Monday night dancing at Hermann Sons Hall in Petaluma starts up again 7-9 p.m. after the new year on January 8 and runs through May 20 (no class on April 9).  Newcomers and beginners are always welcome – first class is free, and the first half hour focuses on easy, fun, beginner dances from Bulgaria, Romania, France, Serbia, Ukraine, Israel, Greece and more.

We are looking forward to dancing again with live music from Da Mozehm in February. As well, we are excited that Jaap Leegwater will be returning to Petaluma on Monday, April 24.  

Our winter/spring session runs from January 8 to May 20. Newcomers and visitors are always welcome; for more information, contact me at 415-663-9512 or cjay@horizoncable.com. 

We had a wonderful time dancing to fabulous music by Bulgarika on Monday night, 0ctober 23! 

Five master musicians, all steeped in Bulgarian Music and rhythms make up the band: Nikolay Kolev (gadulka), Dona Kolev (vocals), Temelko Ivanov (naval), Nikolay Kodzhabashev (tambulfa), and Marin Chalamov (tapan).

At the same time, all of us are mourning the passing of Paul Smith, who was a mainstay of our dance group for decades. He was an elegant, understated dancer, a lovely man, and a dear friend. I am picturing him now, leading some of his favorite dances including Melnik and Joe Batreanesc. Paul is the one in the middle in the photograph; fairly sure he is dancing Bavno Oro. He will be deeply missed. 

Monday night dancing 7-9 p.m. at Herman Sons Hall, 860 Western, Petaluma,  continues through December 18.  Newcomers and beginners are always welcome. For more information, contact Carol Friedman at 415-663-951.

Massive storms, flooding, and power outages delayed the start of my classes that had been scheduled to begin again the week of January 9. This included three days without power or Wi-Fi, significant flooding, plus periodic power outages and downed trees blocking the roads throughout the rest of the week. A huge Monterey Cypress tree branch fell on my property - luckily it just missed my garage. 

I’m glad to report that the Balkan/International class on Mondays 7-9 p.m. and the Israeli folk dance classes on Thursdays 1:15-3:15 p.m. were able to resume the third week in January. Both classes will now be held at Herman Son’s Hall, 860 Western Avenue, in Petaluma. As always, we’ll be doing a mix of beginning, intermediate and advanced dances – and requests are always welcome. It’s always fun and interesting to see what folks come up with; recent requests on Monday have included Bannielou Lamboal (France), Cetvorno Horo (Bulgaria), and Joc in Patru (Romania). On Thursdays, we've been reviewing Lev Patuach, Harmonica, and Shav Al Admati.

 I’m also continuing to introduce dances that I have choreographed, including one to beautiful Ukrainian music by Kitka (Oj, jak ze bulo) and a lovely simple dance Kenyan music (Kothbiro).

And a heads up that the wonderful vocal ensemble Kitka will be performing in my neck of the woods on Saturday, May 20, at the Dance Palace Community Center in Point Reyes Station – be sure to mark your calendars for this special event.

I continue to teach one Balkan/International Zoom class, noting that it is now scheduled for the second Wednesday of each month from 7-8:15 p.m. 

Newcomers and visitors are always welcome to join any of these classes; for more information, contact me at 415-663-9512 or cjay@horizoncable.com. 

Balkan and Israeli folk dance classes will be starting up again in the first week of January 2023, and both classes will now be held at Herman Sons Hall, 860 Western, Petaluma.

Balkan/International class will be on Mondays 7-9 p.m. First session is January 9-April 24; second session runs from May 1-July 13 (no classes on May 29 or July 3). Requests are always welcome. We'll continue to review and dance Stamena (Bulgaria) and Hora Anton Pann (Romania), and I'll also be introducing two new dances I have choreographed done to music from Ukraine.

Israeli folk dancing will start on January 12 and run through March 8; second session will be March 1-April 27. The first hour of this class is beginning/intermediate dancing; second hour will be intermediate and advanced dances, with lots of time for requests. I'll be teaching a (new to me) Avak Hadrachim, a lovely waltz as well as introducing a dance I choreographed to a wild and fun version of Adon Olam.

Beginners, newcomers and drop-ins are always welcome. Please feel free to contact me for more information at cjay@horizoncable.com.