Published by the Folkdance Federation of California, South Volume 54, No. 1 February 2018 Folk Dance Scene Committee Coordinator Jay Michtom [email protected] 818.368.1957 Calendar [email protected] On the Scene Jill Michtom [email protected] 818.368.1957 Club Directory Steve Himel [email protected] 949.646.7082 Dancers Speak Sandy Helperin [email protected] 310.391.7382 Proofreading Editor Jan Rayman [email protected] 818.790.8523 Carl Pilsecker [email protected] 562.865.0873 Design and Layout Editors Pat Cross, Don Krotser [email protected] 323.255.3809 Business Manager Gerda Ben-Zeev [email protected] 310.399.2321 Contributing Editor Elizabeth Wayland Barber Circulation Sandy Helperin [email protected] 310.391.7382 Subscriptions Gerda Ben-Zeev [email protected] 310.399.2321 Advertising Steve Himel [email protected] 949.646.7082 Printing Coordinator Irwin Barr 310.202.6166 Jill and Jay Michtom Gerda Ben-Zeev Sandy Helperin 10824 Crebs Ave. 19 Village Park Way 4362 Coolidge Ave. Northridge, CA 91326 Santa Monica, CA 90405 Los Angeles, CA 90066 Folk Dance Scene Copyright 2018 by the Folk Dance Federation of California, South, Inc., of which this is the official publi- cation. All rights reserved. Folk Dance Scene is published ten times per year on a monthly basis except for combined issues in June/July and December/January. Folk Dance Scene is published to educate its readers concerning the folk dance, music, costumes, lore and culture of the peoples of the world. It is designed to inform them of the opportunities to experience folk dance and culture in Southern California and elsewhere. SUBMISSIONS: Information to be included in the Scene should reach the editor by the 10th of the month preceding publication. We reserve the right to edit all submissions for space considerations. Electronic sub- mission (including all photos) is required. Views expressed in Scene are solely the opinions of the authors. Neither Scene nor the Federation assumes responsibility for the accuracy of the information sent in. SUBSCRIPTIONS: Subscription orders and renewals should be addressed to Gerda Ben-Zeev. The sub- scription rate is $18 per year, USA , $20 for Canada or Mexico, all other foreign subscriptions available by email (pdf) only, $10 for pdf via email. Change of address or circulation problems should be addressed to Gerda Ben-Zeev; see table above. ADVERTISING: Ads must be consistent with the purposes of the magazine, accompanied by full pay- ment, and either camera ready on bright white paper or in 300 dpi electronic format (TIF, JPG, or PDF). Ads that are not camera ready will be returned. Size (width x length) Federation Club Others Payment to: 1/4 page (3” x 3 1/2”) $10 $15 Folk Dance Scene 1/2 page (6” x 3 3/4” or 3” x 7 1/2”) $15 $25 121 101st Ave NE Full page (6” x 7 1/2”) $25 $40 Lake Stevens, WA 98258 On the cover: As usual found on the internet; thank you Google Folk Dance Scene 2 Folk The Corner Dance Scene Gergana Panova-Tekath, PhD, Sc.D. was born in Sofia, Bulgaria. Volume 54, No. 1 She studied folk dance, February 2018 ethnochoreology, pedagogy and directing in Bulgaria, and Laban notation, communicative sciences, Editors’ Corner anthropology and philosophy in Germany. From 1988 to 1994, We are back and hope you enjoyed your winter Gergana danced and holiday. We spent some time in the east where the choreographed with the Philip sun shone exactly one day of our trip. It was good to Kutev Bulgarian National Folk Ensemble. Since 1994 be back home. she regularly commutes between Bulgaria, where There are lots of chances for dancing coming. Be she heads the Ethnochoreology Department at the sure to look through the ads. Upcoming Federation Bulgarian Academy of Sciences, and Germany, events include the Chinese New Year Festival in Cerri- where she is Professor of Dance at Folkwang tos on February 11 and the Laguna Folk Dance Festi- University in Essen. Gergana lectures at several val, March 2 to 4. Both presenting master teachers. universities and has conducted to date over 400 folk Our cover story is on Groundhog Day. To find out dance seminars and workshops in Europe, South about its roots see page 4. The Costume Corner is on and North America and Asia. She has published lederhosen and dirndls and is found on page 22. numerous articles in different languages and is Be of good cheer! author of two books in German. In 2004 she completed a doctorate summa cum Pat Cross and Don Krotser laude and was awarded the prize ‘Dissertation of the Year’ from the Technical University of Dortmund and Humboldt University of Berlin. Her research focused on Bulgarian dance at home and abroad before and Table of Contents after 1989 and on the possibilities of a European understanding. She obtained her higher doctorate The Corner ................................................... 3 Groundhog Day ............................................ 4 (Sc.D.) on theory of intercultural nonverbal Groundhog Day Square ................................. 