About FAC

What is FAC

FAC leadership

Services

Publications

FAC bylaws

Home

Publications

FolkNews sampler

Volume XXVI, Number 3 • September 2005

Thoughts on FAC’s Thirtieth Anniversary: Then and Now

When Conny and Marianne Taylor founded the Folk Arts Center of New England in 1975 as a nonprofit educational organization, their goals included promoting interest and participation in the traditional dance, music, crafts, and related folk arts of many cultures. 
Today’s Folk Arts Center continues this mission with the help of many dedicated people, and with many changes reflecting the growth of the organization as well as the economic, technological, and demographic conditions of the past thirty years.

In 1975, Marianne and Conny initiated and ran all FAC events, often with help from friends and family. 
Today, our regular and special events are coordinated by volunteers, who are assisted by countless other volunteers. FAC’s Program Director, Jo Crawford, and the Program Committee plan and review our events, and our Board of Directors works out overall budgets and policies. Our Executive Director Marcie Van Cleave’s many duties include running the daily clerical, referral, and financial operations of the FAC office, preparing cost accounting for events, keeping government-required nonprofit records, and networking with state, business, and donor contacts.

In the early 1980s, FAC’s annual budget was around $40,000. 
Today it is over $230,000.

In 1975, admission to FAC dances for members was $2, and hall rentals cost $15-20. 
Today, member admission is $5 for weekly dances and $7 for monthly parties, and hall rentals for these series range from $65 to $150.

In 1975, the Taylors ran the organization from their home on Fottler Avenue in Lexington, with some additional space at the Harvard Square, Cambridge, office of architect and Board member Bob Hamilton. FAC opened its own office in Central Square, Cambridge, in late 1981, where the Country Dance Society-Boston Centre and the New England Folk Festival Association joined us in the summer of 1984. We moved the office to the basement of the Masonic Temple in Porter Square, Cambridge, in March 1987, then to our current location in Melrose in September 2000, still sharing space with CDS-Boston Centre and NEFFA. In addition, at times over the years the Royal Scottish Country Dance Society, Boston Branch has used FAC's office as their phone contact or mailing address.

In 1975, an international folk dance weekend at Pinewoods Camp was still a dream for Conny and Marianne. 
Today, we have wonderful memories of the recent 29th annual FAC Pinewoods weekend and the 20th FolkDays, and we’re already planning FAC Pinewoods 2006.

In 1975, the Taylors’ retail record shop, stored at their house, sold mostly 33 1/3 and 45 rpm records. 
FAC bought their inventory in 1984 and called it “The Little Shop of Horas.” Over the years, books and cassette tapes were added, then CDs.

In 1975, most of our dancing was done to 33 1/3 and 45 rpm records. In the early 1990s we converted to cassette tapes. 
Today we enjoy our recorded dance music in digitized form on CDs and, for Thursday dancing, installed in iTunes on an Apple laptop. Best of all, great live music at our dances continues to grow in terms of numbers participating and frequency of scheduling. In addition to new dance bands, several new Balkan choral groups have joined the local dance scene. FAC’s International Music Club, founded by Barbara Pixton in 1994, teaches both novice and experienced instrumentalists and singers to provide music for dancing.

In 1975, most of FAC’s publicity was done by printed fliers.
Today, in addition to fliers and newspaper listings, our events are publicized by email and on our Web site at www.facone.org. Our Web site went on line in 1996 thanks to Meyer, Laura, and Matt Billmers, along with the “Folk Dancing ’Round Boston” calendar Web pages thanks to Dick Forsyth, with prototype pages and assistance from Peter Olszowka.

The first issue of FolkNews in April 1980 contained on Page 3 our three-month calendar of all local folk dance events, “Folk Dancing ’Round Boston.” Nineteen events were listed, in addition to our two weekly dances and monthly parties described on another page.
Today our printed “Folk Dancing ’Round Boston” calendar typically lists a dozen or so special events and around forty regularly scheduled events for all the area folk dance groups for each two-month period.

In 1975, the Boston area recreational folk dance community had groups regularly doing international, Scottish, English, Balkan, Israeli, and New England contra and square dancing. In the years since, we have seen the growth of groups specializing in Scandinavian, Hungarian, vintage ballroom, swing, tango, waltz, Cajun and Zydeco dancing.

In 1975, “Baby Boomer” twenty-somethings swelled the numbers at FAC dances. 
Today, the children of Baby Boomers enjoy contra, rapper, swing, and salsa dancing as well as international folk dancing.

In 1975, very few FAC dancers had visited the Balkans; Martha Forsyth, our first tour leader, made her first trip to Bulgaria in 1976. 
Today, dozens of local dancers have been to the Koprivshtitsa festival in Bulgaria and to other folk culture attractions all over Europe.

The above comparisons are just a sampling from the multifaceted history of the Folk Arts Center’s first thirty years. The most wonderful thing to note on this anniversary is that FAC is still alive and well, thanks to all our caring, volunteering, dancing, playing, contributing members and friends.

Articles are copyrighted by the Folk Arts Center, and may not be reproduced without permission of FAC.