Folk Ball 2009 is rapidly approaching and, if you live anywhere near Madison, WI, or need an excuse to visit, the weekend of 1/23 - 1/25 would be a very good time.
Folk Ball runs from Friday, 1/23 through Sunday, 1/25, but, if all you care about is "when will Ed be playing?", then Saturday, 1/24 is the date to put on your calendar. Early in the evening (second on the list of bands), I will be playing with Veseliyka, who play traditional Bulgarian music. Finishing off the evening, I'll be playing with The Reptile Palace Orchestra, who play, ummm, traditional music in a non-traditional manner. Also on the schedule for Saturday night are Orkestar Bez Ime and Sloboda, both of which are worth the price of admission all on their own.
Just because I'm plugging Saturday night for my own personal reasons, don't think that it won't be worth your while to attend Friday night's dance concert, too. On Friday you can groove to the sounds of Tri Brodovchedki, Cajun Strangers, Yid Vicious and Izvor Orchestra in the Great Hall of the Memorial Union. All of them rock. Seriously. Or, if your tastes take you elsewhere, there will be contra dancing to the music of Duck For The Oyster in Tripp Commons. But that's not all! There will also be a Hungarian Tanchaz (village-style "dance-house") with music by Százska in the Beefeaters room of the Memorial Union.
But, wait! That's not all. In addition to the Friday and Saturday night dance parties, there will be workshops on Bulgarian/Balkan dance by Yves Moreau, Cross-step waltz by Jeannette Watts, Métis Traditional Dance by Dennis Grove, Serbian Folkdance by Michael Malich, Family dance with Duck For The Oyster, African Drumming with Eku Emmanuel & Atimevu Drum &
Dance, West African Dance with Abu Muhammed with Atimevu Drum & Dance, and A Capella Singing with Tri Bratovchedki & Friends.
Admission is free, although it is through generous donations that this event is made possible. Come on down and dance your brains out.
Here is a clip of The Reptile Palace Orchestra playing at last year's Folk Ball:
2 comments:
Ed is right: Be there or be square. This is an event to which I look forward all year long. If you live far away and you've been itching to get away to sunny tropical weather -- oh, bother, the temperature here has been in the double digit negatives for the last couple of days -- but our hearts are warm, and the heat generated by the folk dance mosh pit will warm the coldest of toes and melt frostbitten noses. So book your flight and come already!We'll put you up!
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