7 communication at the Bulgarian Academy of Calendar ...................................................... 10 Sciences. Poetry Corner ............................................... 14 On the Scene ................................................ 18 Gergana taught the 2016 Spring term at UCLA and Costume Corner ............................................ 22 completed a Fulbright project (on Bulgarian dance as Dancers Speak .............................................. 27 a means of integration and adaptation to American Club Directory ............................................... 29 multicultural society). She is also a good friend and colleague of Yves Moreau, who hosted her twice in Montréal for the annual Lazarovden Folk Festival. “Gergana did a Federation South Officers superb job,” Yves reports. “She is great teacher with President Pauline Klak 310.832.1074 a warm and exuberant personality, with a vast knowledge of Bulgarian folklore – including very Vice-President Diane Baker 949.675.2199 contemporary folklore.” Treasurer Mindy Belli 714.914.7713 Gergana will visit the U.S. again in March 2018 and Secretary Leslie Halberg 661.296.0481 will be presenting a brand-new repertoire of dances from all ethnographic regions of Bulgaria with a Membership Bob Altman 714.891.0788 special emphasis on their ritual and contemporary Historian Wen-Li Chang 626.500.5035 aspects. She writes: “March is a very special month in the For information about dancing in the area, contact the Bulgarian traditional calendar and in my life. I am Federation at 310.478.6600 or Federation website: SoCalFolkdance.org really happy to share it with my American friends!” 3 February 2018 Groundhog Day Customs The following was taken from the Wikipedia web-site: French and German. And the existence of a https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Groundhog_Day, with corresponding Latin couplet suggests the great some additional material from: http:// antiquity of this tradition. An old English song says it www.history.com/news/groundhog-day-history-and- this way: facts and https://www.rd.com/culture/groundhog-day- “If Candlemas be fair and bright, history/. Winter has another flight. If Candlemas brings clouds and rain, GROUNDHOG DAY CUSTOMS Winter will not come again.” Groundhog Day as such, on February 2, is an At some point this belief became attached to American celebration. But the roots of Groundhog hibernating animals. Day aren’t as random as they might seem, going far back in European lore. The beginning of February marks the halfway point between winter solstice GROUNDHOG DAY IN THE USA (shortest day of the year) and spring equinox (when The observance of Groundhog Day in the United night and day are the States first occurred, according to known records, in same length). Thus it German-speaking communities in Pennsylvania, that is one of the four is, among the “Pennsylvania Dutch” (Dutch = “cross-quarter days” Deutsch “German”). It derives from the Pennsylvania marking the midpoints Dutch superstition that if a groundhog emerging from between the solstices its burrow on this day sees a shadow due to clear and equinoxes. (Note weather, it will retreat back into its den and winter will that Halloween and persist for six more weeks, and if it doesn’t, due to Mayday also fall on cloudiness, spring will arrive early. cross-quarter days.) The groundhog, alias woodchuck, is a type of Pagans would marmot and exists only in North America. But other celebrate February 1 types of marmots do live in Europe along with or 2 with a festival of various other furry ground-diggers such as the light to mark the start badger. This weather lore was clearly brought from of spring. Gaelic German-speaking areas where the badger (German legend says that if the Dachs) was the forecaster. There, if a badger goddess Cailleach emerging on Candlemas or "Badger Day" (Dachstag) wanted a long winter, found it sunny and cast a shadow, winter would last she’d make the day four weeks longer. The earliest mention of bright so she’d have Groundhog Day is a February 2, 1840 entry in the sunlight to gather more firewood. But a dreary day diary of James L. Morris of Morgantown, PA, she’d stayed in because spring was on its way. according to a book on the subject by Don Yoder. Medieval Christians adapted the festival as This was a Welsh enclave, but the diarist was Candlemas and handed out candles. Falling 40 days commenting on his neighbors who were of German after Christmas, the day also marks the end of the stock. period when Jewish tradition would have considered Jesus’ mother unclean after giving birth. She would have been allowed to worship in the Temple again, so February 2 is also considered the day that baby Jesus would have been presented there for the first time. Being a Catholic festival, Candlemas was officially eliminated by the Protestant Reformists, but it was retained and continued to be celebrated by the folk.