We've tried to make all listings in this directory as easy and intuitive to use as possible. However, if you're uncertain about something, we hope you'll find the help you need here.
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This page covers the following topics:
All group listing are organized strictly according to the locality (city or town) in which dances are held. If, for instance, the Los Angeles Irish Dancers hold most dances in an Anaheim dance hall, then we list the group under Anaheim, not under Los Angeles, even if most of the dancers live in Los Angeles. In fact, when we discover a group listed in one locality actually hold dances in a different locality, we immediately move their listing to that locality.
All group listings follow exactly the same format and contain the same type of information. Every listing has four sections: 1) The group name. 2) Contact information. 3) A list of regular dances. 4) A list of special events.
A listing always begins with the group's name. If we've been told the group maintains a web site, we link it to their name. If their name is underlined and a different color (usually sky blue or purple) and your mouse pointer turns into a hand with a raised finger, a click on the name will take you right to their web site. To return to the listing, click on the BACK button of your browser one or more times.
In the second section, we list the names, addresses, telephone numbers and Email addresses of up to three contact people. However, some items may be missing because we were not given the information.
If an Email address is underlined and a different color than the surrounding text and if your mouse pointer turns into a hand with an extended finger, you can send them a message by clicking on their Email address. This should cause your Email screen to appear with your Email address in the From line and the recipient's Email address in the To line. All you need do is write your message, click on the SEND button, close the window and you'll be back at the group's listing.
The section ends with the listing's expiration date. For instance, Exp 12/31/02 at the end of the section indicates the listing expires December 31, 2002. Other possible expiration dates are the following: , Exp 12/31/04, Exp 12/31/05, Exp 12/31/06, Exp 12/31/07 and Exp 12/31/08. You'll notice that group listings always expire the last day of the year and that blue signifies 2002, yellow 2003, red 2004, aqua 2005, lime 2006, teal 2007 and maroon 2008.
In the third section, we list the regular weekly, biweekly or monthly dances which take place in the city or town covered by the listing. Each dance listing consist of two lines.
The first line begins with the weekday on which dances usually take place. If their dances are not held weekly, we put frequency information within a set of parentheses. For instance, TUE (1/3/4) means dances occur the first, third and fourth Tuesday of each month, THU (Var) means dances occur various Thursdays of the year, MON (Occ) means dances occur occasional Mondays, FRI (One) means dances occur one Friday per month and SUN (Alt) means dances occur every second Sunday. Next, we list the usual starting and ending times of dances. Morning times are followed by the letter "a"; afternoon and evening times not. Finally, we list the types of folk dance usually done.
The second line displays the name and address of the hall where dances usually take place. If another hall is sometimes used, its name and address appear on an additional line. If we've been told which months dances take place, we display that information within parentheses right after the dance hall information.
In the fourth line, we list the names of all special events sponsored by the group and the months in which they're held.
If we're certain of a listing's source, we end the listing with a phrase like (1) - Mar 28, 1999 or like (2) - Feb 15, 2001 to indicate the fact. The phrase (1) - Mar 28, 1999 indicates someone associated with the group on March 29, 1999 sent us all the facts we used in the listing on a Listing a Group form from our Listing a Group page. The phrase (2) - Feb 15, 2001 indicates someone associated with the group on February 15, 2001 spoke with us and verbally presented all the facts we included in the listing. In addition, we were assured we'd be promptly informed about all future changes in the listing and pledged to publish all corrections on the internet promptly. If neither phrase appears at the end of a listing, then we've no idea of the listing's source.
A "?" in a group listing means we're lacking the information that should be there. For instance, if the first line of a dance listing is "? · ?-? · ?", we're unable to tell you the dance's weekday, start and end times and repertoire.
We include no information in group listings other than what we specified in the previous section. This means you'll need to actually contact a group and visit its web page (if it has one) to discover the admission fee, the names of visiting callers and bands, whether refreshments are served, the ages and levels of the dancers, which dances will be cancelled due to holidays, etc. We firmly believe it's our function to help you find folk dance groups but what happens next is between you and the group.
We accept listings for all folk dance groups in the United States and Canada. Remember, folk dance includes Balkan folk dance, Cajun dance, clog dance, contra dance, English country dance, international folk dance, Irish dance, Israeli dance, Morris dance, Scottish dance, Southern Mountain big circle dance, sword dance, swing dance, tap dance, traditional square dance, turning dance, vintage dance, western square dance, Zydeco dance and all other forms of traditional and ethnic dance. We welcome any group doing any of these dance types to be listed.
Sometimes a person may be interested in finding groups that do square dance, contra dance, Israeli dance, swing dance or some other specific type of folk dance.
We don't want you to suffer the inconvenience or disappointment of going to a dance only to find the hall dark and no dance being held. If you intend to visit a group for the first time or after several weeks of nonattendance, DON'T go without first contacting the group to verify there'll actually be a dance. To reduce the possibility of disappointment, ALWAYS check and confirm the dance's start time, location, admission fee, travel directions and any other important information. And while you're at it, please mention you saw the group's listing at the Folk Dance Association web site.
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