BY HILLARY VIDERS
SPECIAL TO NORTHERN VALLEY PRESS
TENAFLY, N.J. —— Line dancing is a regular activity for the Palisades Folk Dancers, a group of spirited seniors who meet at the Church of the Atonement in Tenafly twice a month to trip the light fantastic.
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And what a trip it is! Under the leadership of the group’s president, Ginny Brandmaier, members of the Palisades Folk Dancers, who range in age from 65-97, enjoy dancing to folk music from many countries: Greece, Turkey, Bulgaria, Romania, Holland, Brittany, Israel and more. The repertoire often includes international favorites such as “Never on a Sunday” from Greece, and the “Misirlou” from the Eastern Mediterranean. Many of the dances are named after towns in the country where they originated, such as Sandansk, from Sandanski in Bulgaria.
This United Nations of dance was started in 1980 by two Australian scientists, a husband and wife who worked at the Lamont-Doherty Earth Observatory lab in Palisade, New York. They had made several trips to Romania and learned dances from folkdance teachers there. To keep dancing at home, they started a group at a small church in Palisades near the observatory. The group had no official connection to Columbia, but most of the original group worked there. Word spread and outsiders joined the group. Meetings were held on Saturday nights and the two Australians taught the dances they knew to recorded tapes of music. This continued for many years until after a party with a loud Balkan brass band, the church decided Palisades Folk Dancers should find a new home.
But the group loved the dancing and wanted to continue. They persuaded two of the best dancers to continue teaching. After several moves, they found a home at the Church of the Atonement in Tenafly and have been there now for more than 20 years and have had many different teachers.
Many members of the Palisades Folk Dancers went on dance trips to Eastern European countries when they were still behind the Iron Curtain. Teachers were not permitted to leave their countries to come to the United States to teach, so they learned dances and brought them home. Now many foreign teachers tour the United States, and come to groups and dance camps to teach. Other teachers and musicians have immigrated here. So today much Balkan, Eastern European, Israeli, and other countries’ culture, music and dances are available.
Many people in the current group are original and longtime members, such as 97-year-old Eleanor Lippman. “This group is like family to me,” she said recently.
Partners are not necessary, as all the dances are done in line format, and different people take the lead position in each dance. There many seasoned dancers as well as novices, yet they all manage to wind, twirl and kick in unison. The more accomplished dancers are always willing to help their less experienced peers and many friendships have resulted from these helping hands.
The music is pre-recorded on Brandmaier’s computer and reverberates throughout the community center room continuously from 3-5:30 p.m., and most of the group is up and dancing the entire time.
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Refreshments are set out at every dance meeting (for a suggested $10 donation) by Lucy Lu and Reng Rong. “I love this group!” said Lu. “It not just the dancing. People all become friends, and I love the way that they help each other learn the dances. There is so much spirit!”
Several times a year, the group hosts special events with internationally known dance troupes, and on New Year’s Eve, there is a gala celebration.
The Palisades Folk Dancers group, which is comprised of over 60 men and women, including a 10 member board, come from many towns throughout Bergen County, and for special occasions, they travel from Rockland County as well. Dance enthusiast Judy Katz comes to the Church of the Atonement from Teaneck and Brandmaier comes from Harrington Park.
Dancing not only has social benefits, but it is also good exercise for both the body and the mind. A 2003 study in the New England Journal of Medicine by researchers at the Albert Einstein College of Medicine discovered that dance can decidedly improve brain health. The study investigated the effect leisure activities had on the risk of dementia in the elderly. The researchers looked at the effects of 11 different types of physical activity, including cycling, golf, swimming and tennis, but found that only one of the activities studied—dance—lowered participants’ risk of dementia. According to the researchers, dancing involves both a mental effort and social interaction and that this type of stimulation helped reduce the risk of dementia.
The Palisades Folk Dancers are an excellent example of this study’s conclusion. At a recent get-together at the Church of Atonement on Dec. 17, several dozen dancing friends all appeared hearty, healthy and in high spirits.