Fool's Festival Dance Weekend 2005

Dear Fool's Fest 05 Dancers and Staff,                            March 15, 2005

After talking over the past few days with several of you and our volunteer staff, I regret to announce that Fool's Fest 05 is cancelled and postponed until next year due to lack of enough dancers.

Please confirm that you received this notice.

We have only 29 signed up at this time, 18 women and 10 men, and this unusual gender imbalance also is a factor. The program did not sell; it's that simple. Why is complex and I hope we will all be discussing this to ensure the Fool's Festivals continue. So we will refund all monies paid or credit toward other STF weekends, one of which is the Richard Powers Zen of Waltz Apr 22-24.

Having seen this slow sign up trend, I have held the checks sent for the last few weeks and will either tear them up or mail back to you as you indicate. I will set up an instant refund on Paypal for those paying in this way.

Your comments and advice are and have been extremely supportive and helpful but I don't feel it fair or wise to wait any longer to notify you.   We considered alternatives but none seemed to work. And I don't want to keep Harriette and the food and house crew waiting since planning has to start about this time.   The deep discounts didn't have much effect and to hope for more registrations would just be wishful thinking on our part. In a way, the decision to cancel reflects our high standards for a social dance space with neither too many nor too few dancers and reflects our belief that min/max limitations are necessary for both artistic and financial reasons.

Our fool's goal is great dancing and partnering and learning in a playful, safe space and in this format hopefully to have funds left over (whether as a benefit or business model) to improve the dance environment, which was to be the kitchen this year. We'll do what we can afford at any rate and all donations are welcome. But money is not the main reason for FF; never was, never will be, and in fact FF from 1996 caused much, much to be spent on the place. And much was built.   By keeping the artistic goal at the head of the list, other things usually fall into place, I've found. But not this year. There'll be others.

I'd rather have our dancers and staff fondly remembering the good times here at FF and anticipating more of them than, with such few people and so many more women than men, going home talking about what a low energy dance weekend it was and lack of partners, etc. We prefer to have last year's comments remembered.   What is that saying?   "Better to be thought a fool than open your mouth and remove all doubt."   Something like that. So better a happy FF remembered than a sad one experienced.   So let's look ahead to next year...and beyond.

Well, that's the news on a rainy day from Split Tree but we will have sunshine tomorrow.

Walk foolishly into the morning toward the edge and hold foolishness in the light.

Love and regards and thanks,
Sid
Tel 706 539 2485

"It's a grand day for dancing,
for dancin' and dancin' and dancing',
So come to the Fool's Fest while ye may,
And dance, dance...all night and all day...."

"...the Fooz Balls Really Rock" -- best comment on music from the 2004 fest;
don't miss their rockin' contra and partner dance music this year!
Take the Fool's Step April 1 - 3, 2005 at the

F o

o l's Fest 20

05
Dance Weekend
"We're fools whether we dance or not, so we may as well dance."
Or, freely translated:
Dancers are fools; lookers-on are fools! If both are fools, why not be dancing fools!
-- link to this Japanese festival (matsuri) and saying
at Split Tree Farm Studio

in the northwest Georgia mountains two hours north of Atlanta near Chattanooga

Dance to the Split Tree Ensemble of musical jesters
the Fooz Balls
just added: zany fiddler/pianist/caller Laurie Fisher
and former head fool Larry Enlow of Atlanta Swamp Opera, &
Bill Porter, Mike Robinson, Brian Baker, Dave Kehres, Brian Donahue,
Dan Bowles, Tomas Valenti, Alan Dynin, Harriette Bugel
& other motley guest musicians and performers

& the Fool's School fallible faculty & callers
Laurie Fisher, Gadiel Robbins,
Magdalena Zigova and Andrew Martin,
Bonnie Mitchell and Jim Bird, Vicki Herndon,
Greg Engleman, & more

& the flappable motley kitchen crew
Head Food Fool -- Harriette Bugel & Company

We welcome Heike Leilani as our registrar for FF05.
We thank Seth Tepfer for his wild, imaginative, energetic contra calling
as Head Fool the past several years; he set a high bar.
This year our head fools are each of you who make the leap into foolish dancing.
Next year, 2006, Ron Buchanan of Pittsburg returns with our more traditional program;
he was Head Fool at the first Split Tree years of '96 and '97.

Fool's Fest is a wild and crazy happening to mostly live and some recorded music of waltz, swing, contras, some Cajun/Zydeco, tango, Latin, blues, contact improv and other foolishness. Expect serious and not-so-serious dancing all weekend. This being a festival of fools, beginners are needed to offset the habits of experienced dancers. It was started in 1990 at a nearby dance hall by Sid Hetzler with other Atlanta dancers, moved in 1996 to Split Tree's new studio (which it made possible to complete), and since then has been a unique happening sustained by the dancers and volunteer musicians, teachers, callers, cooks and other staff. Sid had the idea and, backed by Anne Whitley and Susan Davis, chaired the CCD committee for what became his first dance weekend to organize with talented Atlanta volunteers. Manuel Patino was head fool from 1992-95, when he and CCD gave it up. Sid picked it up again and moved it from nearby Hidden Hollow camp to Split Tree, which had to be upgraded for the event.

