The Pasadena Folk Dance Co-op is a non-profit cooperative group where we share the work and fun involved in folk dancing. We have an elected board of directors consisting of: President, Vice President, Treasurer, Secretary, Representative to the Folk Dance Federation of California South (Federation Rep), Member at large in charge of MCs, and Member at large in charge of publicity. We hold yearly elections for board members every June. Members also share various tasks related to our Friday night gatherings or special events.
There are some tasks that we share on a rotating basis. These include:
Providing Refreshments
Refreshments do not have to be as spectacular as those pictured above.
If you would like to provide refreshments please sign up on the clipboard located on the refreshment table.
Usually two people sign up for each date in order to halve the cost and effort of bringing food. They usually communicate with one another by phone in order to coordinate who brings what. There are no hard rules, but we usually have: chips, some vegies, dip, fruit, and something sweet (usually one item is chocolate). Some people provide more elaborate fare than do others, so it’s different each week.
Refreshments are potluck on the fourth Friday of every month, as well as the fifth Friday if there is one. Our Refreshment Coordinator is Sylvia Strachura.
Being the MC
Roxanna Martell is our MC Coordinator. She also trains people to be MCs. Before you sign up to be an MC for the first time, you should contact her. Also read carefully the MC checklist shown below.
Contact Roxanna at RoxannaMartell(at)Hotmail(dot)com for all things related to MC duties.
Pasadena Folk Dance Co-op MC Checklist
The Week Before: Obtain the key for the sound cabinet and storage cabinet from the previous Friday’s MC
The Night Of: Remember to hand over the key to the next MC.
Arrive at the Church by 7:15 PM
NOTES
NOTE 1: INSTRUCTIONS FOR SAVING THE PLAY LIST
Right Click on the top margin of the Windows Media Player window
Select “File”
Select “Save As”
Name the play list: month-day-year (Example: 7-3-15 )
Click on “Save”
NOTE 2: INSTRUCTIONS FOR RESAVING THE PLAY LIST
Right Click on the top margin of the Windows Media Player window
Select “File”
Select “Save”
NOTE 3: INSTRUCTIONS FOR EDITING THE PLAY LIST
Drag-and-Drop Dances (or Request place holders) from the Dance Folder onto the Windows Media Player play list panel to add dances to the play list. You can do this while another dance is playing if you take special care:
– Use the USB mouse NOT THE TOUCHPAD
– Make sure that the mouse has enough open real estate to move without running into the laptop or running off the table.
– Be clear on where you are dragging from and where you are dropping to.
– Grasp the mouse and press the left mouse button firmly and don’t release it until you’ve reached your target
Re-order play list entries by dragging and dropping.
Remove an entry from the Windows Media Player play list by right clicking on the entry and selecting “Remove from Play List”.
NOTE 4: INSTRUCTIONS FOR STARTING AND STOPPING A SONG
Select the song by clicking on it in the play list. The song that will be played will appear in the left panel of the Media Player window. Click on the (Triangle) icon to start the song. Stop songs with the (square) stop icon
NOTE 5: GUIDANCE FOR SELECTING REQUESTED DANCES AND ADDING THEM TO THE PROGRAM
Do your best to see that everyone can participate and have a good time:
(The printed program is not sacred. You can adjust it to meet the needs of the group.)
Try to serve everyone and not to allow any one person to monopolize the dance requests.
Mix it up:
– Insert easy dances that anyone can do among more difficult dances so that everyone can participate throughout the evening.
– Insert more difficult dances among the easy dances so that longer term members can enjoy themselves
– Follow fast dances with slow dances so that people can catch their breath.
– Follow slow dances with fast dances so that people can get their pulse going again.
– Avoid following set dances with set dances
– Avoid playing too many dances of any one type or ethnicity in a row.
Reach out to new people who have previous folk dance experience or who have particular ethnic backgrounds and see if you can add a dance early in the program that might interest them.