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NGI Recipient: Chava Hall

Session Attended: Country Dance and Song Society - English Dance Week (2016)

I have been hearing about the CDSS English Week at Pinewoods for about nine years now. Every summer I would have a twinge of longing as I saw a few of my friends talk about it, or as Bob Green and Martha Edwards again would tell me I needed to go. This year, things fell in place, and I found myself on an airplane headed for Boston.

One of the things that fell into place for me was the fact that CDSS and PCI offer generous NGI scholarships. It would have taken some hard and very careful budgeting for me to get together both a plane ticket and tuition for the week, but I was grateful to receive an NGI Scholarship for the amount that I requested.

My main reason for prioritizing English Week at Pinewoods this year was that I have been losing my joy in ECD, due to the fact that my only dancing experience these days is calling for a group of “perpetual beginners”. As I thought, a week full of dancing, surrounded by people who love dancing went a long way to bring back my joy, and reminded me why I first fell in love. I came back to my group rejuvenated, and excited to share new dances and ideas.

Not only was the ECD lovely, I thoroughly enjoyed being able to learn English Clog. I wish I had been able to learn other new types of dancing, but I don’t regret any of the classes that I chose to attend.

Thank you for making this enjoyable experience possible.