Chit Chat: All welcome to attend Fermilab's folk and barn dance groups

BATAVIA – Fermilab is known for many things, particularly science, but one rarity that not too many people seem to know about – but has gone on there for quite some time – is folk dancing.

There are four main dance groups that meet two to three times a week, depending on the group. The four groups are barn dancing, international folk dancing, Scottish country dancing and English country dancing.

The groups meet at the Fermilab Village Barn near Wilson Street and Kirk Road in Batavia. There is no cost, and the dance opportunities are open to the general public.

Kane County Chronicle reporter Chris Casey was able to catch up with one of the dance callers at Fermilab, Mady Newfield, who specializes in international folk dancing. She runs those sessions and talked about her love of dancing and how she encourages anyone with any interest in dance to come and enjoy the experience.

To learn more about dancing at Fermilab, visit orgs.fnal.gov/folkclub/folkdance.html or email folkdance@fnal.gov.

Chris Casey: Reading through information of each dance, some of the dancing seems like it may be complicated. Is anyone welcome to come to these? And do you need background in dancing prior to coming?

Mady Newfield: Oh, absolutely everyone is welcome. There are some hard dances that you may not able to do the very first time out, but – as with anything else – it gets easier the more you do it. There are people that have been dancing for many years and then people who have only been dancing for a few weeks. This goes for all of the dancing here. We have ages ranging from 5 years old all the way to 70 years old, so we really cover everyone in that aspect. It’s meant to be very laid back and just enjoying the time with people. You can come just to enjoy the music as well. It’s not required that you dance, but we encourage it, well, because it’s fun.

Casey: Explain these dance classes that are offered at Fermilab. Are they more teaching or more social events?

Newfield: The main thing that anyone should know is that these are all social dances. They are not really classes as much as they are groups. They are people who come together for the fun of dancing. If you are new to it, that’s fine. You can come any time and there’s no background needed. There’s some teaching, and if there are a lot of newcomers we will go through some more basic stuff. The groups are so enjoyable because it’s meant to be fun and everybody helps everybody else. Many of the dances are easy to follow along. You walk through the dances to see how the patterns go, and then you just do it.

Casey: When did all of this start at Fermilab, and where does your dancing background come from?

Newfield: Well, I came here in 1985, and there was a little bit of Scottish dancing going on with someone who eventually left the lab. I started doing some of the international folk dancing when I was in high school in 1970. I taught it at various places before I got here to Fermilab. I love dancing, and I love teaching it and being around all of the other people.

Casey: Is there just music on recording that is played, or where does the music come from?

Newfield: It’s really different for each group. But we have live music come in many times. For barn dancing, that’s primarily fiddle and guitar, with a few others mixed in. But we’ve had groups come in to play at our gatherings, and that’s one thing that kind of keeps things interesting and hopefully attracts more people to continue to come out and join us.

Casey: One side of things would be that, as time goes on, interest in this kind of dancing would fade. How have not just you but everyone there maintained the interest of people wanting to do these types of dances?

Newfield: That’s a good question because there’s really no way to avoid the times changing, you know? As the suburbs have grown up, there is much more offered than when I first got to this area. Our numbers are down from the past, but – on the other hand – one type of dance helps many other kinds of dancing. There’s repetition, but in English and Scottish dances, we come up with new dances just about every week. As instructors, we are constantly learning as well. I have gone to workshops to continue to be innovative with these dances. It’s hard to necessarily modernize these dances because that’s what makes them unique. The style and way the music is written and performed is really its own. Especially with English dancing, but really with all of these dances, one of the muscles that hurts the most is your smile muscles.