Many thanks to all you told me where to find folk dance records. I have looked at all the sites, and am very pleased with them all.
Would be happy to hear from fellow dancers, so please fell free to e-mail me, will answer everyone that does.

Hi Laurie (and everyone else also!),

Could you please share more information/news about Folk Dancing, or even be able to contribute news from the Folk Dance world. We would love to be able to learn more about the dances -- types, history, background of how all of you started (and what made you become interested in the particular styles). It's fascinating for us who have always focused on social and/or competitive dancing that there are many more dance forms from other cultures that influence (or can influnece) other dance styles.

For example, Italians have really added their flair and passion (with Argentinian Tango stylings) to International style Tango. The "American Style" dances are influencing more and more International style, particularly in Showdance, and has its own unique and beautiful stylings. Flamenco has influenced Latin dancing, particularly in Paso Doble. And everyone knows about Irish Dancing now because of the popularity of River Dance and Lord of the Dance (although do you think it may have run its course now?). Belly Dancing and Middle Eastern dancing has always been fascinating to watch -- is there a "story" behind the dancing, much like the "Hula Dance". In African and other dances, there seems to be a story behind each dance, related to agriculture, religious beliefs, etc.

How did all of you first become interested in Folk Dancing? Please share your stories and passions for these other dance forms!

[This message has been edited by DanceScape (edited 05-13-2001).]

My start in Folk Dancing... It was back in l989 and I knew about the Roanoke IFD... this group been dancing since l984, so I thought I would go see what it was all about. I walked in and particpate in dancing, and after awhile I stood against the wall to watch and thought I would never learn these dances, well after 12 years I am still going, and a matter of fact when the instructor can't be there, I now teach the class. We changed the name, and now it is called the Roanoke Valley IFD. We do Romanian, Bulgarian, Israeli, Turkish, etc.

What are the differences among Romanian, Bulgarian, Israeli, and Turkish dances? Are any of these similar to Ukrainian dancing?

quote:

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Originally posted by martha:
What are the differences among Romanian, Bulgarian, Israeli, and Turkish dances? Are any of these similar to Ukrainian dancing?

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The difference is in the music, but some of the steps that we do in Bulgarian can be found sometimes in Romanian, For instance step behind step can be found in Bulgarian, or the Romanian, just like the step "grapevine"

Hello Dancescape. I can never figure out how much info about other types of dancing is relevant or of interest to people, but since you asked...

As I understand it, the origins of belly dancing are pretty hazy. There are fertility aspects, and one story has it that it originated as neighborhood women surrounded a mother giving birth and undulated in support and empathy. Another theory is that it came from prostitutes enticing customers and that the coins that sometimes are part of today's costumes represent the coins that these street dancers sewed on their costumes to flaunt their earnings.

There is no specific story behind a belly dancer's performance, but it is divided into five specific parts: a fast 4/4 (lots of hip shimmies and zills are played), rhumba (veil work), chiftetelli (pronounced shif-te-tell-ee, is slow with a very distinct beat and involves lots of undulations), drum (the ultimate lead-and-follow challenge, the dancer tries to match her hip accents to an improvised drum solo), and 9/8 (another fast piece with zills, but with a trickier rhythm to dance to). The fast sections are very extroverted, the slower ones much more introverted.

I thought when I got into Latin that the belly dance moves would carry over; they don't. The hip moves in Latin are danced much more straight-legged. There are merengue moves that are identical to belly dance moves. Samba music has a similar feel as belly dance music in that the second beat is accented and it has a sort of primitive tone. And an understanding of isolations is essential to both belly dancing and Latin. There are some laws of physics that carry over from belly dancing to standard ballroom: for instance, I can do a backbend half again as deep in high heels as barefoot because my weight is thrown forward, just as I can give much more topline in 3" heels than in 1". And my coach recently mentioned a pro who puts a little shoulder shimmy in when she comes out of an oversway...now THAT's a belly dance trick.

I need to go work. But if anyone's still interested, I can tell you about the old English fertility dances of Morris, rapper sword, and long sword on my next visit.

Ruth,
Thanks so much for your background information -- this is truly interesting and it's great for someone like you who have come from the other dance styles and are now taking Ballroom Dancing. Many dancers take different dance (and sports) disciplines in order to give them many "tools" to express themselves -- physically, mentally, and creatively.

