Last May 4th, the Alberta Chapter in conjunction with the steering committee for Vision 2020 hosted a Family Dance in support of raising funds for the next Carl Orff Canada conference happening in Edmonton in April 2020.
One of the greatest challenges in mounting a National Conference is having enough start-up funds. Therefore, the group decided to put on a community event to help raise some of the money that can help pay for those things that come up before the fall and people begin registering for the conference allowing for more available funds. This Family Dance was planned based on the success of last year's dance that was put on in conjunction with a daytime workshop. This time, with no workshop, the dance was a stand alone event.
Nicole Schutz and Courtney Richard did an excellent job of planning and running the show. I (Andy Funke) was in charge of the music and organizing the dance leaders. The band - consisting of Hazel Davis, Rosey Kulba, Kat Hammer, and myself provided the musical accompaniment. Kim Friesen-Wiens, Courtney Richard, Nicole Schutz, and Laurel Nikolai lead the group through a number of dances. I even took a turn myself teaching a dance I made up to go along with "Cantina Band" to mark the Star Wars implication of the date: May the 4th.
In addition to dancing, participants had the opportunity to play with Star Wars themed pool-noodles altered to look like light-sabres. Snacks and beverages were available for sale and many had a lot of fun with the party-like atmosphere. Kids had a blast playing their Star Wars light-sabre sparring games and playing outside. The adults had fun catching up with music teacher friends and family.
The Orffly Good Band played both last year's and this year's dance. While Hazel Davis played with us this year, Melanie Doderai is the official lead fiddle player for The Orffly Good Band. Melanie is also the lead fiddle on the newly minted Orffly Good Band music download available for purchase below. On it you will find 12 tracks in MP3 format that can be enjoyed at any time. They can even be used for dancing to in the classroom! The proceeds of sales of the recording go towards supporting Vision 2020.
Orffly Good Band - Folk Dance Recordings
Local music teachers collaborated to record folk songs that can be used for teaching folk dance in the classroom. Proceeds will go towards Music For Children Carl Orff Canada.
Melanie Doderai - Violin
Andy Funke - Guitar/ukulele/glockenspiel
Kat Hammer - Guitar/mandolin
Rosaleen Kulba - Bass
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