I’m loving holding hands in a circle again. I’m loving dancing with other people again. I’m loving having room to move again. And I’m loving introducing new dances I learned during the pandemic.
I continue to be grateful for Zoom. It was a big leap for me (I hate new technology), but with the help of some knowledgeable and generous dance friends, I did it. It was different. When I taught or reviewed a dance, I couldn’t see people. I had to have my back turned from the screen, so folks could distinguish left from right. I had to dance far enough away from the screen so people could see my feet. It was much harder to balance without holding hands. And it was also much harder to remember dances without that connection, because you feel the dance as much as know it. I had to keep everyone muted so the music works, which meant there was much less easy, casual conversation.
But I got to see and teach and dance regularly with my wide circle of dance friends.I had big fun discovering new dances (and re-discovering old ones) through the wide variety of virtual folk dance classes and parties that are happening. I am grateful for that as well, and I continue to participate in Zoom classes and parties regularly.
But I’ve really come back home to dancing, and it feels good.
I was honored to be the guest teacher at the Festival of the Oaks in February. This was my first big in-person dance event in more than two years and it was so much fun. I taught five favorites from the year: Alta es la Luna (Sephardic/Greek), Valle Came e Shpeft (Albania), Jerusalema (South Africa), Maleshevsko Horo (Bulgaria) and Vallejo e Dados (Albania).
My Petaluma Balkan/International classes are back on Mondays 7-9 p.m. through May 15 at Hermann Sons Hall in Petaluma.. And Israeli dancing is happening as well at Osher Marin JCC in San Rafael; folks can sign up for 6-week sessions through the JCC.
Only one Zoom session left, and I’m planning to continue doing this because it’s been so much fun connecting with dance friends who live too far away to take my in-person person classes. This Balkan/International Zoom class is scheduled for the third Wednesday of each month from 7-8:15 p.m.
Hope to see you on the dance floor!
