Monday, January 23, 2012

English country dancing, Indiana style

We were privileged to be part of a dancing party on Saturday in Indiana, featuring English country dancing called by Jonathan Sivier.  Mr. Sivier led us through a variety of dances, helping even the most clueless among us to be part of the beautiful rhythm and symmetry of well-composed country dancing.  I think a good caller can transform even average dancers into a coordinated company, and Mr. Sivier did not disappoint us.

Hosted by the Franks family, many of the families of Hope in Christ Church attended, including The Smiling Sisters, the ladies of Noble Rose Press, and dozens of others whose websites I haven't yet found.  Kathryn and Tara convinced their parents to make the trek, so we weren't the only non-Hoosiers in attendance.  We even got to spend more time with Sean Kelley and his two oldest daughters.  In case you don't remember Sean, we met his family in Colonial Williamsburg back in 2009, so our conversations already had a head start.  We didn't take our camera to the dance, so we don't have any original photos to document the evening, but a photographer from the Knightstown Banner was very busy shooting and taking names. (We'll let you know if we see his photos online in the future).

In addition to the enjoyable dancing, and delightful company, I found the venue memorable.

In case you don't recognize it, we danced in the Knightstown Gymnasium, now known as "Hoosier Gym" due to its prominent part in the movie "Hoosiers."  Thanks to moviescreenshots.blogspot.com for the image above that was taken from the movie.  The gym still looks almost identical to its appearance in the movie, and added a charmingly vintage atmosphere to our wonderful day.  Our family owes a debt of gratitude to the Franks family for organizing a day we won't soon forget!

6 comments:

  1. Kurt,
    It is so fun to find your blog. As Becca was googling "Knightstown Banner English Country Dance", you were the first that came up! And we were just delighted to read it!

    It makes our hearts glad that it was such an enjoyable time for your family. Give your dear ones greetings from all of us!

    Jackie Franks
    www.DeepRootsatHome.com

    ReplyDelete
  2. Jackie, thanks again to all of your family for organizing everything. We all had a great time!

    ReplyDelete
  3. I have just now got over the shock of finding a non-bathroom-remodel related post on this blog. (All right, sunsets count as non-bathroom posts too, but... yeah).

    That was a very fun dance, and it was doubly fun because you all were there! I'm so glad it worked out for us to make it. I didn't think it would!
    Dad made us watch Hoosiers last night. :-) It was pretty good but I was seriously disappointed in the costuming. *sigh*

    ReplyDelete
  4. Kathryn, I think Hoosiers counts best as a guy movie, so the costume budget is kind of an afterthought. If it were a girl movie, costumes would be more important than the plot!

    ReplyDelete
  5. Kurt & Family, so happy to hear that you were all dancing! :) RE: clotted cream, I do not have the recipe posted but I use the simple version with cream, sour cream & a bit of confectioner sugar. My warmest regards to your beautiful women!

    ReplyDelete
  6. I hope you haven't danced away from blogging. Missing your posts. Hope your precious family is well.

    Victoria

    ReplyDelete