by Val Medve and Barb Seppeler
BVD—Barbara Seppeler, Val Medve and Dan Seppeler, accompanied by Tom Medve (and in part, Tom Grande)—toured New England last month. Val and Barb shared the daily diary writing; see their earlier blogs, The First Week and the Intro.
Posing with “Moo-sic,” a gift from Lucy and Mark Weinstein to Jackie Algon. Moo-sic was one of the scenic props for this year’s “On the Farm” Playful Ball in Ridgewood, NJ, made by Judith DeBiase.(Tom Medve, with the help of a timer)
Val’s post, Saturday July 13, 2013
We left Billie Lanz’s place in Hartford around noon, after a hearty and delicious breakfast (homemade egg casserole and fresh-from-the-oven muffins), to visit my cousin Mary in Hamden, CT, detouring slightly from our path to South Kingstown, RI, the site of that evening’s dance. Mary and I got the contra dance bug at the same time (in the early 1980s) and would carpool from Connecticut to dances all over New England and northwestern New York. (She met her husband Kurt, then living in Ossining, NY, at a contra dance in Pittsfield, MA.) Over the years, we’ve kept in touch with sporadic catch-up emails and the annual Christmas letter. So it was wonderful to visit with them and their grown son Bryan. For me, an enjoyable aspect of our time in Connecticut was visiting with former co-workers and dancing friends.
The Rhode Island dance group (headed by organizer/contact, John Buscaglia) publicized that night’s dance as a benefit, complete with an amazing potluck supper (as Barb describes in her post—to which I must add Fred Boland’s excellent, homemade seafood chowder), silent auction (which included many handcrafted goods donated by local dancers, plus three items donated by CDSS), and three-hour dance ($15 admission covered their usual caller/musician fees and other dance expenses, with the overflow going to the dance series, which had sustained a financial loss this past season). The turnout was very good—we counted 38 people. There was a mix of English dancers and contra dancers: a very social and friendly group; there was lots of good-natured chatter as sets were formed.
The tour has been a good learning experience for me, as well as for Dan and Barb. My husband Tom would approach callers and experienced dancers for feedback, which he then shared with us. And after each dance event, Barb insisted that we sit down and do a debriefing, discussing what went right, what went awry, and what could be improved, and we’d each set goals for our next gig. For instance, the dancers in Rhode Island did a fine job of dancing Fried Herman’s The First Lady once they actually got to dance it!!! My teaching was longwinded, despite a demo. And the dance itself wasn’t the best choice for the crowd and a party (rather than workshop) atmosphere. I made a substitution for the next dance: Corelli’s Maggot, which was both easy and familiar. I could hear the sighs of relief from the floor! Barb rolled with the punches and played the tune with gusto.
Dan Seppeler calls for dancers in the beautiful Land Trust Barn in South Kingston, RI. (Tom Medve)
Barb’s post from the pianist’s point of view!
Saturday evening we reached South Kingstown, RI. As we pulled into the parking lot, I knew this was going to be a wonderful dance, as we were surrounded by a manicured low stone wall on a beautiful lawn. I thought it looked like England!
We received an enthusiastic welcome, along with an amazing potluck dinner that included roast chicken, lots of watermelon and ice cream. (This is comfort food… ooh la la!)
I finally had to admit that everyone here was a stranger to me, but it did not last for long, as dancers were asking me if I knew other dancers…and I did! By the time I began to play, I felt at home, especially as dancers happily responded to the music and calling. Once again we had the best fun! What a wonderful community we are!
And the fun was not over when the dance ended. I happened to ask if we were close to the ocean, and was told—at 11:30 p.m.— that it was a five minute drive away. We piled into our cars. With about ten dancers, plus our BVD group, we got permission to go inside the locked gate and walk to the shore in the pitch black. We could hardly see where we were stepping, but the ocean was so loud as we approached it, we knew which way to go! We stood on the shore and collected pretty stones that we found with flashlights, and laughed and talked for far too short a time. I did stick my finger in a big wave so I got to touch the Atlantic Ocean. Yay! Exciting! Tom Grande said goodbye to us, leaving for a weeklong Early Music Clinic in Pittsburgh. He will join us later in the tour.
