International

The dance hall at Montreat Conference Center is a short walk on a level, smooth road from lodging and has water and bathrooms. Attendees may stay on the campus of the Montreat Conference Center, in Glen Rock Inn, or in South Carolina Inn. Glenn Rock has a kitchen and dining room for our catered meals. See map links above.

Mountain Playshop is a regional dance weekend that attracts folk dancers from North Carolina as well as nearby states to socialize, dance, relax and learn a dance or two. Our guest teacher is Erik Bendix who will teach international folk dance.

About this year's teacher:

Erik Bendix of Asheville NC will teach international folk dance at this weekend workshop. Erik Bendix grew up in the bay area of San Francisco, began folk dancing at the age of ten. He has taught folk dance in Europe and the United States since 1972. Although he specializes in dances of Europe, especially from the Balkans, Near East, and the Klezmer culture, his dance research extends as far east as Mongolia and Thailand. Erik has studied and taught Albanian, Armenian, Bulgarian, Croatian, Greek, Hungarian, Macedonian, Polish, Romanian, Russian, Serbian, Turkish, Ukrainian, and Yiddish folk dances, as well as traditional Mevlevi dervish whirling dances and Appalachian clogging. Erik co-founded the Mountain Playhop summer folkdance weekend in Asheville, North Carolina in 1984, and has been a regular teacher ever since.

Erik recently, in March, taught at the National Folk Organization conference in Durham this spring. You can see Erik, one of the most graceful dancers you will ever meet, in these two videos online. Even if you are struggling to keep up with the basics, he gives you the best model for dance styling:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=cnfX93JEgwI

https://www.youtube.com/shorts/5bEGeImNfco

REGISTRATION WILL OPEN IN JULY

...or PART TIME for teach, party sessions. Meals ordered in advance only.

Website: http://www.mountainplayshop.org (will be back up, soon)

Contact: Mountain Playshop Board/ Paul Taylor 865 898 5724

Email: paulandbarbarataylor@gmail.com

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% Other IFD and folk dance groups in this area and beyond%

In addition to Seymour International Folk Dance, all groups below are considered part of the trianglefolkdancers IFD network in the Chapel HIll-6Durham-Raleigh (Research) Triangle area in piedmont North Carolina. Each group has its own distinct program and village culture. Pick one that fits your needs and is most convenient to you. Of course, we at Seymour Folk Dance hope you will also pick our program. If you want to, you should be able to pick almost any day of the week for a folk dance group.

Seymour International Folk Dance

(circles & line dances)

Weekly midday, Fridays 11 AM-1 PM

Great Hall 2 downstairs

2551 Homestead Rd, Chapel Hill, NC

Raleigh International

Folk Dancers

This group has non-profit status and receive donations and bequests.

This is listed as a program of Raleigh Parks and Recreation program.

The old domain address rifd.org still works to point to its new googlesites location

Weekly, Fridays, club request program 6:30-10:30 PM

Pilot Park Building