The end of year dance in 2021 was a precious and unique experience to me and it ended with style the celebrations of the 30th anniversary of the Folk Dance Group of Canberra. The motto was “Shimmer and Shine” and the participants followed it in an exhilarating manner.
I believe nowhere else in the world achieves such a potent combination of multinational dances, friendship, adventure and personal growth through harmony of movement. I will never forget the many entertaining and illuminating dances that bring joy and visible delight to the dancers which inspires a love of learning more and more. The most thrilling it was for me to hear hard, energetic and rhythmical stepping sounding with such power of joy that it felt that the floor danced with the dancer too.
I am forever grateful for the opportunity to make special connections with both fellow dancers and teachers and members of the teenager/young adults group. The venue at the Maitland Street hall is simply exquisite, boasting abundant natural light and freedom of space.
To the amazement and simultaneous feeling of gratitude of us all, Ann displayed a large number of homemade sumptuous Gingerbread man packets for each of the participants to be gifted with on leaving. The decoration on the packet said “There is a bit of insanity in dancing, that does everybody a great deal of good.”
It certainly did, so a warm thank you and congratulations on the thirty years of folk dancing in Canberra to the resilient, innovative and talented teachers, to the FDC members and regular class members for each one bringing their consolidating gift to the group.
Looking forward to 2022 dancing again.
[Author’s name withheld]