WASHINGTON, D.C. AREA INTERNATIONAL FOLK DANCES

A list of international folk dances in the Washington, D.C. area and in Baltimore (click here) 

********************** SPECIAL EVENTS ******************

ROM/GYPSY - Sat. May 17, 2008 -ANNUAL Herdeljezi Rom Music & Dance Festival, Washington, DC.  Held at  Hearst Hall on the beautiful grounds of the National Cathedral School, 3609 Woodley Rd., NW, Washington, DC 20016.  Teachers/Performers include: Reyhan Tuzsuz, Amy Luna Manderino, Steve & Susan Kotansky, N. Scott Robinson, Brad Sidwell, Eva Salina Primack, Ismail Lumanovski, Kujtim Ismailov, Seido Salifoski and Romski Boji, Grup Nazar and special guest, Sani Rafati of Voice Of Roma.  Dance Classes Include: Rajasthani Kalbeliya dance, Spanish Flamenco with Manton, Turkish, Macedonian, Greek, Bulgarian, Hungarian, Romanian & Translyvanian  Romani, Manton, Turkish dances! Evening Party!  Registration and detailed class information (including music classes):  www.wmfolklifecenter.org/register .  Full Day Passes available before May 15!

ONE-DAY WORKSHOP, POT-LUCK DINNER AND DANCE PARTY (the Diamonds) – SUN. May 25 (Memorial Day Weekend) from 1:00 PM (Tentative) – 1:00 AM or later.  At Chez Diamonds in Silver Spring, MD.  Call or write for schedule and location.  (301-871-8788, diamonddancecircle [at] comcast.net)

************** WEEKLY/MONTHLY GROUPS **************

Alternate Sun. 4:00-6:30 New Carrollton, MD - Alpine Dancers. Free open practice of couples and trio dances from Austria and Germany, taped and live music. New dancers welcome. New Carrollton Municipal Center, 6016 Princess Garden Parkway, near Washington Beltway exit 20A. (301-577-3503)

Mon. 7:30-10:30 pm Bethesda, MD (the Diamonds) - Teaching for beginners (7:30-8:15) followed by teaching/requests for everyone (8:15-10:00). Leland Community Center, 4301 Willow Lane, Bethesda. Sponsored by the Montgomery County Recreation Dept. - registration is required for a number of sessions. You may register at the door. (301-871-8788, diamonddancecircle [at] comcast.net, www.diamonddancecircle.com ).  SUN. May 25 – One-day event in Silver Spring, MD. (see top of page).

Mon. 7:30-9:30 pm, Arlington, VA. - Bulgarian and Balkan folk dances for intermediate and advanced dancers (Ivan Dimitrov), Arlington, VA at Barcroft Community House, 8th St. South and South Buchanan St, Arlington.  First time free. http://www.ivandance.com

Tues. 8:00-10:00 pm Arlington, VA (the Stulbergs) – Key School, Veitch St. and Wilson Blvd., Arlington, VA.  From 495, Route 66 East to Spout Run Exit, right on Lee Highway, go 5-6 blocks and right on Veitch St., then 1.5 blocks and right into parking lot. Also near Courthouse Road Metro station. (703-527-8998, sstulberg [at] earthlink.net).  

Wed. 8:00 pm Columbia, MD - Kahler Hall, Beaverkill Rd. and Harper's Farm Road: Route 29 North to Broken Land Parkway towards Columbia Town Center, then left on Little Patuxent Pkwy., where sign points to Harper's Choice; go right on Harper's Farm Road (after General Warfield Pkwy), then right on Beaverkill Road (after Elliots Oak Road) into the Community Center complex. Kahler Hall is the building on the left on the other side of the parking lot. (MAP: www.columbiafolkdancers.org, 410-740-2309, 410-730-0039). 

Wed. (Last Wednesday of Month), 9:00 PM (start of music), DC. Balkan dance party with The Balkanics (wedding- band style music: Bulgarian, Romani (Gypsy), Macedonian, Serbian, Turkish). Wonderland Ballroom, 11th and Kenyon Sts. (202-232-5263). DC Metro Green Line at Columbia Heights. Must be 21 or over to enter but no cover charge. (http://balkanics.com). 

Second and Fourth Wednesday, 7:30 to 10:00 pm: Swiss folk dancing to recorded music on the wooden floor at the Swiss Embassy, 2900 Cathedral Ave. NW, DC. Sponsored by the Swiss Folklore Group, admission free. (301-530-5643).

