Newsletter of the Central Illinois English Country Dancers

Spring 1997

The Central Illinois English Country Dancers had a successful summer and fall season in 1996. In July we held our first annual pool party. Dancing in the pool is quite different from dancing on dry land, but still lots of fun. Hopefully we'll have a warmer day and more dancers next summer when we try it again. In September we attempted to hold a dance in the Sunken Gardens at Allerton Park. Once again we had to contend with adverse weather and were forced to dance indoors. We'll give it a try again at some point this year and hope for better weather. We had six dances and two demo/performances this past fall. The year ended on a high note with our second annual Christmas Ball on December 21. In attendance were 28 dancers, including some from St. Louis, Chicago and Madison, and eight musicians in the band. While this is a bit less attendance than we had at the past two balls, it was still a good evening with lots of great music and dance.

The attendance at the monthly dances was more consistant this fall and our core group of dancers has grown, both in size and repetoire. The band, the Flatland Consort, has also grown, thanks in large part to the recruiting efforts of Rob Lewis. The band played at Market Place Mall on December 14 and a few of us did a couple of dances, much to the amazement, or should I say amusement, of the holiday shoppers. The Flatland Consort will be playing for the Urbana Country Dancers contra dance on the evening of Friday, February 28. I will be the caller that evening, so come along and give them your support. Perhaps we'll sneak an English dance or two in during the evening.

The spring schedule is listed below. Note that the dance on March the 16th was previously listed as being on the 15th. This had to be changed due to a scheduling conflict. The dance on February 23rd will be in honor of George Washington's birthday, since he was known as an avid dancer in his day. We'll try to do an early American dance or two.

The mailing list has grown quite a bit over the past year and a half. If you wish to remain on the list, please send a note to Jonathan Sivier, 5 The Summit, Champaign, IL, 61820 or give me a call at 217/359-8225. If you include your phone number I'll add you to the CIECD phone list I'm trying to compile. Any small donation that you would care to make to help offset the costs of printing and postage will also be appreciated.

Spring schedule:

Sunday, January 26: Dance from 3:00-5:00 p.m. at the Springer Recreation Center, 301 N. Randolph in Champaign.

Sunday, February 23: Dance from 3:00-5:00 p.m. at the Springer Recreation Center. George Washington's birthday dance.

Sunday, March 16: Dance from 3:00-5:00 p.m. at the Springer Recreation Center.

Saturday, April 19: Dance from 7:00-9:00 p.m. at the Springer Recreation Center.

Saturday, May 24: Dance from 7:00-9:00 p.m. at the Springer Recreation Center.

Saturday, June 7: Our annual Playford Ball from 7:00-11:00 p.m. in a location to be announced.


For the current schedule and further information return to the CIECD webpage
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