(L-R:) Jackie Algon, Bill Evonsky, Tom Medve, Susan St. Germain, at Jackie’s home in Fairfield County, CT. (Dan Seppeler)
Barb’s post from the pianist’s point of view!, Sunday, July 14
After we left the Rhode Island shore (around midnight), we had a two-hour drive to Jackie Algon’s house in Fairfield County, CT. We were exhausted when we reached her home so late at night, but she was up and waiting to greet us. My jaw actually fell when I walked into her front door and saw the beautiful space for the dancers, and the high ceiling, and, of course, the piano! We were able to sleep in the next morning. In the afternoon, the group of invited dancers began to arrive. We were so excited to see Orly Krasner and Tom and Susan Amessé, and my birthday buddy, Lucy Weinstein, among the 38 dancers! I had the pleasure of being in a band and not playing solo this time—Jackie had asked two local musicians to join me: Mark Eisenberg (recorders) and Sue Polansky (flute).
Jackie had a lovely meal planned for us, even taking the time to make a watermelon basket filled with fruit. The dancers augmented Jackie’s grilled meats and fruit salad with other delicious items. There was so much good food!
That night after everyone had left, we worked and worked on a new-to-us dance, Asking for the Road, by Dorothy Attneave, published in the CDSS News years ago [issue #166, May/June 2002], and with Val and Dan (and everyone else!) putting their heads together, we got it!
We stayed at Jackie’s that night and the next day. After many a goodbye and thank you, we left for Schenectady, NY for another private dance party.
Val’s post
In the morning, Tom changed into his yard work clothes (which we brought from Vermont, having offered Tom’s gardening assistance to Jackie) and planted lots of pachysandra on the hillside. I went back to sleep. Sleep deprivation was a real problem during our tour. I now have a greater appreciation for traveling callers and musicians. As someone who sometimes hosts out-of-town callers and musicians, I can see the importance of letting my guests decide what and when to do something while at our house (but working within our schedule). Sometimes you just need some quiet time/alone time to recharge your batteries!
Although Jackie has a beautiful in-tune upright piano at-the-ready in her dance room, we learned that some dancers found the music so loud that it was painful. Dan quickly got Barb’s electric keyboard from the BVD van and was able to turn down the volume on the keyboard. With the other musicians now aware of the sound levels, the music was no longer a problem. We did get off to a late start, however.
There were two dance highlights for me. I taught and prompted Weekend in Wilton, a beautiful dance set to a traditional Scottish tune (The Arran Boat Song), which Susan and Tom Amessé wrote for Jackie. It was definitely a treat to introduce the dance and see Jackie dancing it! I had an older version of the dance instructions, so from the dance floor, Susan caught my eye and with a simple tap on her left shoulder, clued me in to calling the dance as it had evolved. The other highlight was teaching Colin Hume’s The Sting in the Tail to yet another group of good dancers. (I had called it earlier at the Reel Nutmeg party on July 11.)
The next morning, Jackie made the four of us (Dan, Barb, Tom, me) a delicious breakfast AND mango smoothies. We waddled out of her home around noontime, after putting all the furniture back into the dance space.
Schenectady Union College Group (Tom Medve)
Val’s post, Monday, July 15, 2013
We met Ann Thomas, plus Steve and Jeannette Sargent, for supper in Schenectady at a lovely restaurant (with good beer!) called The Van Dyke. It was a nice way to relax and ease into our evening dance at nearby Union College.
When we arrived at the dance venue, our clothes were immediately soaked by the humidity and the effort of moving all the heavy classroom chairs into the hallway. We are not spring chickens, being in our 50s-60s. Here was yet another reason to recruit younger dancers—they’d have more energy and oomph to move all those chairs!
After so many hot, humid dance evenings on our travels, my husband Tom decided that we needed an alternate name for our BVD Tour. His suggestion? The Sweat and Turn Single Tour! (A common figure/movement in English country dancing is set and turn single.)
Barb’s post from the pianist’s point of view!
We were on the second floor of Union College and the heat was unbearable when we walked in the room. Windows were thrown open and fans began to do their slow, laborious work to cool us off. In spite of the heat, dancers arrived (with more fans!) ready for a great time. We were so happy to see Steve and Jeannette, sweet Grace, the two Bobs, Bill, and the Bells. We missed Gretchen, though! Ann Thomas was there as well. After the dance, we went to Ann’s house to relax and party the night away! Dan and I stayed with Steve and Jeannette that night, while Val and Tom went to Albany with Bill. After Dan and I enjoyed a leisurely and lovely breakfast with the Sargents (while watching the Tour de France), we were again on our way (with tasty bagged lunches packed by Jeannette), this time for a few days at Tom and Val’s house in Vermont, where we had a little free time to recover!