Thurs. 7:30 pm Glen Echo, MD, the Glen Echo International Folk Dancers (Jamie Platt) - Teaching 7:30-9:00 pm, request dancing 9:00-10:45 pm. Church of the Redeemer, located at the intersection of Dunrobbin Dr. and MacArthur Blvd., Glen Echo, MD, across the road from Glen Echo Park, one block from the shopping center. Dancing is in the parish hall. (301-717-4641, dancingplanet [at] erols.com, www.dancingplanetproductions.com/folkdance.htm) Co-sponsored by Folklore Society of Greater Washington. 

Thurs. 8:00-10:00 pm, Alexandria, VA (Mount Vernon International Folk Dance Group).  Beginners to advanced dancers.  8:00-8:30 – easy dances, followed by requests and advanced instruction.  No partner necessary, good dance floor.  Mt. Vernon Unitarian Church, 1909 Windmill Lane, Alexandria, VA. (703-535-3333, pdw [at] patriciadaywilliams.com). 

Thurs. 7:30 pm Laurel, MD, Italian Village Dancing (Celest DiPietropaolo and Marie DiCocco)-2nd and 4th Thursdays,  7:30-9:30 pm, no partners required. Dancing is in the parish hall of St. Mary of the Mills Church Hall, Laurel, MD (8th St. becomes St. Mary's Place north of Main St.). Click here for directions. (Information: www.italianvillagedance.com/flyer.htm, dance [at] italianvillagedance.com, 703-924-4942; markey_mary [at] yahoo.com, 301-953-1984).

Thurs. 7:30 pm Chevy Chase, MD (Chevy Chase International Folk Dancers, led by Roland Forbes), at the newly renovated Chevy Chase Community Center, 5601 Connecticut Ave., NW, DC (corner of Connecticut Ave. and McKinley St., two blocks south of Chevy Chase Circle). (301-424-8827, 301-438-0063)

Fri. 8:30 pm (teaching 8:30-9:15) Greenbelt, MD - The Friday Night International Dance Group,  http://home.comcast.net/~weiner.larry/FridayDance.htm .  At the Greenbelt Community Center, 15 Crescent Road, Greenbelt, MD (click here for directions). (301-565-0539 or 410-715-9210; e-mail: weiner [at] comcast.net)   May 9 – Michael Gelman.  May 16 – Ben Hole. May 23 – No dance, Memorial Day Weekend. May 30 – John Robinson

Fri. 7:30 pm International Folk Dancers of Greenbelt (MD) - dance classes led by Roland Forbes at the Greenbelt Youth Center, 99 Centerway, Greenbelt, MD (301-572-4215 or the Youth Center at 301-397-2200).

Fri. 7:30 pm Virginia Beach, VA - (beginner instruction 7:30-9:00, advanced dances 9:00-10:30), theVirginia Beach International Folkdance Club. Mt. Trashmore YMCA, 4441 South Blvd, Virginia Beach. (http://groups.hamptonroads.com/internationaldance/, 757-486-6098, 757- 851-8748; e-mail: clebell [at] cox.net ).

First and Third Fridays, 8:00 pm Baltimore, MD - Dances from Bavaria and Austria with the Gebirgstrachten Verein Immergrun. (P.O. Box 10972, Baltimore, MD 21234) at the Dorsey United Methodist Church, Odenton, MD at the crossroads of Dorsey Rd & Coca Cola Dr, off of Rt.#100, near BWI. (301-604-8557, 410-519-5712)

Last Sat. in Month, 5:30-9:00 pm,, Washington, D.C.Monthly Hungarian tanchaz (dance party) with teaching by the Tisza Ensemble and live music by Ardeleana and others.  (Children’s tanchaz from 5:00-5:30) Sponsored by the Hungarian Reformed Federation of America (HRFA) at the HRFA Kossuth House, 2001 Massachusetts Ave, N.W., Washington, D.C.   (noemitoka [at] yahoo.com).

 Sat. 7:30 pm Baltimore, MD (Johns Hopkins University International Folk Dancing) - 7:30-8:30 teaching, 8:30-10:30 request dancing. First time free.  Homewood Friends Meeting building, 3107 N. Charles St. (near the South end of Johns Hopkins University). Go down the outside stairs to the basement and knock.     (410-484-9392, ebogart [at] erols.com).     May 17 – Elli Sanders and Elliot Bogart.  May 24 (Memorial Day Weekend) – Paul Kreiss.  May 31 – Paul Kreiss

This site is by Elliot and Karen Bogart <ebogart [at] erols.com>