Folk Ball is held every January in the UW Memorial Union in Madison, Wisconsin.
Folk Ball 2012 was January 27-29, 2012.
Folk Ball is FREE
But your donations help us keep it happening year after year!
February 17th Update:
January 23rd Update:
- Added contra musicians and caller: "The Usual Suspects" with calling by Dot Kent.
- Added brownbag presenter and topic: Classic Klezer Music with Henry Sapoznik
- Drumming and brownbag sessions traded rooms: Drumming now in Old Madison, Brownbag in Beefeaters.
- Added approximate Tanchaz ending time: 11pm.
Friday Night Dance Parties — three of them!
INTERNATIONAL DANCE: Great Hall (4th floor) 7:30-midnight.
INTEMPERANCE COLLECTIVE — the new IFD commune
VESELIYKA — Traditional Village Balkan (Madison's bitov band)
YID VICIOUS — Virtuous Klezmer (Yiddish) - Madison group
DO ZORE — The Milwaukee Sound from a New Generation!
CONTRA DANCE: Tripp Commons (2nd floor east)
7:30-8:00 instruction, dancing 8:00-11:00 or later if you like...
Music by "The Usual Suspects", Calling by Dot Kent
Info: Roger diggle@pobox.com / 608-242-0373
Suggested donation $7.
HUNGARIAN TANCHAZ (village-style "dance-house")
Wisconsin Union Theater stage [note NEW location!]
7:30pm-11:00pm — music by SZASZKA (traditional string band)
Saturday Folk Arts Workshops
10-noon Great Hall ROMANIAN FOLKDANCE — Cristian & Sonia
10-noon Tripp Commons Hungarian & Gypsy — Denes & Gissella
10-noon Old Madison Room BRAZILIAN PERCUSSION — Robert Schoville
12-1pm Beefeater Room Brownbag Lunch — Classic Klezmer Music — Henry Sapoznik
1-3pm Great Hall Hungarian & Gypsy — Denes & Gissella
1-3pm Tripp Commons KLEZMER DANCE — Steve Weintraub
1-3pm Old Madison Room EAST EUROPEAN SINGING — Natalie Nowytski
3-5pm Great Hall ROMANIAN FOLKDANCE — Cristian & Sonia
3-5pm Old Madison Room KLEZMER DANCE (Advanced Session) — Steve Weintraub
3:35-5pm Tripp Commons Hungarian & Gypsy — Denes & Gissella
Saturday BUFFET DINNER — serving at 5:00 in the Union
(Inn Wisconsin Room - 2nd floor east)
Lasagna (meat or vegetarian), salad, Italian squash medley, bread sticks, cookies, coffee/tea/milk/soda,water.
Per person $20. Reservations required — accepted thru Sunday, Jan.22.
Contact Michael mk@mailbag.com / 608-241-3655
The Legendary FOLK BALL DANCE PARTY (Great Hall)
Saturday 7:00pm-1:00am
Music By:
REPTILE PALACE ORCHESTRA — High-Octane Eclectic Ethnic (Madisonia)
ORKESTAR BEZ IME — IFD Band from Rogaria (via Twin Cities)
SZASZKA — Totally Real Transylvanian String Band (Madison)
SLOBODA — Milwaukee's Full-Spectrum Ethnic Sound
Sunday Workshops / Reviews in Great Hall
10:00am - 3:00pm Dances from Saturday's workshops — Sonia & Cristian, Denes & Gissela, Steve Weintraub
Visit Joan Amsterdam's FOLKSTUFF SHOP in Great Hall anytime Saturday!
Featured Teachers:
Cristian Florescu & Sonia Dion
Denes Dreisziger & Gissella Santayana
Denes & Gissella will be teaching Hungarian and Gypsy dances from Romania. The Hungarian dances will come from both the Transylvanian and Moldavian regions and include couple, line, and circle dances. The Gypsy dances are solo dances for both men and women and come from Transylvania (Szaszcsavas specifically).
Denes Dreisziger had not much choice but to start dancing when he was 7 years old; as his father was the Artistic Director of the Toronto Kodaly Ensamble at the time.
In his teens he had the opportunity to learn from the likes of Timár Sándor, Farkas Zoltán "Batyü", Zsuráfszki Zoltán, and later a good number of the younger generation of top Hungarian Folkdance choreographers.
He danced professionally with "Les Sortileges", North America's only professional folkdance ensemble before moving to Eastern Europe to dance with "Ifju Szivek"; arguably one of the worlds most respected Hungarian Folkdance Ensembles. Since his return to North America, together with his wife Gissella Santayana; they have been the Artistic Directors of the Bokreta Hungarian Folkdance Ensemble of Montreal.
Dénes has taught and choreographed at Dance Ensembles and Camps in North America and Europe. Dénes is a certified Pilates instructor.
Gissella Santayana started dancing in her native Peru, where her family attended numerous village celebrations throughout her childhood. Gissella has danced professionally at the Ifju Szivek, Slovakia; where Hungarian, Slovak, Gypsy and Romanian dances were constantly in the Ensemble's varied repertoire. She has been dancing this region's folklore for 18 years and has taught dances to children and adult groups as well as choreographed in North America and Europe. Gissella has travelled extensively for over a decade in Slovakia, Hungary and especially Transylvania, Romania to learn and live with the keepers of this rich dancing tradition. Since 2008, Gissella along with Denes Dreisziger have been the Artistic Directors of Bokréta, Montreal's Hungarian Folk Dance Ensemble. Gissella is a certified Pilates Instructor.
For more information, contact Michael Kuharski at mk@mailbag.com or 608-241-3655.
Presented by Madison Folk Dance Club (a UW Registered Student Organization).
Sponsored by Department of Slavic Languages, College of Letters & Science.
Welcomed by WORT 89.9FM Community-Sponsored Radio.
