|
History The
International Folk Dancers of Bethesda Group has been dancing for 42 years.
It was started by Mel and Phyllis Diamond, and was the dream and love
of Mel Diamond for over 30 years. His commitment to excellence, boundless
energy, love of teaching and his desire to expose other people to the
International Folk Dance community inspired the group. A fantastic dancer
himself, he encouraged other young dancers and teachers. Because of Mel's
energy and enthusiasm, many people who danced with us went on to form
their own groups, or to specialize in dances from a particular country
or region of the world, such as Contra, English Country, Swing, Ballroom,
Israeli, Scandinavian, Cajun, Hungarian, etc. The footsteps we encouraged
dancers to take has exploded into many areas, and their footsteps continue
to encourage other new dancers. Our group has sponsored most of the major
International Folk Dance Masters and many fantastic ethnic musicians from
all over the world. Through the years, the group has had its focus to
introduce people to International Folk Dance and Music. We appreciate
the dance, music, culture, customs, costumes and food of many areas of
the world and try to impart and share that love of adventure. Our goal
is not only to teach ethnic dancing, but to encourage people to hold hands
in a circle, to be a friendly community, to learn how to dance with a
group, and to experience the joy in just dancing by yourself in free-style
dancing, holding hands with others in a circle, holding hands with others
in a line, or enjoying a couple dance. We teach dances from Israel, Bulgaria,
Romania, Greece, Macedonia, Turkey, Armenia, the Scandinavian countries,
Mexico, France, Hungary and other countries. Brandon Diamond has been
assisting Phyllis in teaching the group for over 20 years. We still strive
to impart the sense of adventure in exploring the wonderful diversity
that is found in International Folk Dancing. Through the years, the Diamonds
have taught at the National Folk Festival (The Washington Folk Festival),
the International Children's Festival, community events, workshops, weddings,
PTA programs, girl and boy scout programs, exhibitions
at the Smithsonian and various embassies, and
produced ethnic costume fashion shows. |