See NY Times Travel Section Sunday, Mar. 24 article on Split Tree's Fool's Fest Dance Weekend 2003

Friday:        Gathering of the Foolish        Link to Harriette's Fool's Fest menu (not completed)

12- 8 pm   Come early and help get the place ready; or the night before
6-8             Potluck food or Harriet's special soup, $3 for cook's fund
6-8             Registration and settling in
6-7             Beginner's Class: Revelation of the long lost Fool's Secret to Partner Dancing
                    (tutors for beginners will be available; beginners are welcomed and needed to offset the habits of experienced dancers)
7-8             Sound setup and checks; partner stretching and warm-up
8-10           Fully Foolish Contras with the fabulous Fool's Fest Ensemble led by Bill Porter and his Atlanta Crosstown Traffic band; guest callers
10-12        Cirque de Club Mufarse: blues, swing, waltz, tango into the late night, live and recorded (see description below)

Saturday: The Fool's Way School of Traditional Dance:
                                                    2nd Ed./Foolin' with Close Embrace Dances & Improvisation
Dances:   blues, social tango, Zydeco waltz, Balboa swing, salsa, waltz, contact improvisation
Caution:   Most dance classes below explore variations on the close style, or close embrace, mode of dancing in various styles; partner contact is not required but is recommended; workshops for adults only or minimum age 18 or if under 18 with written parental permission.   Making a fool of one's self is encouraged and expected but as always each dancer sets personal boundaries of space and style. This is "fool's edge" dancing and personal preferences are respected by all dancers.
                  The true voyage of discovery consists not in seeking new lands but in seeing with new eyes". -- Marcel Proust.

8-9                Breakfast buffet
9--Morning     Contact improvisation partner warm-up w/Gadiel Robbins (tights or exercise clothing needed)
     Session    The Tao of Blues Dancing w/Jim and Bonnie
                        Having fun with Social Argentine tango w/Magdalena Zigova and partner, Andrew Martin
                        Really laid back Balboa swing with Greg Engleman and partner

12-1                Buffet Lunch

1:30--Afternoon
                        Romance of the English County Dance, Bill Porter and George Snyder, prompters
                        The Zen of Zydeco waltzing with Jim and Bonnie
                        Fusion contact improv & couple dance improvisations with Gadiel (tights or exercise clothing needed)
                        Out Of Body Moments: Bringing it all together by blending music, moment, mood, bodies, space, time,
                              rhythm--with improvisational music by Alan Dynin
                       Caution: Expect this new edition of the Fool's School movement/music fusion experiment to flow and evolve
                        and connect dancers and floor and music and mood.   Beginner's mind essential. Dress for free style movement.
5                      Chill down and guided meditation by Gadiel

Saturday Night: Fool's Feast & Ball
6-7:30              Feast of Fools, chef Harriette Bugel with Don Bayliss & Company

Fully Un-Formal Fool's Ball (expect deviations and divergences in the program)

8-11+            Wild and Wacky Fool's Ball-- Laurie Fisher and Larry Enlow and the Fooz Balls & friends
                       --a combustible mixture of foolish couples dances from the Sat. Fool's School -- (in truth, your own juxtaposition)
                       (you ask about Fool's Ball attire? how about funky double retro 21st century? colorful, man, colorful!)
                        with Fool's Fest Ensemble and special recorded selections picked by Fool's School fallible faculty
Midnight+      Midnight contras--Laurie Fisher, caller, with Larry Enlow and Bill Porter's eclectic Fooz Balls

Sunday:

Yoga, Singing, Waltz, Contras, Serious Porching

8:30-10        Breakfast buffet (late risers and non-breakfast types go directly to contact jam warm-up)
9:00-10       Partner warm-up contact jam with Gadiel (beginner's mind prerequisite; exercise clothing recommended)
10-11           Gospel Sing and Swing
11-12           Sweet Waltzing 'round the piano to the Motley Fool Ensemble
12-1              Lunch Buffet
1-3              Farewell Contras and Waltzes, Vicki Herndon, caller, with Bill Porter's infamous Split Tree Wall of Sound Ensemble
3 ....            And/or -- Informal dancing, final hugs & serious Porching, rest before driving home
5                    Dutch treat dinner at Canyon Grill on Lookout Mtn; superb cuisine but expensive; reasonable veggies

Split Tree Farm is located 20 miles south of Chattanooga, TN and 100 miles NW of Atlanta in the NW Georgia mountains. Click on map page.

