CHIPS OFF THE OLD BLOCKS: g'ma battaglia

saturday, november 20, 2010.
today our folk dance group performed at the russian festival. it was a beautiful day and we were so excited to dance in front of a live audience. sometimes i feel i've missed my calling, not that i'm talented, or even good at dancing, but it just makes me so happy to be doing it. i'm buzzed for hours after!

...at glendale community college.

joshua and i need more legit costumes. this is just a peasant top from marshall's.

let the dancing begin.

so, we missed the last practice and consequently royally screwed up the first dance up. we were laughing so hard the whole time. usually when we dance this particular dance it's in a circle within another circle. men in the inside circle face out looking at the women and women in the outside circle looking in. it's normally a mixer with a new partner at the end of each cycle too. this time there was no mixing and no circle. it was kind of wacky for us.

me and my "partner" for life.

about to begin another. one of my faves...

"gori more"
taught to us at a workshop by lee otterholt of norway.

more advanced members of our group preforming a more intricate dance.

"dimna juda"
a dance we learned on our first night with the group. i came home and immediately googled it. the music is divine. and it's such a simple yet beautiful dance!

...

joyce, smiling, is one of our teachers. she is a professor of the russian language and has been there several times. she is why we were invited to dance today.

dancing a mixer called "sasha". we pulled people up from the audience.

finding a new partner. my poppy is just to the right of middle.

hand clapping. poppy's in the middle in the black long sleeve shirt.

joshua and my dad.

abey leaving the bouncey.

maaa... and poppy.

watching francis and his brothers preform bavarian dances.

francis and his mom, tina, on the left, as they preform with their group, the chalet dancers. check them out at http://www.planterhouse.com/. we are so lucky to have them in our group too.

getting treats.

shoe slap dance.

getting ready to make the girls fly.

the girls legs are off the ground! weeeee.

so impressed. they were incredible.

levi wanted grampa batt to buy this:)

lity being a boy.

abe tossing bean bags.

espen came too. he was staying the weekend at g'pa and g'ma's house.

he's so social now that he is in preschool!

enjoying our day.

...

the church that hosted the event.

markov brought over some of these bagel/pretzel things that are hanging from a string in this painting to our house long long ago. a russian treat.

this photo, which i'm sure is for joshua, as well as the following photos were all taken by greg markov, whom we invited to come check out the event. unfortunately, joanne and the boys had to leave early because it was a we bit boring for them. it was the first time they put on this festival and you could see all there was to see in about 15 minutes.

the m.c. she was actually pretty funny.

believe it or not, the father was a hoot as well.

getting ready to start the first dance.

in motion.

ditto.

joanne. to the left of middle. is also one of our teachers. she knows hundreds of dances by heart!!! it's mind boggling.

lynn and alice. lynn does a lot of scottish dance and contra dancing as well. he's a very good partner.

karen and bill faust form the tucson folk dance group. they used to perform professionally and are amazing to watch. plus they have crazy legit costumes from all their years of performing! they come up from tucson to teach from time to time.