G R A P E V I N E Volume 28 Number 1 November 2016

Grapevine is the newsletter of Perth International Dance. The Group meets at St Margaret’s Church Hall in Nedlands (Cnr Tyrell &Elizabeth) on Monday evenings and Saturday mornings. Monday evenings begin at 7.15pm. Saturdays from 10am - noon. The 1hour dance lesson is followed by a break for tea & general & request dancing. There is also a Friday session at 9.30am inParkerville Hall, Seabourne St, Parkerville. For more information please call Jennifer (0409372414) or Palenque (0423 834 439)

President's Report

G’Day and welcome to this the 40th AnniversaryYear of Perth International Dance Special EditionGrapevine. With nothing more than anenthusiasm for global folk dance it is truly aremarkable achievement that this smallcommunity group has stayed together for fortyyears doing what they enjoy most – internationalfolk dancing. The origins and driving force of thisremarkable achievement is of course the energy,enthusiasm and athleticism of Eve Blair. Overthe years Eve and the group have beensupported by a myriad of characters andpersonalities, some of whom have come andgone, others who are still here but all with thesame thing in common – their love of cultural folkdance. It is of particular importance that thisGrapevine be totally focussed on this milestone,as it will become a history of the life and times ofthe group as expressed by the stories containedtherein. A huge thanks must go to MartinWilliams for his time and patience in assemblingthis story of Perth International Dance and ahearty Congratulations to all on this the 40th yearRuby anniversary of Perth International Dance.

John Bardill President 2015-2016

Celebrating

Years of PerthInternational Dance

Look out for our Christmas edition ofGrapevine that will include a wrap-up of theyear's events.

Key Dates for your diary:

Christmas events:

Saturday Xmas Party 17 th December

Monday Xmas Party 19 th December

Both parties are free again this year – but

please remember to bring a plate

Dancing Restart Dates 2017

Monday dancing 9th January 2017

Saturday dancing 7th January 2017

Check the web-site for events and updates

John Whaite our dancing treasurer does a greatjob developing the Group’s website and keepingit up-to-date. So we encourage you to use it tocheck out events, dates and announcements.You can also use it to communicate with theSecretary and the President.

Did You Know that the purple speakers that weuse on Mondays and Saturdays were originallydonated by the WA Folk Federation to Swedishfolk dance teacher Kris Druid-Sutton and herhusband Bob? When they left Australia theydonated them in turn to Eve on New Years Dayin 1975. Eve had just arrived en route fromEngland, France and the USA where she hadexperienced the popularity of international folkdancing on the campuses in the USA. Thatapparently inspired Eve to start teaching folkdance in Perth in May 1976. The speakers havebeen used at our 10th, 20th ,25th, 30th and now 40th

anniversaries. Some might say that they are inbetter shape than some of our dancers afterforty years!!

www. perthinternational dance.org.au/home.html Grapevine edited by Martin Williams

André van de Plas July 2016

Another great workshop with André van de Plas!André taught 10 dances, and left with our thanksand a gift of 2 of our PID coffee mugs

As always, we rated the dances' popularity

Dance name Origin Votes

Marino Oro Macedonia 10

Masat Nafshi Israel 7

Logodarsko Oro Bulgaria 6

Oj Maju Maju Ukraine 6

Di Alargu Vruta Mea Romania - Aroman 5

Hora Pe Sase Romania 4

Operetten Medley Austria 4

Athela Mou Greece - Roma 3

Ajde Jano Kosovo 2

Some of the André workshop attendees

Photo: John Bardill

Identity Crisis, What Identity Crisis?No, not at all ! In this issue you will see both PIDand PIFDG referred to. After much soulsearching and many many hours of discussioninside and outside Committee the name of theoriginal Group was changed from “PerthInternational Folk Dance Group” to “PerthInternational Dance”. The main reason was todrop the word 'Folk' but perhaps also becausewe could no longer get our tongues around thePIFDG acronym!!

Forty Years on!!

In our Silver anniversary year 15 years ago weproduced six editions of Grapevine!! This maybe our first for our 40th celebrations but it's abumper issue!

