Keynote Speaker Ferne Caulker

Presentation: Becoming the Whirlwind – sharing of a personal journey inspired by circles, wind, light, history, ancestors, and the fire from within.

Growing up in Sierra Leone, Ferne Caulker was surrounded by music. “We lived up on a mountain, where the breeze carried sounds of traditional drums and people singing,” recalls Caulker, age 72. “My father also loved classical music.”

Those early memories would continue to imbue Caulker’s creative life for decades. As a young woman, Caulker, who moved to Milwaukee in high school after her father’s death, studied under master modern dancer Katherine Dunham. But a 1969 trip to Ghana inspired Caulker to take her own, unique path. “I was standing at Elmina Castle, one of the stops on the Atlantic slave trade,” says Caulker, “and it hit me: I can be a connector.”

When she returned to Milwaukee, Caulker developed her own dance form, one that pulled from both ballet and traditional African dance. She called it the “Caulker method” and built her 51-year-old pioneering dance company, Ko-Thi, around it. “It is about rethinking what stories we tell,” says Caulker, who served as the company’s artistic director until January. “What we did was create something new based in something very old.”

Adony Beniares

Presentation: Connecting the World via Zoom (with Marcie Van Cleave)

A first-generation Greek American, Adony moved to the San Francisco Bay area from Wyoming. Since the age of 18, he has either lived or worked in Sunnyvale, California. Adony and his wife Becky currently share their home with four adorable cats. A folk dance generalist, he loves being on the dance floor.

Adony is an instigator and innovator, with a tremendous amount of energy and the ability to coordinate large and complex projects. When COVID struck in 2020, he suggested taking folk dancing online via a Zoom party. Shortly after, Adony and many friends took on the task of taking folk dance camps online. Adony is the project lead of the four successful online Stockton Folk Dance Camps, and as part of various teams works on 10–15 other events.

Paul Collins

Presentation: The Unique Journey of a Folk/Square/Round/Contra Dancer

Paul Collins began dancing with his parents at the age of eight and has been an ethnic folk dance leader and square/contra dance caller since high school. While dancing with his parents’ adult group, he had the opportunity to call his first square dance at the age of 12.

Beginning with the safety of social isolation mandated by the COVID-19 pandemic, Paul founded the
Virtual Dance Room Paul Collins (virtualdanceroom.net) and recruited a team of dance instructors and leaders to deliver high quality and fun virtual dance sessions.

Alexander P. Durtka, Jr. and
Sharon Rae Landergott Durtka

Presentation: A Culture of Weaving Community

A perspective on safeguarding intangible cultural heritage will be explored as a means of weaving community and its role in living together in a multicultural society. 

Alexander P. Durtka, Jr. is President and CEO of the International Institute of Wisconsin and director of the Holiday Folk Fair International. Al continues to reweave social networks to create new spaces for recognition, reconnection, and conversation locally and internationally.

Sharon Rae Landergott Durtka is a Cardinal Stritch University graduate and received a master’s degree from University of Wisconsin-Milwaukee and Doctorate from Berne University International Graduate School–St. Kitts-Nevis. She enthusiastically shares her expertise in education and her global perspective with teachers, learners, and communities throughout the world.

Weaving community is a way of life and a state of mind, not a series of actions. As humans we long for honest, deep connections, self-identity, self-esteem, and relationships with others.

The National Folk Organization weaves together music and dance and crafts from around the world, and even from our next-door neighbors, bringing us together to build community. We make those connections so all feel important and valued, regardless of our differences. 

Jeanette Geslison

Presentation: Gækkebreve, a Danish spring tradition

Jeanette is Assistant Professor of Dance at Brigham Young University and serves as Artistic Director of the International Folk Dance Ensemble, working with students to create cultural presentations from around the world. She currently serves as the President of NFO. Hailing from Odense, Denmark, she brings native cultural awareness to her pursuits.

 

Steve Kotansky and Susan Snyder-Kotansky

Presentation: Dances of the Balkans

Stephen Kotansky began folk dancing in his youth, performed with many groups, has lived and traveled in Europe, and has made many research trips to the Balkans and Hungary. He is a versatile dancer and teacher who shares in-depth knowledge and intense joy in dancing. 

Presentation: Táncház—Revival or Survival?