Look forward to your explanations of the "old English fertility dances of Morris, rapper sword, and long sword, etc.". As much as Ballroom Dancing is seen as Art by some, and Sport by others, the fact remains that the various dances still tell a story between a man and a woman -- combining the best of feminine and masculine energies.

If you have seen the "History of Dance Costumes: Part II Latin" on www.dancescape.TV (click on the REGISTER/LOGIN button at http://www.dancescape.tv/content/interact.asp ), Hazel Fletcher mentions how Bobbie Irvine added her own signature moves but still retained the character of the dances. That's why we feel this year's Blackpool is going to be very exciting -- with many different "styles" and personalities, each building from the core character of the dance, but including their own flair and interpretations.

Thanks for sharing!

Regards,
DanceScape Support

[This message has been edited by DanceScape (edited 05-14-2001).]

Hi Dancescape. I'll post more on folk dancing later, but I have a question about Dancescape TV. My computer is in need of a new hard drive, partly because of space issues, and partly because it informed us emphatically a few weeks ago that: "Hard drive failure imminent. Back up all files immediately!" and then changed its mind and is still working (which goes to show you that computers sometimes warn with out crashing as well as crash without warning). Anyway, I haven't dared try Dancescape TV lest asking the poor thing to undertake extra duties drive it off the deep end completely. So, just how much space does the software I'd need to download take up? If it's not too much, I may go ahead and risk it, otherwise, I'll wait until I get the new hard drive.

Hi Ruth,
Is it possible to let us know how much is left on your hard drive. You can use "Windows Explorer" to click on a folder and it should tell you how much is left on your hard drive.

You may wish to clear your cache for "Internet Explorer" (or Netscape, whichever web browser you use). For example, if you are using Internet Explorer, click on "Tools/Internet Options" on the top menu -- then in the "Temporary Internet Files" section, click on "Delete Files" as well as "Clear History" and that should also free up space.

If you can then let us know how much FREE disk space you have on your computer, that would tell us if you are at a critical point. You should seriously look at getting a backup as soon as possible, particularly if you have a lot of important files. Some people like zip disks for backup, but portable (re-writable) CD-ROMS hold a lot of information and less expensive/faster in the long-term.

Regards,
DanceScape Support

Hi Dancescape. I actually have what I'm sure is more than enough space left, but the computer's getting so cranky I think I'll wait until we get a chance to put in a new hard drive. I keep all my important files on my old clunker upstairs and backed up on disk so I'm not worried about the family computer crashing, it'd just be an inconvenience, especially since surfing the net on the upstairs computer is like riding a bicycle up a very steep hill: slow and wobbly.

I promised info about English ritual dance so here it is:
Long sword and rapper (the term rapper probably comes from "scraper" since these swords more resemble the flat flexible two handled sweat scrapers use on horses than any type of fighting sword) are both ancient dances that involve a team of men dancing in a circle linked by the swords held hilt and point. The circle goes through a series of tanglings and untanglings culminating in a "lock" where the swords are interlaced to form a star. In the old mummer's plays this lock was placed over the head of a character and and the swords drawn in a mock beheading. This character would later be ressurected, just as the earth comes back to life each year in the spring, which is a running theme in early pagan rituals.

Morris dancing traditionaly consists of a team of six or eight men wearing bells and either waving handkerchiefs or clashing sticks as they execute a number of leaping figures. The handkerchiefs, bells, and noise of the sticks were to wake the sleeping earth each spring and to chase off the evil spirits, and the high leaps were to encourage the grain to grow high.

All these types of dancing are usually done to a fiddle or penny whistle. There are several dance teams in the Boston and NYC area that still do these dances today as well as a number in England, and probably plenty of other places that I'm less familiar with. These teams are a staple at the New England Folk Festival each April among other places. In the '70s my sister took part in forming the "Ring O' Bells" team in NYC which was the first women's Morris team to gain acceptance performing publicly and dancing in the same forceful style used by the men. There are now plenty of teams of women out there.

My sister got involved in English dancing after she attended a music week at Pinewoods camp near Cape Cod and fell in love with the dancing they had each evening. She took me along with her when she started attending classes at the Cambridge Y, and 30 years later those classes are still going. Over the years I followed her into various other styles of dancing and eventually met my current husband through her. And I got into ballroom through my current husband. The belly dancing I got into on my own, but it was also through a class at my local Y.

So there. Much as I always think of my husband as being the one with the serious dance background, I guess I kinda have a good bit myself.