We have invited past and present teachers,dancers, musicians and supporters to give ustheir thoughts on the dance group, what it meansor meant to them; in prose, poetry; in summary orin historic detail. So most of the rest ofGrapevine is dedicated to them and theirfeedback.

If you missed the deadline for this edition all isnot lost! We will also be putting the material onour web-site so we can easily add yourcontribution. We also also planning another issuebefore Christmas which will focus on thecelebrations, the party on 12th November and anykey feedback and new articles from you.

So straight into it – from the top, from FDA:

On behalf of the committee and members of FolkDance Australia, I'd like to congratulate PerthInternational Dancers on reaching your fortiethanniversary.

Forty years is a long time for an organisation tolast and it shows that there is a dedicated groupin Perth who love their dancing.

All the best for the next forty years and beyond.

With best wishes, Jeanette MollenhauerFolk Dance Australia, President

.. .. and we have had congratulatory messagesfrom other dance Groups including Laurel deVietri from Souleiado in Perth and from ChrisWild of Sedenka Dance Group on Sydney whoadded on a hopeful note 'sorry no sonnets, I’mbetter at dancing than poetry' before continuing:

“The Sedenka Dance Group (Sydney) sendcongratulations to the Perth International DanceGroup on your 40th anniversary.

Our members have many pleasant memories ofdancing with your group in Perth, dancing withyour members when they visit the East, andjoining in on the wonderful trip to Belco Stanev’sworkshop in Bulgaria.

Have a riotous celebration.

Best wishes for another 40 years of dancing”.

Chris Wild Sedenka Dance Group Sydney

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.. .. and we had some special messages such asthis one from André van de Plas who has givenus so many great workshops and hundreds ofdances over the years:

PIFDG 40 years of folk dancing

First of all I like to congratulate PerthInternational Folkdance Group with their 40 yearsof folkdancing.

The fact that a folk dance group is going on forsuch a long time is because of the dedication ofnot only one but a lot of people.

During those years I have been in Perth 26 timesto teach international folk dance and I always feltvery welcome. The first time in 1986 was part ofa tour organised by The Margaret Walker folkdance centre in Sydney. Since then it was alwaysdirectly organised by PIFDG and myself.

The venue varied from some places south ornorth of Perth till St Margaret’s Church Hall, thelast couple of times.

More then 300 dances I taught in all those yearsand I am happy to know that a lot of them are stillon the regular dancing list.

Out of those 26 times I stayed in Eve’s placemore then 20 times, mostly I arrived directly fromBali,

So Perth (and Eve’s place) was always a veryconvenient place to start my Australian teachingtour.

I like to wish all the members of PIFDG a veryhappy anniversary and an evening full of nicecelebrations and dancing. And last but not leaststill many years of folk dancing in the future.

André

Forty years

FORTY YEARS?

FORTY YEARS!

Unbelievable. Ce n’est pas possible!

For me PID is synonymous with being inAustralia. Within days of our arrival onChristmas Eve 1975 with the intention of startingan international folk dance group, we had metwith Chris and Bob Sutton and the purplespeakers. So I have scarcely been in Australiawithout PID, but if PID is 40 years old thatmeans that our arrival was 40 years ago. Thatdoes not seem possible until I start to think abouteverything that has happened since then. Mostof you will have met with Andre Van de Plas, butwe had many visiting teachers before him. Oneof the earliest was Gary Dawson from NSW,whose example convinced me that if a womantried to teach folk dance in Australian primaryschools she would be wasting her time (so I gotinto epidemiology instead). Some of the otherswho spring to mind were Krishnan Nair, who hadus performing Indian folk dance in public afteronly one and a half days’ instruction; Belyssa ofbelly dance fame who taught us Lithuaniandance; a dashing Mexican, Rolando, with a backas flexible as a strip of rubber (and veryenergetic dances incuding Jarabe – that wouldgive most of us a heart attack if we attempted itnow), Al Wiedemann, Yves Moreau, Mihai Davidwho happily demonstrated Romanian dancesteps while sitting on a TransPerth train, BoraOzkok many of whose Turkish dances we stilldance regularly and more recently Belcho. Thevery best place to have weekend workshops wasin the old camp at Point Peron. There mighthave been mice in the kitchen but it was a magicplace. After dancing all evening, run over the

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sand dune at mid night for skinny dipping – runback and find infant Palenque crying in the armsof some poor soul whom she had woken andwho was desperately trying to find me.