Susan performed with the George Tomov, Kálmán Magyar’s Hungária, and Ungaresca ensembles in NYC. She spent a year living in Budapest, attending the Folkdance Section of the State Ballet Institute and studied with the Bartók Ensemble under the direction of Sándor Timár. She has made many research trips to Hungary and Transylvania and, together with her husband Stephen Kotansky, founded the Guzsaly Ensemble. Stephen and Susan were instrumental in planting the seeds for the Táncház movement in the U.S., teaching classes and inviting teachers from Hungary. Together they teach Hungarian, Balkan, and international dance classes worldwide. 

Roo Lester

Presentation: International and Nordic dances

A “La La Lander”* by birth, Roo Lester began folk dancing as part of “rainy day” PE at school and hasn’t stopped yet. The experience sparked an interest that eventually led to a Master’s in Dance with a focus on Dance Ethnology from UCLA. Roo is an international and Scandinavian folk dancer, researcher, teacher, camp director, and consultant for a variety of events, and is active with the National Folk Organization. Her hallmarks include clear, positive teaching that incorporates basic concepts of dance for dancers of all levels in a fun and lighthearted manner. Roo lives in the SW suburbs of Chicagoland.

*La La Lander—La La Land as in Los Angeles and used in the movie.

 

Alex Marković

Presentation: The Folk Behind the Lore: Understanding Balkan Culture in Social Context

Alex Marković received his Ph.D. from the University of Illinois, Chicago. His thesis focuses on identity politics and musical performance among Romani brass musicians in Vranje, Serbia.

He is a dancer, educator, and musician who actively researches, teaches, and performs folk dances from the Balkans, particularly Serbian, Romani, and Greek cultural groups. Alex contributed a fascinating article to EEFC’s Forum Folkloristika: “Beat That Drum! Exploring the Politics and Performance among Roma Brass Musicians in Vranje, Serbia.” It is available to read on the EEFC website.

 

Dit Olshan

Dit Olshan has been teaching international folk dance in the Chicago area for more than 40 years, at one time leading three separate groups each week. Currently, Dit leads a Wednesday night group at the Skokie Park District. While teaching math in the Chicago Public Schools, Dit implemented an extra-curricular program of international folk dance at the district level, conducting district teacher workshops while teaching classes at her own school. She has traveled, studying dance in Yugoslavia, Romania, Bulgaria, and Scotland.

 

Edith Spear

The date was March 5, 1929. Edith Spear was born, then raised and educated in Chicago, as were both of her parents. When she was about five years old, she was enrolled in a dance class and performed at Soldier Field!

Edie earned a B.S. in Mathematics from Roosevelt College, now University. That led to working on the Nautilus, the first nuclear submarine at Argonne National Laboratory.

Al Spear and Edie began dating and on their first date, he took her folk dancing at the University of Chicago, to a group under the direction of Vyts Beliajus. Al and Edie really got along and married a year later. They kept going folk dancing and danced with Vyts for many years. To this day, we find Edie at many dance events.

John Parrish

Presentation: The Rites of Spring, an exploration of folk customs in the season of renewal

John Parrish has been interested in folk traditions since his youth as an army brat in Europe. In the mid ‘70s (coincidentally, his current age) he took up the tapan (double-sided folk drum). He organized a folk festival and special workshops in Chicago from 1989 until the late ‘90s and has assisted in events run by others.

John sings in a variety of languages, some of which people recognize. His most frequent folk activity of late has been singing and playing music on Zoom events.

 

Marcie Van Cleave

Presentation: Connecting the world through Zoom (with Adony Beniares)

Marcie Van Cleave grew up in Michigan, where the only dance experience she had was at the Girl Scouts’ fourth grade Father-Daughter Square Dance. She moved to Boston after college. In 1988, Marcie took on the role of Executive Director of the Folk Arts Center, a non-profit organization established in 1975, dedicated to promoting the traditional folk arts, particularly music and dance.

She is still at the helm of FAC and is as excited about the possibilities for the organization, its programs, and the people who enjoy them as she was 33 years ago!

Anne Von Bibra

Presentation: The Impact of Shifting Gender Perceptions on the Transmission of ‘Traditional’ Dance Forms in College Settings

Anne von Bibra is a long-time member of the Dance Department at Saint Olaf College, where she teaches social/ballroom dance, international dance, and world dance traditions. She is also the artistic director of Veselica International Dance Ensemble, one of two dance companies in the department. Anne has also had an active performing career, dancing with Avaz International Dance Theatre and Karpatok in Los Angeles and with Ethnic Dance Theatre and Sumunar Gamelan and Dance Ensemble in Minneapolis/St. Paul.