Cost: weekend adult tuition: $75; all talent is donated and all proceeds go to pay for studio improvements, bathhouse fund and repairs. Includes dancing, all live music, calling, instruction, farm, lodging. [Note that the Saturday workshops are limited to dancers 18 and over or with parental permission but children are welcome as always at Fool's Fest. There is no child care unless parents create a kid co-op in one of the cabins/grounds.] Children over 12 pay $20 for the weekend--see food cost below) for weekend; all children must be supervised.

Weekend Food: $25 (optional), includes five tasty vegetarian meals Sat & Sun. Children over 12 pay $10 for food. You may bring your own food and please indicate this when registering. Surplus food funds go toward the general studio improvement fund. For those with special diets, either cabin is available for cooking if advance arrangements are made.

Single dance/meal/lodging tickets: if available: $15/evenings; $10/half days; food optional but registration needed by 4/1/02 if meals desired; single meals $5 each with advance notice or potluck without notice. Friday night menu is buffet soup and salad served from 6 - 9 pm.

Lodging: Included in weekend tuition cost. Split Tree has about 35 house and cabin beds (all now reserved or for FF artists/staff) and house/cabin floor space but has ample studio floor space and also tent shelter in a large barn next to the studio. Lodging included on space available basis for this Fool's Fest weekend. But, have an adventure; for more privacy you can camp on 200 acres of woods and pasture in the NW Georgia mountains, which most seasoned dancers enjoy and even reserve their favorite spots. Bring usual camping supplies: bedding, towels, soap, flashlight, rain gear, etc. RVs are welcome but only a few electrical outlets are available; OR--
Off-campus housing info: http://www.splittree.org/housing.htm. The Key West Inn near LaFayette (10 miles, special STF price of $45/night/couple) and Hidden Hollow Inn (4 miles; make early reservation) are recommended. A Day's Inn is next to the Key West Inn on Hwy. 27 a few miles north of LaFayette.

General Considerations: WEEKEND REGISTRATION LIMITS: Maximum paid, 80; minimum required by March 15, 40. Weekend pre-registration is required but last-minute dancers may call just before or during the weekend to learn if space is available.   The last two years have been sold out so register early to save a space.

      Paired (buddy) registration is very, very strongly encouraged -- but not required -- for gender balance, but register anyway, with or without a partner. Open registration means there may be, although not necessarily and not historically, more women than men and therefore, women, please recruit some of those "must dance with" or "shy but intriguing" guys to even things up. Fair warning dancers: If a serious gender imbalance develops, then we will not register singles of either gender until a closer balance is gained; this will be announced on the registration page and web flyer and on registration confirmations.   So...please avoid this step and sign up as a gender pair just for the dancing.

     General Considerations: Dancers are all asked to help preserve our beautiful hard wood floor by wearing clean non-street, non-marking, soft-sole shoes; bowling shoes are great and low-cost. Children must be supervised at all times; no underage foolishness allowed for the safety of all concerned. No pets or alcohol are allowed. Avoid strong perfumes/fragrances. We believe social dance may reduce or even stop nicotine addiction over time, and so smoking is allowed for humanitarian reasons for the addicted but only away from all non-smokers and buildings--no ifs, ands...or butts.

Your tuition and food ticket cost includes all music, instruction, food and sleeping space in the house (if available), studio, floor, barn or pasture tenting.

Music is the heart of the Fool's Fest and our Steinway grand piano symbolizes our belief in the power of the music and those who bring this energy to us. Once again, we are honored by musicians, callers, performers, artists, teachers who contribute their talents for this now traditional avant-garde, or the reverse, weekend. Fool's Fest includes a variety of dance genres that have changed each year from FF's original 1990 all-night dawn dance, initiated by Sid Hetzler and sponsored by the Atlanta Chattahoochee Contra Dancers' (see history link below) near Split Tree studio. As FF has evolved, the current program includes traditional contra with surprises, swing/Lindy, salsa, unstrictly ballroom, live or recorded Cajun/Zydeco, waltz, contact improvisation, and other styles. Expect unexpected musical and dance combinations in our various Split Tree ensembles and also special performances.

Early Bird Discounts

For those on a tight budget, here is a
Fool's Discount
$25 off Early bird tuition discount by midnight, Monday, March 14; pay $50+$25 food.
$35 off - full time student tuition discount by midnight, Monday, March 14; pay $40+$25 food.

We hope you can pay the full payment if you can afford it for the great dancing, food and studio benefit.
And we can offer individual work weekends trade outs for our long overdue kitchen renovation.
Extra Donations for Split Tree are greatly appreciated.