Those were the glory days when the group ran‘on the smell of an oily rag’, but oily rags don’tage well. For two years David Blair (my ex) and Ireally enjoyed the international folk dance groupwe found in Baton Rouge, Louisiana, but we haddifferent reasons for wanting an international folkdance group in Perth. He loved the music, Iloved the dance – but, true to our generation (thehippy one) neither of us loved committees ororganisation … it should all just happen,spontaneously. The staying power of the group,of which this 40th anniversary is proof, is nodoubt a result of its incorporation, committee andseveral hard working volunteers, to whom I amprofoundly grateful.

Thank you all, Eve

.. .. and this message from Sara who has taughtus so many wonderful Israeli dances over many,many years:

Dear Perth International Folk Dance Group!

Thank you for being part of my life for over 35years.From the 1st lesson in 1979 in Leederville, Iknew it is IT for me.Eve was teaching "Hava Nagila", it lookedfamiliar, but then she taught Pleskavak. Thedifferent sound of another country and her neatfootwork were captivating,

In 1973 I was still living in Israel and I was doingthe Israeli Dance teaching course.2 years later after the "Yom Kippur War" wedecided to leave Israel and I didn't think I willteach again.You gave me the opportunity to teach Israelidance again but more so to learn, love andappreciate the steps and sounds of other places.There were ups and downs, highs and lows butall together an experience I wouldn't want to bewithout, with many, many really beautifulmoments and wonderful people, I know I wasn't there every day ,every class, butmy heart was and is always with you all.Thanks also for your constant support of HoraShalom. Hope we will keep the dance going foras long as we can.Love and shalom Sara

Musings from Pam G on 40 years of Dancing

Firstly, a few humorous performancememories:

After my first performance in spring of 1976 at afund-raising garden party in the Hills, a well-dressed audience member complimented us andsaid how clever we were doing so manydifference dances to the same tune!

Soon after, at a performance in York, at theopening of a Girl Guides centre, anotheraudience member expressed genuine concernthat we were too poor to afford any shoes – weused to dance bare-foot in those days with asimple red skirt and white peasant-style blouse.

In 1981, at the dress rehearsal for our first (andonly) performance at the Perth Concert Hall forthe Shell Folkloric Festival (a precursor to the OzConcerts) the enthusiastic Mexican ArtisticDirector, Guillermo, told the guys to “Dance withmore balls!”

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Secondly, what else has dancing led to?

If it hadn’t been for dancing, I probably would nothave travelled to Bulgaria (twice!) Nor would Ihave got involved with saving the Old PeninsulaHotel (where we danced at a fund-raiser in 1976)and in helping run it for 9 years as a communitycentre (PIFDG danced there in 1981-3). Andbecause of that I met the Down-to-Earth Societymembers who also had a room there and joinedwith some of them to search for land to found theBoranup Community down near Margaret River,an experience that lasted 26 years! Also throughdancing I got to know about the Ethnic MusicCentre that Linsey Pollock set up in 1984 inNorth Perth and I became a member early on. Istayed involved when it became Kulcha inFremantle and enjoyed many performances ofdifferent ethnic groups before it sadly demised acouple of years ago. Being introduced at PIFDGto Eastern European and Israeli dance musicprobably also encouraged me to enrol in themarvellous multicultural singing courses thatHelena Hendel ran in the 1980s. When she leftWA in 1990, I just had to keep singing and foundthe recently formed Union Choir that becameWorking Voices – 26 years later we are still“singing the issues” (and occasionally attemptingchoreography). And through dancing I metLouise and Laurie Scott and so have had theopportunity to travel with them to out-of-the-wayplaces like West Papua, Hunza Valley andEthiopia – always with an eye out for the localdances.

So PIFDG, as well as providing all the joys andhealth benefits of dancing, has really led to myinvolvement with many other activities that havefilled my non-work hours most satisfyingly.

