Mountain Playshop 2026
September 25 - September 27*
with our favorite teacher from NC
Erik Bendix
*Friday, September 25th, 4 PM.
to Sunday, September 27th, 11 AM.
"The Barn" At Montreat Conference Center
in Montreat, North Carolina
401 Assembly Drive, Montreat NC 28757.
Download a campus map under "resources"
at this website:
"The Barn" is A4 on this map.
Food is delicious and locally catered.
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
Register for FULL TIME (Fri., 4:00 pm — Sun,11:00 am)
...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
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
1500 Glen Eden Road
Raleigh, North Carolina, 27612
Durham Chapel Hill International Folk Dancers
Weekly, Wednesdays,
Request club program 7-9:30 PM
and
Weekly, Mondays, beginner class
& friends, 7 PM
Carol Woods Fitness Center
750 Weaver Dairy Road
Chapel Hill, North Carolina, 27514
% Other folk dancers in the SE region of US %
(send us a message if you do/don't want to be listed here)
Triangle Country Dancers (contradancing)
Sun Assembly (English Country Dance)
Square Heels at Binkley Baptist,
Chapel Hill, NC (Square and Round dance)
Asheville International Folk Dance, North Carolina
(Mountain Playshop in September)
https://www.facebook.com/groups/1068009727433705/
Nashville International Folk Dance, Tennessee
(Autumn Leaves fall workshop)
Oak Ridge international Folk Dancers, Tennesee
(Redbud Romp spring workshop)
https://www.oakridgefolkdancers.org/index.html
Greenbelt International Folk Dancers,
Folklore Society of Greater Washington
(Virtual Zoom, Friday PM mtg)
https://www.fsgw.org/greenbelt-international-dancers
Glen Echo Folk Dancers,
Folklore Society of Greater Washington DC area
(Wed PM mtg, Dancing Planet Productions)
https://www.fsgw.org/international-dances-glenecho
Charlottesville International Folk Dance,
Charlottesville, Virginia (Wed mtg)
https://www.charlottesvilleinternationalfolkdance.com/
Virginia Beach International Folk Dance Club,
Virginia Beach, Virginia (Fri mtg)
https://www.facebook.com/groups/489548624585820/about
Greenville International Folk Dancers,
Greenville, SC (Monday mtg)
https://greenvilleinternationalfolkdance.weebly.com/
The Colonial Dance Club of Richmond, Virginia
Cape Fear Contra Dancers, Wilmington, NC
Gainesville, FLA International Folk Dancers
Recreational Folk Dancers in Columbus, OH
You can find other local dance information at