NEFFA News

Fall 1996 -- Volume XXII#3
Editor: Angel Roman

President's Message

By the time this reaches you, plans will be under way for 1997. Barring any last minute changes by the high school, the 53rd NEFFA Festival will be held on April 25, 26, and 27, 1997. We're looking forward to it!

Members of the NEFFA Board have met during the summer to refine the way we manage various festival functions. After all these years of experience things run very smoothly (your comments on the evaluation forms attest to that!) but we are always looking for ways to improve. Festival attendees probably will not be aware of any changes we decide upon, but the behind-the-scenes work should go more smoothly.

All the evaluation forms have been read and considered. It seems as if you feel we are generally going in the right direction. The new Activity Room was really popular, as were the additional English dance and Waltz sessions, and the new food offerings. Many of you missed some of the food booths which were not with us this year. A couple of vendors could not come because of personal problems, and hope to be back in 1997; we also hope to be able to expand on our "plain American" food offerings and perhaps add some new ethnic varieties.

Some of the concerns that came up on the evaluation forms relate to issues over which we have no control, such as space limitations and handicapped access to all areas. We have been working with the school to open up new rooms, but we have just about reached the limits of what they have available; we cannot do anything about their physical layout. Because of our long and successful relationship with Natick High School we feel that it is the best venue currently available for the Festival, and hope that the varied pleasures available overcome any problems caused by building constraints.

As the fall begins we start to firm up our Festival committees so that we can begin our detailed planning. Creating the Festival is a lot of fun, and we would love to have more people involved. If you are interested, please contact me care of the NEFFA office.

-- Nancy Hanssen, President

Letters to the Editor

To the Editor:

Thanks to Steve Langford for alerting readers to hearing loss from excessive sound volume! [1996 v2] Now lets hope that music providers will be more sensitive.

There's already been some progress I believe. The speakers or sound boxes [at my usual dance] used to be placed at ear level - literally deafening while waiting at the top of the set. This year those boxes were placed higher.

Here's to more sound improvements and safer listening.

-- Joan Sparrow

To the Editor:

Dance Economics

The dance of the time
mirrors the economics of the time.
In a capitalistic culture:
the dance floor filled
with separate couples
in separate worlds,
ignoring the others,
but politely,
careful not to bump anyone,
but bring a partner
or chance being a wallflower.

In a communitarian culture:
no wallflowers.
All dance together
as they work together.

In a mixed culture:
living communitarian when possible
amid capitalist surroundings,
while longing for world community
and preserving the folkways
of other times and places,
we live a schizophrenic life.

--Mary Paulson

Have anything to say about the folk scene in general? A concern, or a potential solution to a problem, or a "That's great - lets keep doing it"? Write to the editor! I'm not making any promises, but maybe I'll be able to fit it in. E-Mail me!. Be sure and indicate the subject: 'Letter to the Editor' so I'll know you intend it to be printed. Looking forward to hearing from you! -- Angel Roman, Editor

New Tuesday Dance Series

An all-new Tuesday dance series is starting in September! Sponsored by the Boston Center of the Country Dance Society (CDS), this series will feature popular and exciting Contra dance callers Cammy Kaynor, Chris Ricciotti, and Linda Leslie, plus an evening each month of Open Mike calling. Chris will call a Gender-Free dance every third Tuesday.

New Location:	9 Russell Av., Watertown
New Format:	Each caller/producer will be choosing their own band and format, keeping each week fresh and different.
Start Date:	2nd Tuesday in September

For additional details as they become available, watch for flyers or call the CDS office at 781-662-6710.

All experienced and new dancers are welcome! Help make this new series a success!

-- Jean Krogh, CDS

Modular Floor Plans

Here's a note sent to NEFFA, from Carl S. Blum, of Johns Island, SC, which might be of interest to some folks & committee members within our dance community:

Hi! We needed an extra floor for the Bug Stomp this year and we wanted to build something we could use over. I'm making the plans available so other groups might make more modulars, and also be able to join together to form huge dance floors. The floor was a big success. 1.5 hours to assemble, 1/2 hour to remove. Cost for the 3/4" plywood (CDX), hardware, and one coat of polyurethane was $14.13 per module or 88 cents per square foot. We have: 4 corners, 2 south, 1 north, 13 east, 13 west, and 13 central units.