Back to Our Roots - South Slavic Dances (Kolo & Drmes) - Live Music Workshop Our intent in this workshop is to recreate some of the excitement that made ethnic folk dancing so immensely popular. Teachers such as Dick Crum, Dennis Boxell and John Filcich introduced us to wonderful South Slavic dances that included many forms of the Kolo and Drmes. Michael Herman and John Filcich and the folks at Balkan Records (Cicero, IL) produced recordings of wonderful dance music played by ensembles such as the Banat Tamburitza Orchestra, Dave Zupkovich, Joe Grcevic, Martin Kapugi, Emory Grecni, the Popovich Brothers, Tony Muselin, Mladi Becari, the Duquense University Tamburitzans, etc. Some of us had the oppoprtunity to listen to and dance to live music played by these orchestras at festivals, camps, parties and clubs. The repertorie of these groups consisted of songs and dances that many of us now consider to be "old favorites". However, significant numbers of dancers and groups within the International Folk Dance Community have either forgotten these songs and dances or may have never been exposed to them. This workshop will bring us “Back to our Roots” by introducing some of these "old favorites" while dancing to live the music of Braca Tamburica Orchestra. Learning to dance with live music can be an exhilirating experience. Join us for these exciting workshops on Friday and Saturday mornings for a unique experience. |
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Dance Instructors |
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Paul Collins has danced since the age of eight and has been an ethnic folk dance leader & square/contra dance caller since high school in the mid 1960's. Paul has been a guest caller at dances from the North Country to the Deep South and has even called squares and taught folk dancing for the hearing impaired at Gallaudet University in Washington. DC. Between 1966 and 1979, Paul led the University of Chicago Folk Dance Club and introduced squares and contras into the group's repertoire. After directing the U of C Folk Dancers' Annual Fall "International Folk Festival" for twelve years, in 1980 Paul joined Gerhard Bernhard in producing the DCFF and two years later became co-director. In 1989, Paul and Bill Sasso started the Mid-North Folk Dance Club that has today evolved into Ethnic Dance Chicago. Paul has also presented dance programs for kids in Chicago area schools, tutoring programs and scouting organizations. Since 1999 Paul has done an annual week in residency at the Spring Hill Middle School in Wisconsin Dells, Wisconsin, helping the 8th grade classes prepare ethnic dance presentations for the School's International Festival. In the world outside of dance, Paul is an independent consultant in interpersonal and group communications strategies IT outsourcing strategies and is a co-founder and director of the Midwest Facilitators' Network. |
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George Davis , editor of the short-lived journal, Folktravesties, has been dancing since the days of the Great Society in the bright lights of Chicago. Learning dances from all of the legends: Crum, Palfi, David, Hebert, Moreau, Koenig, Filcich, Page, Czompo, Wixman, Ozkok, Drury, Mr. J. and Greene, he has managed to be known to none of them. A veteran of numerous performances at street fairs, old people's homes, testimonial dinners (before the belly dancers), and benefits for various handicapped groups; he has danced for international, Turkish, Israeli, Romanian, Latvian and Hungarian folklore groups. Dance research has taken George to exotic locales such as Milan's Lounge, the Rafters, Vi & Coy's and Tulipanos Lada. George is also a co-founder of the Franz Josef Verein, a central European cultural appreciation group. |
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Mary Garvin has taught at the Door County Folk Festival, Chicagoland Spring Fling, Mountain Playshop and other dance groups and festivals around the country. She is a leader at Tapestry Folkdance Center in the Twin-Cities and is one of the organizers of SNOPA! - a Twin-Cities Winter Dance Weekend. She was on the Earl Hall Folk Dance Circle committee at Columbia University in New York City. She was a member of modern & folk dance repertory companies at the University of Oregon, was a college dance Instructor and was a performer in the George Tomov Yugoslav Dance Ensemble. A proud feather in her cap is having been asked by Bulgarians to teach them Bulgarian dances. Mary has become addicted to Argentine tango in the last several years but stays loyal to her international dance roots. |
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Forrest Johnson and his wife Carol have been folk dance leaders and teachers of the Tuesday Night recreational folk dance group in Milwaukee (now back at Hart Park in Wauwautosa) for many years and through many changes of location. They originally met at the University of Minnesota in Minneapolis, fell in love and lived happily ever after... Then they moved to the Milwaukee area! Before living in Big Bend, they made brief stops in Ann Arbor, Michigan, the Grand Canyon, Shenandoah National Park (where Forrest worked as a Park Ranger no less) and back in Minneapolis. Recently, they have been recruited to teach a folk dance class at University of Wisconsin-Milwaukee. Forrest has done a great job of arranging and coordinating the folkdance parties at DCFF. He compiles and edits Milwaukee's Folkdance Flyer and takes a lot of abuse from Tut. Since his "formal" retirement from the Milwaukee Public Schools, Forrest has actually been employed on a part-time basis at the Milwaukee Public Schools' Potters Forest doing the many duties of a forest ranger. |
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Live Music |
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Braca Tamburica Orchestra (Greater Chicago Area, IL/IN) (back to top) Members are: Rich Krilich (Bugaria, Leader), John Gornick (Tambura Cello), Rudy Grasha Jr. (Accordion), Wally Pravica (Violin), Frank Mosca Jr. (Bass). For information and bookings: Rich Krilich - (630)-832 8914 - krilich@att.net Dajčevo Oro in St. Louis: Tamburica Orkestar Braća Channel: San Francisco Concert II 2011 Pogledajde Mala and Žikino Kolo: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=0667qFwJ1Io&feature=related San Francisco Concert II 2011 Sve Bi Dao Clip: |
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