Dance, Dance, Dance!

When I arrived in Romania back in September, one of the first things I did was to sign up for some dance classes at a local dance studio Prodance 2000.  I joined a beginner course where we learnt Sala, Bachata, Waltz, Cha Cha and Jive, as well as some Romanian traditional dances.  9 months and 4 dance partners later, I am now in the advanced class, learning more styles of dance, and really enjoying it.  For Women’s Day on the 8^th March, Prodance held a party, where the men learnt a special dance, and performed it for the women.  Afterwards we had a big party, with everyone dancing and having a lot of fun.  The atmosphere at a party full of people who enjoy dancing is really something, and it reminded me of the Ceilidhs I had been to in Scotland.  This got me thinking;  I had really loved learning all these new styles of dances, but there is something special about a Ceilidh, these wonderful evenings where everyone comes together to dance and enjoy the night.  With the encouragement and support of Annika, we decided to put our cultures together, and create the ‘Multicultural May Dance.’

We wanted to create an evening where everyone could come together, and enjoy learning and dancing the traditional dances from Scotland and Germany, as well as all the styles of dance which are normally taught at Prodance, and the Romanian dances which everyone knows well.  We presented our idea to Lorand, the owner of Prodance 2000, and were thrilled when he said he was happy to come on board.  He also suggested giving some dance classes before the night, so that some people would already be familiar with the dances.  This was not something that we had considered, but was actually a very good idea.  So with everyone motivated, we began preparing for the big night.  We made posters and flyers, and spread them about town.  I brushed up on my Ceilidh dancing, and Annika learnt a German dance.  We enlisted the help of Mathias and Baptiste as our dance partners, and in the week before, we ran 4 dance classes, both for regular Prodance students, and for the general public.  The lessons all went really well, and as the big night approached, excitement levels were rising.

Finally, on the 20^th May, is was Multicultural May Dance time.  We scrubbed up, but on our post frocks, and headed off to the Prodance studio.  From 8pm people began arriving, and by 8.30pm the cocktail bar was stocked, I had a headset microphone strapped to my arm and we were ready to go.  Suddenly, as I began calling people to the floor for the first dance, I was quite nervous.  I had never actually led a Ceilidh before.  What if I messed up the counting? What if no one understood the dances? What if no one even got up to dance? Would Lorand be happy with how the evening went?  Of course I needn’t have worried.  Slowly the dance floor filled, and after a quick demonstration, we first dance was away.  Although some people struggled a little bit at the beginning of the dance, by the end of the music everyone was more or less getting the steps right.  With the success of the first dance, the atmosphere was set, and the night took off.  Everyone was dancing, laughing, and enjoying themselves.  We danced six Scottish Ceilidh dances, and one longer and more complicated German dance.  All the dances went really well, and although it was a little stressful to be calling the dances (I was very happy when Annika took the microphone for the German dances) it was wonderful to see how much everyone was enjoying the dancing.

When I finally handed back the microphone somewhere close to 11pm, I felt a mixture of relief, and euphoria.  The night had been a massive success.  We wanted to create an evening where we could share our traditional dances, and where everyone could have fun and enjoy themselves, and we definitely achieved this.   Dance makes up a big part of the culture of a country, and in this small way, we gave the people here in Baia Mare an insight into our cultures.  It was wonderfully rewarding to give something of myself, and my culture back to Prodance, and the wonderful people at Prodance who have taught me so much since I arrived in September.  Through this evening, we shared with them something which we love about our countries, in return for everything they have shared with us about Romania. It was one of the highlights of my time in Romania, to see everyone who came, and how much they enjoyed the evening.