Monday, March 1, 2010

We're learning Valle Pogonishte in both Point Reyes and Petaluma. This is a dance to Albanian music, choreographed by Yves Moreau (a wonderful folk dance teacher who primarily focuses on Bulgarian dance). The dance is based on the traditional Albanian pogonishte step - very much like a Greek sta dyo, in SQQ rhythm, but with a lighter and bouncier style.

There has been much discussion recently in Let's Dance magazine about the value of dancing choreographed dances versus traditional classic dances (though the distinction between one and the other is often subjective). My focus in teaching is find dances that I love, done to wonderful music, whether they be absolutely traditional or not. This dance is indeed choreographed, to great music, and it's wonderfully fun to do.

1 comment:

  1. Hi, Carol. It's Dorothea in Santa Fe. Lee is in New Mexico for the weekend and we danced with him in Albuquerque last night. At my request (and Jill's), he did a reprise of five of the dances I enjoyed most in Turkey: Valle Pogonishte being my all-time favorite! We will have another workshop with him tonight and then he will teach in Los Alamos on Sunday afternoon. Jill has taken him skiing today and I will be skiing with him on Monday. This has been a great year for snow and I hope that I won't follow Terry's example. He broke his leg the day after Christmas (not even while having fun; he slipped on ice in my ex-husband's driveway on the way to a party). He's finally out of the boot and wearing only an ankle brace. We also adopted a rescue dog in December who proved to have a serious paw problem, so I have spent the winter taking care of both a two-legged and a four-legged patient. Glad to find your blog -- I ran across it by accident while searching for a dance instruction. Be well! Dorothea

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