This is a benefit for Split Tree!
$75+$25/food, is gratefully appreciated and needed for the studio.
Do not let lack of money stop you; we can offer individual work weekends trade outs for our long overdue kitchen renovation; other projects.

Paste/complete and email registration form below to our registrar Heike at registrationff05 [@] splittree.org or mail the completed form below w/check to: 597 W. Cove Road, Chickamauga, GA 30707. Please make check payable to Split Tree Farm/FF05. Fool's Fest 2005 PDF Print Flyer (Link to Fool's Fest menu when completed)

You may pay electronically at the Fool's Fest link on the Split Tree Web Store or, click just below on this same Paypal link>>>>

Date:________________ Name/s: ____________________________________________________
__________________________________________________________(age if under 12)

Payment method: ____check ____ Paypal _______ cash at door _________ other (pigs, chickens)_______

If on scholarship, what are hours you have scheduled? _____________________________________

Phone: ______________________ Paired with___________________________________________

How did you hear about Fool's Fest?_________________________________________________________________

We will send an email confirming your registration or will call with confirmation. Or, you can call 706/539-2485 and register by phone if there is no other choice.

[Show early bird discounts and date registered; mailed registration must be postmarked by early bird dates].
Adults Tuition: #_______ [@] $75 each   =    $______ (includes lodging, beds limited)
Adults Food: #_________ [@] $25 each =     $_______ (includes six meals)
Child Tuition: #_______ [@] $20 each    =    $_______ (under 12 years)
Child Meals:    #_______ [@] $10/person    =    $_______ (6 wknd meals) (over 12 years--optional)

Note: Children must be supervised at all times and we do not have child-care at this time. We welcome children yet we ask parents to use good judgment in allowing children to dance in contra lines. If requested, we can set aside one or two contras for beginners and families if enough experienced dancers will assist.

Total $ Enclosed ___________ Number adults_______ #children _______ Payment method ____________________
To make a tax-deductible donation for the studio improvements fund, call Sid at 706.539.2485.

Single dance tickets are available if not sold out: $15/evenings; $10/half days; food optional but registration needed by 3/29/02 if meals desired; single meals $5 each with advance notice or potluck without notice.

Lodging plans (indicate # beside each choice):
_____ Barn space (a mattress of soft hay from the farm)
_____ Pasture tenting (max privacy)
_____ Motel/BnB, Click for nearby lodgings
_____ House (limited beds, double and twin)
_____ Studio/house floor space (ample room for sleeping bag/air mattress in large heated/air conditioned studio)
_____ Other?______________

We welcome any method of registration but checks must be received within 7 days for registration to be confirmed. No refunds after 3/29/05 (tuition credit only after confirmation, except for medical emergencies).

FLIGHT INFO: Nearest public airport is Chattanooga (45 minutes); Atlanta, Birmingham, Nashville, Knoxville airports are about 2-3 hours and usually some rides can be found with the help of dancers in nearby cities.

So, said Sid the Fool to artists and dancers,
"What do we mean by a Fool's Festival Dance Weekend?"
"What makes the FF special and different from regular traditional dance weekends?"
Hint: "Juxtaposition"– unexpected things placed close together, e.g, a Fool’s Festival
(from the Split Tree Dance Encyclopedia)
Second hint: Study the Fool's Tarot card link below

Third Hint: see www.burningman.com (world's weirdest participatory arts festival)
Send your answers to: foolishquestion {@} splittree.org

Split Tree is supported by the dancers dancing, in part by Southern Pitch, Inc. and by other generous supporters of the moving and participatory arts.

Split Tree announcements are made by email only to those who are interested and anyone receiving emails who does not want them should notify: remove [@] splittree.org with the word REMOVE in the subject line.

Upcoming Split Tree Dance Programs: Richard Powers' Zen of Waltz weekend, Apr 22-24, flyer link

Fool's Fest is a production of the Split Tree School of Participatory Arts
Split Tree is a member of the Country Dance and Song Society
Contact: sid (at) splittree.org

Split Tree Farm
597 West Cove Road
Chickamauga, GA 30707
Tel: 706.539.2485
Fax: 770/216-1596

Excerpts from Pema Chodron via Seth Tepfer: Those who train wholeheartedly in awakening bodhichitta are called bodhisattvas or warriors --not warriors who kill but warriors of nonaggression who hear the cries of the world. Warrior-bodhisattvas enter challenging situations in order to alleviate suffering. They are willing to cut through personal reactivity and self-deception. They are dedicated to uncovering the basic, undistorted energy of bodhichitta. A warrior [FOOL?] accepts that we can never know what will happen to us next. We can try to control the uncontrollable by looking for security and predictability, always hoping to be comfortable and safe. But the truth is that we can never avoid uncertainty. This non-knowing is part of the adventure. It's also what makes us afraid.