Pam Gunn

Some reminiscences from Peter Fallon:

My dance interest began in 1970 with lessonsfrom Irina Asotoff in Midland; then TerriCharlesworth in West Perth, followed by KiraBousloff and Shelley Rae in Perth CBD. BettyWorsley was teaching the National Dancesyllabus to the character classes and took me tothe folk dance class at the Peninsula Hotel in1978. Eve Blair was the only teacher but Bettywould teach some of the National dances.Malcolm loved the music, MS prevented himfrom dancing but he would sit in his wheelchairand queue the cassette tapes for every dance.Clint would bring produce from his orchard tosell from the back of his van.

In 1979 I was elected treasurer, Peter Carterhanding over the bank deposit book with abalance of $6. Classes cost 20 cents, room hirewas $1 and the teacher did not get paid.Performances at fairs and fetes were barefoot ongrass. Residential workshops were eagerlyanticipated, with many people exhausted by theSunday afternoon session with Eve pressing fordance number 20 to be taught.

The group prospered to filling up the WembleyScout Hall with 50 to 70 people. Attendanceshave declined steadily to the point where I canno longer hide in the crowd. In 2015 I was askedto teach classes, meaning I had to remember thenames of all the steps.

Peter Fallon

Jottings from John Whaite

The first time I came to International Dance in1979, I didn't dance. Eve invited me to join thelesson, but I preferred to sit and watch and listento the music. Towards the end of the evening Itried a yemenite, Eve was encouraging, and I feltchuffed. That yemenite was one of the mostsignificant acts of my life.

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I'd driven from Sydney with a Canadian folkmusician, and we went to The Stables folk clubwhere the International Dance was one of theannouncements. In Sydney, the bush dances atBalmain Town Hall were extraordinary /colourful / outrageous so I had a taste for folkdance. Perth folk dance didn't have the Sydneyedge, but I loved the International Dance music.It's all about the connection with the music.

So what is this group about? It's about passion,for music and dance. Eve recently retaughtTopansko Oro, declaring it to be one of herfavourite dances. And it is wonderful - a delicatemelody on gadulka, overlaying a syncopatedrhythm that is the basis of the dance, and thedance combines delicacy and strength. And Eveis still passionate about it, after all these years.

And the group is also about sharing. Every timewe dance, we share the movements. But wealso share the work that goes into our variousactivities, from committee to workshops toevents. We share travel and partners. Weshare the dubious rewards of Red Faces. Weshare our time rehearsing and performingtogether. We share our passion with musiciansand visitors and teachers and form friendships.And we share Peter's cake. Which is probablymost important these days.

So thank you, PID and all the people who havecontributed to it over the years. It hasencouraged me to find a world full of culture,and has allowed me to be embedded in thatculture - a very rewarding experience.

John Whaite

Some Memories from Palenque Blair

One of my earliest memories of the group is ofplaying on the stairs with other kids at theMaylands Peninsula Hotel, and then later playingchasey on the grass outside the North Perth

Town Hall. This was before I joined in the dancein any serious way! I started dancing at 12 andmy first performance was aged about 14 or 15,on an outdoor stage in Hyde Park,choreographed by Fiona Murdoch. I have a vividmemory of my Mum teaching me Vulpiutsaoutside the rehearsal hall (Subiaco Scout Hall) inpreparation for this performance, while rehearsalcontinued inside. Everyone had just assumed I'dknow the dance (like they often do now!), but I'dnever learned it before! (now it is more oftenforgotten!) Earlier than this, I remember watchingthe can-can performed at Toodyay Folk Festivalby about 5 women including my Mum. I laterwent on to choreograph a can-can for acombined French Club/Dance Club theatre eventat UWA.When I was 17, I remember the rehearsals for aNorth Perth Ethnic Music Centre performanceevening organised by Fiona where we diddances from three different regions. I think I wasin all three performances, the Balkan, theScandinavian and the Israeli, which took many,many rehearsals!I also have interesting memories of performancestuff-ups - including my own in the EntertainmentCentre during the OzConcert - the Bulgarianperformance that John had put so much effortinto. The shame of imperfection in front ofthousands of audience members stays with me.Then there was Art's costume change that didn'tquite make it. He came out dancing at Toodyayon stage in his white socks – missing his blackshoes over the top; and early on Peter Carterwould emit some crazily loud expletives when hemade a mistake that most audience memberswouldn't even have noticed had he not alertedEVERYONE to itThen there was the time we performed fouridentical performances over the FairbridgeFestival weekend, by which time we were fairlysick of it! We never made that mistake again!

