Playlist, October 2, 2023, Witches' Broom Dance (Germany), Weekly Dancing - Except No Monday Dancing Next Monday, 10/9/23.

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Oct 4, 2023, 11:23:48 AM10/4/23

to International Folk Dance Club of Detroit

Hi, dancers,

On Monday we enjoyed dancing the Witches' Broom Dance, choreographed

by the Witches of Wolfshagen (Wolfshager Hexenbrut), a group of women in the German

town of Wolfshagen im Hartz. This town has a history of Medieval witchcraft and sorcery. and today holds a festival in which this dance is a highlight. The dance is choreographed to "Shake Your Bacon/Shuttel Deinen Speck" by Peter Fox.

Elizabeth taught the dance to our group, and she brought full-size brooms for all of us.

Our group made a brief descriptive list of the figures as done in the excellent tutorial in

the playlist below. 1. Circle the Broom 2. Lift weights 3. Open up+hips

4. Bounce with Broom Lift+hips (Subject to revision.)

Simple steps include tap and step and cha cha cha.

Egyptian Hands are done once for a finale.

2016 Video: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=BjUV-byB8ls

We featured the Witches' Broom Dance in our IFDCD posting on Halloween in 2022, and we included the following background information:

German folklore tells us that on April 30, Walpurgis Night, witches met on Brocken mountain (the highest peak of the Harz mountains) and partied with the Devil. That night, also called May Day's Eve, is widely celebrated throughout Northern and Central Europe. People celebrate with costumes, bonfires, fireworks, folk songs, and dancing.

What began as a pagan festival to welcome spring evolved into a night of fear and witch-burning, but today Walpurgis Nacht is like another Halloween, and it falls exactly six months from our holiday.

"Medieval Germany bore witness to some of the largest and most gruesome witch hunts in history. Walpurgisnacht is even sometimes referred to as the Hexenbrunnen (the burning of the witches) due to its bloody past."

Naina Pottamkulam - From I Am Expat (Updated: 30 April 2022)

There Is Dancing Every Friday and Monday in October - Except Next Monday, October 9th.

PLAYLIST Monday, October 2, 2023

1. Karsi Bar (Armenia)

2. Kostursko Oro (Macedonia)

3. Nestinarsko (Bulgaria)

4. Dragaicuta (Romania)

5. Scottish du Point Sublime (France)

6, Siriul - The slow Theodore Vasilescu version (Romania)

7. Siriul - The fast Iacob Lascu version) (Romania)

8. Ajde Jano (Macedonia)

9. Bi Li Tong (Yi people of China) TAUGHT