January 2009 -- Dance

This season starts off well, with 30 participants in the Gazteak Dance Group. Out of the 30, 12 are participating in Basque Dance for the first time. We have 12 boys and 18 girls. Thank you to Erik Kvarna and Lisa Camou who came and helped during the first few weeks.

Roll call, 1/24. Notice they can't wait to start playing pilota!

During the first few practices we focus on the dances from Benafaroa and Nafaroa. We start with the basics -- learning 1-2-3s with Bolant Dantza. Doing the dance to muscial chairs not only keeps the children interested, but reinforces which foot the child should be on, and which direction to turn.






As usual, the children have homework: 5 minutes of entrechats (double clicking) a day.

Once the 1-2-3s have been mastered, we move into the irri dantzak from Baztan with Yontzu Dantza. It is the girls vs. the boys to see who moves best.

Julia v. Jack ... I wouldn't want to take bets on who wins!