More recent Fairbridge performances andworkshops have been more fun particularly withlive music from Last Five Coins (or at timesothers including Klezmeritis once). We even tookthe group to the National Folk Festival inCanberra to perform in 2007 which was lots offun! There are so many memories to delve into,there is no obvious place to stop, but here I will!

Palenque

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Perth International Folk Dance Group 40years of folk dancing fun

Me and the PIFDG from Fiona Murdoch

I had moved to Perth from New Zealand for post-graduate study in 1987 and stumbled across theCafé Folkorico evenings in North Perth. On thewall was a small flyer for a folk dance group. Iwas instantly keen and contacted the numbergiven, and found out that the group met onMonday evenings – which meant that due to mylecture timetable I was unable to attend until thesecond semester. So my dancing toes itched allSemester One until I attended a workshop withSheffi Shapiro - and my Monday eveningsbecame free. And the rest, as they say, isherstory!

My Monday evenings (and often weekends) werefrom that point on sacrosanct and totally devotedto folk dancing with the PIFDG. What awonderful group of special people who quicklybecame very good friends. I loved the diversityof the dances and the social nature of the group,especially the after-dance-class coffees andglasses of wine. I introduced a number of other(non-PIFDG) friends to the group and some ofthose have themselves since become staunchPIFDG members. I got involved in the committee(yes! I was that hooked!); co-designed a PIFDGT-shirt; helped make the performance costumeswith the wonderful Bernie; was a performer;helped set up the beginner’s group on aSaturday; did some choreography; andeventually some dance teaching (with supportfrom PIFDG to do the FDA teacher trainingcourse in Sydney). I enjoyed everything - theparties, camps, workshops and festivals.

However eventually life changed and I movedback to Aoteoroa. I missed the camaraderie ofthe Perth International folk dance group so muchthat I started my own in Hamilton, but it is not thesame and never will be. PIFDG was my family inPerth – my seven years with PIFDG hasprovided me with so many wonderful memories,excellent friendships, dubious photographs,fabulous parties, and plenty of stories. Somevery good friends from PIFDG days have passedon and are fondly remembered; however manyremain and I love to hear about everyone whenwe meet up.

I raise a toast to all the members of the currentiteration of PIFDG, with a special salute to Eve,Sara and John who were the mainstay danceleaders when I was dancing with the PIFDG.Thank you PIFDG for being such a wonderfulpart of my life in Perth. I wish you all a Happy40th Birthday and much dancing in celebration.

Fiona Murdoch

Two Left Feet! From Martin Williams

My wife Pam joined the dance group in October1990 having seen PIFDG dancing at Toodyay bythe old mill. Originally she'd seen a flyer at UWAbehind Glen Huxtable's desk. She used to go toworkshops at Point Peron and I would to turn uplate to go windsurfing and to attend the dinnerand the evening sessions. To me these werefrustrating as my ears and feet were untunedand unaccustomed to the rhythms and sounds ofinternational dance – I couldn't join in!! EnterFiona Murdoch who said 'I can teach you' andshe did in one of the early beginners' courses –1993 I think it was. Of the 10 attendees, I knowthat I was the only actual beginner but for me itwas a really well structured course and it showed

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me that perhaps I did not have two left feet afterall. That was in September 1993 and since thenI have never looked back, becoming President in1997 for 8 years and taking on the Treasurer'srôle from 2005 to 2010.

For a long time I would dance just watching myfeet, just in case they reverted to 2-left-feetmode!! I was also very focused on worryingabout other people watching me and my feet.That was until I was invited to perform (whenJohn Whaite was on holiday). I was dragged into the back of 3 lines of Zvaniara at the one-and-only Joondalup Folk Festival. A long time ago!!

