck and dance were a great success. All of the dishes were fantastic, with wonderful home-made baklava and moussaka as two of the choices. We welcomed many of our regulars, along with Carol Ernst and Carla Houchin from the Walla Walla group. It was also fun to have youngsters with their families. Irena and Dimitri from Macedonia, Gordana from Bosnia, and Kathleen from Scotland help us appreciate how international folk dancing supports our learning about countries around the world through them. Gordana’s singing of Ne klepeci brought tears to her eyes (and ours too!).
Our first Saturday party in June will not have dancing, but will be a chance for fellowship. Keeping with our tradition of exploring new local ethnic restaurants, we will be going to the Havana Café on June 1. The owners are from Havana and the food has received good reviews on Yelp. We will meet at 6 PM at 404 W. Lewis in Pasco.
Club members have been traveling around the state, country, and world. Anne Schur will be heading to Scandinavia on a Jim Gold tour led by Lee Otterholt in June. Gretchen Makinson had a very unique experience at the Concordia Language Village in Wisconsin. It was three days of learning Norwegian, singing, music, dancing, and sharing Norwegian meals with a group of fellow students.
Please stop in when you are in the Tri-Cities. Our weekly dances at the Richland Community Center, 500 Amon Park Drive, Thursdays from 7-9 PM, are especially enjoyable during the summer. We dance in an air-conditioned building that overlooks the Columbia River and sits in Howard Amon Park. The wall facing the river and park is all windows, so it is a great way to spend a lovely summer evening in the Tri-Cities. Feel free to join us when you are in Eastern Washington. For housing, contact Barb Puigh at [email protected]. First time visitors dance for free!
