Michigan Dance Heritage

Michigan
Dance
Heritage

Promotes participation in traditional dance, music, and song featuring Michigan's heritage.
Grew out of a collaboration of music, song, and dance leaders from across the state of Michigan who first met in 1987 to provide a rich educational base in these traditional arts.
Affiliated with the national Country Dance and Song Society.

You may know Michigan Dance Heritage from its two dance camps.

Trillium Twirl is held each spring at the Battle Creek Outdoor Education Center in Dowling on the shores of Clear Lake.

MDH Fall Camp is held in mid-September on the shores of Lake Huron at Camp Cavell in Lexington.

Intergenerational jamming at the Trillium Twirl.

The main dance hall overlooks Lake Huron.

Each season, these camps attract over 160 dancers as national and local callers and musicians provide programs, workshops, and interactions for both newcomers and experienced participants. These dance weekends (Friday evening through Sunday afternoon) are complete with meals, lodging, workshops, concerts, and evening dance programs.

Michigan Dance Heritage offers resources in support of music, song, and dance.

MDH Outreach Grants provide support for traditional dance, music, and song activities. Our current theme is to encourage and enable intergenerational and college campus activities. If you are planning an event in your community, fill out the MDH Outreach Application and follow the instructions on the form.
The Les Raber Memorial Fund provides funds for musicians and dance leaders to further their education in traditional music and dance. If you would like to apply for support or to nominate a candidate for a grant and/or recognition, fill out the MDH Outreach Application and note that the request is for a Les Raber Memorial grant.
The MDH compilation "Great Contras and Squares from the Great Lakes State" originally published September 2000 and out-of-print for a number of years, is now available as a pdf file. Don Theyken has scanned this document to make it available on the Internet. This 74-page book is in 8½"×11" format and contains 52 traditional-style dances written in or about Michigan. It also contains biographies of dance authors, a history of contra dancing in Michigan, and information about bands and callers throughout the state.

Please consider enlisting the help of MDH in organizing an event to bring your community together with traditional music, song, and dance. The map shows the locations of a great number of MDH outreach programs and grants around the State. Below are a few highlights of the accomplishments of MDH in recent years.

A grant to the Ann Arbor Public Schools Adult Education "English as a Second Language" Program (ESL) helped provide a caller and musicians for their family dance. This dance was part of their "Step into the Community Week" and introduced ESL students from over 30 countries to traditional music and dance in Michigan.
A grant was awarded to the Bayside Travelers Country Dance Society for their Dream Floor Project. Bayside raised enough money to install a new wood floor in their new dance home, the vintage Gilbert Lodge in Traverse City. Ribbon cutting and dancing commenced on the new floor in April 2005, and over 100 residents of the Traverse City area dance there monthly.
A grant to Elms Elementary for their Intergenerational Family Dance provide live musicians for a gathering of 160 children, parents, and grandparents in Flushing, Michigan. This event was in collaboration with the Parent Teachers Organization of Elms Elementary who supported traditional dance instruction for two days in the school prior to the evening dance.
A grant to Ann Arbor Council for Traditional Music and Dance (AACTMAD) helped finance the mailing of the AACTMAD Events Listing to organizations outside of Ann Arbor.
MDH was bequeathed the professional sound system of the late Michigan Recreational Leader Harold "Arizona" Rice of Mount Clemens, Michigan. Through MDH Outreach Grants, the components of the sound system were distributed to both an existing dance community in Ann Arbor, Michigan, and a start-up dance community in Waldron, Michigan.
MDH was bequeathed a collection of the dance books and records of the late Al Hards of Orchard Lake, Michigan, one of Henry Ford's dance leaders and a colleague of Benjamin Lovett. This collection of 41 books dating from 1893 to 1958, and 267 records both 78 and 45 rpm, was successfully transferred to the Ann Arbor Council for Traditional Music and Dance (AACTMAD) library. Al Hards's dance material is now available to all dance leaders.
The MDH Tourism Brochure was reprinted and reissued to the public at the thirteen Welcome Centers throughout Michigan.

Join Michigan Dance Heritage.
You are invited to join Michigan Dance Heritage by submitting the membership form. Your membership supports the activities of MDH in promoting traditional music, song, and dance throughout Michigan.

Contact Michigan Dance Heritage.
To learn more about Michigan Dance Heritage, please send your questions or comments to MDH President Steve Gold (sgold@me.com).

Modified August 23, 2012, by Robert Messer