My other images of the Group include thesessions at the hall in Jersey St – so manydancers, the sessions went from 7pm until wellafter 10pm and, yes I always did like the frieze! Ialso enjoyed Fiona's workshops, in 1998, in2001 for our 25th celebrations, and in 2008 Andof course all those great André workshops overthe years – really challenging for me in the earlyyears – those classic calls of 'one more time' and'look to me!'

I also fondly remember Belcho Stanev's visits toPerth in 1995 and 1996 and the subsequent visitby Group members to Bulgaria – a greatadventure.

For me dancing with the Group has been greatover the years so thanks for some wonderfultimes, happy 40th and let's drink to some elixir ofyouth for the future!!

Martin Williams October 2016

John and Jenny Bardill

What Folk Dance means to us

Jen and I commenced our association with PIDthen known as PIFDG in 2001. We recentlycelebrated our 15th birthday. I recall having twoleft feet and an absolute wish not to be there.There were 6 of us who started the ‘Beginners’course, a term that stuck with us for a great

many years. After all these years we are nolonger referred to as “beginners”. Our numbersgradually increased and we still have a core ofpeople who started at that time. Sessions wereinitially held on Saturday mornings at the JohnLeckie Pavillion in Claremont. During the wintermonths whilst we were in the hall, there werehundreds of kids on both adjoining ovals playingMinkey Hockey. We learned to ignore thecacophony of noise and the aroma of BBQsausages. Parking was nightmare. We relocatedto St Margaret’s at or around 2008. So what didfolk dance mean for us? Well, we learned a greatdeal, had plenty of exercise, we all mademistakes by the challenge of dance nuances andrhythms, but we all laughed and enjoyed thatrelaxed Saturday morning relationship of fun andlearning and gradually became moreaccomplished dancers. We salute the teachersfor their patience.

Saturday Group 15th birthday photo - 17 Sep.

Pam Massey – Pondering and Musing

'Twas January 1982 I joined. Dancing at thePeninsular in Maylands was it?

Eve was teaching, possibly the only teacher backthen other than the imported ones?

Peter F, John W, Sara F, & Pam G were thedancers then who are still active members now.

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Ann Mills was the next one to join after me, andmuch later she & Danish dancer Bent got ittogether, married, bred, & the last I heard weretalking of moving to Queensland to run a B&B!

Berni was the next one to join after Ann.

Then we moved to the Town Hall in View St,North Perth, which had a very slippery varnishedwooden floor...

My first workshop was up in Parkerville. It was aTurkish workshop and I could just not get it! Theirregular rhythm of the eastern beat was new tome and my brain and feet were confused forabout a year - that year I hated Turkish dances!-and then suddenly, the penny dropped!

Yap & Marrianne I think were the teachers,visiting from Holland?

We moved to the Scout Hall, Jersey St,Wembley, where we had many happy dancingyears.

I remember Cyndie arriving in the middle of adance with her little dog on a lead. She and dogjust joined in the circle as if it was perfectlynormal, and I remember thinking at the time howthat is one of the nice things about our group, theunorthodox just blending in!

We had amusing incidents like the MondayFiona & John turned up both wearing identicalbrightly patterned leggings......Never saw Johnwear them again!... But John, would they fitme!?!.....

More memorable clothing was Ken in his shortshorts.....(don't go there!)

A couple of dances I remember for being verydifferent, & would be nice to relearn, is theIndonesian one that Penny (now sadly deceased)taught us, involving sticks we had to jump over.And another one where we crouched on theground (umm....could we still do that!?), withdrumsticks aka any kitchen utensils suitablefrom the scout hall drawers! : Wooden spoons,carving knives, spatulas.....

Our Wake Party when we had to leave that hallas it was going to be demolished, was wonderful!We all wore black, and many old memberscame. The hall was packed!

The width of the hall was adorned with sharedplates, and we had a half hour break to eat andsocialise. During that time I took a moment to

stand back, and just look, absorbing theatmosphere, & I was hit by a wave of warmemotion, seeing a mix of strong personalities andrealising that they are what adds to the colour ofthe group & what makes PIDG special!

I watched the development of Eve's first 2,Palenque & Karl, Sara's 6 yr old Lee, Russell'sson & daughter, mostly all sitting quietly onblankets in the corner with toys & books. LaterJohn's son Avan & Michaela's toddler Edwardbecame regulars, and when Eve had no 3,Lynden was introduced to dancing at 5 wks old,laying the length of her left arm, head in her lefthand, feet under her armpit, and they danced....

Now we are into 3rd generation as Palenquebrings her children...... Felix and Hannah.

We had several residential dance weekends atPoint Peron. We used to dance till 1-2 am, butas the years went by I noticed the dancing wasfinishing earlier & earlier as people got older &older!

I was a Committee member when we celebratedour 25th down there, which Belcho happened tobe at. It was like a Red Faces night before RedFaces was born! Singing & dancing skits! A funnight.

After Belcho's last visit in the 90's, the group hadan invitation to his 2 week workshop in Bulgaria.'You've got to be joking!' I thought. All the wayfrom WA to Bulgaria!? Fat chance!........but then8 of us went!....

PIDG has been a big part of my life, and like anextended family. After my almost 10 yr absence, Iam very happy to be back and dancing again, &hope we all still have many years of dancing leftin us! Pam Massey

From Jean Bourgault of the Hills Group

Unfortunately I can’t get to the 40th party but Iwant to say the following about my experiences

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with the Group. For more years than I canremember I have looked forward to Fridaymornings, first with Jenny Currell and then withJennifer Eyre. I have ALWAYS loved to dance ,and this type of folk dancing with interesting, andoften very beautiful music was a gift from thegods! As you may know, I am a music teacher ( Iwon’t call myself a ‘musician ‘ as I have heardthis term associated with many people whom Iconsider have no right to it!), and have alwaysfelt that one of the best ways to enjoy music is toMOVE to it. Congratulations on 40 years andmay the groups keep dancing to help theirbodies, minds and souls. Thank to all –especially the two Jennifers.

Jean Bourgault

From Miranda Poynton

In 1999 I found some information about the folk-dancing group on a leaflet, and phoned to findout more. Tony was the person who answeredthe phone and warmly invited me to try the group.Dances that made an early impression include"Sikidim", Kol Ma Shekadam, taught by Sara,"Yaman Yar" danced with great elegance byJenny C after her visit to Armenia, and a droneyFrench line-dance that I've forgotten everythingabout except that the lyrics included a reference(in French, or was it Breton) to parsley and thedance made me swooningly happy. I've got thefolk dancing group to thank for introducing andconverting me to Fairbridge, and for introducingme to my now firm friend Palenque & her family.(Hugs, Pal. ...and thank you for rescuing me withgentle dance prompts whenever I've neededthem, all these years.) I've got fond memories ofChristmas carols at John's, and of getting madeup in the green room at Burswood for a charitydo with other dancers.

I've dipped in and out of dancing over the yearsbut I really appreciate that I'm always made tofeel welcome when I come back. No matter how

far or how wide I roam, I can still call StMargaret's home, ey? Congratulations Eve,John, Sara, Martin & Pam, Palenque & allfoundation members, past & current officebearers, musicians, and keen dancers fornurturing PIFDG and its community. Love &gratitude,My little daughter, Shiloh, has been religiouslylistening to a 2003 performance CD at breakfast-time and particularly loves Smogyi, Tarantellaand "Happy Minnow" (Epimeno)!

Miranda Note from the editor. The Burswood event was afundraiser for the Amanda Young Foundation andwe danced with Kylie Minogue and with Belyssa.I still remember dancing Tarantella with Mirandadoing the polka on a ridiculously narrow stage.

.. .. .. and some Rhyme from Ken Kenny

For a proper night’s romancin’ (not that pallid sortof prancin’)There’s International Dancin’ that should fill youwith delight.You could try some Tarantellas with the womenand the fellasAnd mazurkas and fandangos that could take uphalf the night.

It’d fill you with elation just to see the syncopationAnd the axial gyration when they turn in aquadrille,And I say with all veracity, they’ve a staggeringcapacityFor circular velocity when they’re spinnin’ like awheel.

So without reiteration, leave off your dissipation:There’s a frisson of flirtation and a twinkle in theeye:As each dancer takes their place, there’s a smileon every faceFor there’s friendship and there’s grace as thehours in rapture fly.

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And from another angle – the MusicWithout music dance, we would not havedancing, whether we are talking about recordedmusic or live music.Many of our performances have been to musicprovided by The Last Five Coins – at Fairbridgeand at community events – some of us haveeven danced at the winter solstice celebrations atSt Georges Cathedral. So the following are fromour musicians. From ' The Coins'

A number of years ago during the 1980s I cameacross the "Perth International Folk DanceGroup" at events and thought what a wonderfulthing it would be to match some tunes that wecould play with that dance team. Here we are in2016 and it has slowly but surely happened. Wehave even trained some of our younger players totake on this material and that works well. To thinkback now we have done many great festivalperformances, Christmas dances, celebrationsand endless good times and varied events alongthe way. Lots of fun for all of us!!

Russell Johnsen

.. .. and from Xenos – we danced to their livemusic here in 1994 and 2005, each time justafter Fairbridge Festival:

It’s wonderful to hear that you've had 40 years ofdancing. We feel privileged to know that some ofit was to our music, that’s what we made it for

and it’s so good to know you felt that too. Here’sto many more years of dance and some newgenerations to do it!

I’m not sure if we’ll ever come west again…. wedid a lot of travel and now we’re pretty happy tostay put. If someone picked us up and draggedus we’d go anywhere, but the days of tourorganising seem to have passed… I’m full timerepairing brass and woodwind instruments, wehave a nice band that rehearses a lot but playsonly rarely….!All the very best!

Rob Bester, Xenos

We also heard from Marie Milliflore of «LesDerniers Trouvères». «With our best memories»

Les Derniers Trouvères visited us twice 2008and 2011.

How 's Your BalanceThe next time that you are spinning around ordoing a 2 or 3-step turn, spare a thought forthese Basque dancers charging around thestage on stilts. These were seen at an eveningdance spectacular in Imbsheim in Alsace in July.Crazy!

Check out the video at https://youtu.be/nD9GFTjyygs

www. perthinternational dance.org.au/home.html Grapevine edited by Martin Williams

Teamwork

One of the overriding themes of the articlesabove is one of togetherness and teamwork, sowe have included a few images of some angleson some of the teams that contribute to theGroup and its success over the years.

Mother and daughter team Eve and Palenque.

Some of our performance team, here seen at theNational Folk Festival in Canberra in April 2007.

Some of our singers, or was it a group poem onthat occasion?

And the Hills group and some of their Team

On the right we have included a photo of JoyHill's husband Ron with Belcho Stanev whovisited us in 1996 and 1997, and hosted us inBulgaria on our visit there. Ron was consideredby many as a PIFDG mascot; he was a greatambassador for us and also a translator with hisGerman language skills

It’s All in the WordsWe have danced Ajde Jano for many years, wellat least since the André workshops in 1995 –when it was introduced as a Macedonian dance.If you Google 'Ajde Jano' or 'Ајде Јано' it isdescribed as Serbian. This year one of André'sdances was, yes you guessed it, Adje Jano.This was a version choreographed by Bianca deJong and is now promoted as a dance fromKosovo!Wherever it is from it seems that the words havehave not changed over the years or over theBalkans. Here they are: sounds like materialistideas are out – let's downsize, let's selleverything!

Come on JanaCome on Jana, let's dance the koloCome on Jana,come on darling,let's dance thekoloCome on Jana,come on darling,let's dance thekolo Come on, Jana, let's sell the horseCome on Jana,come on darling, let's sell thehorseCome on Jana,come on darling, let's sell thehorse Come on Jana, let's sell the house.Come on Jana,come on darling,let's sell thehouseCome on Jana,come on darling,let's sell thehouse We'll sell them just so we can danceWe'll sell them, Jana darling,just so we candanceWe'll sell them, Jana darling,just so we candance

Source: André van de Plas and Balkan FolkDance Music at http://www.dunav.org.il/

Belcho Stanev and Ron Hill – happy times

Grapevine Volume 28; #1 November 2016 Page 12