Texas Camp 2012 roared through Bruceville Thanksgiving weekend, with much dance, song, music, mischief, and camaraderie.  Kudos to co-chairs Georgia Horn and Bruce Bostwick for putting on a fabulous Texas Camp!

This year featured enjoyable dances “mostly from Bulgaria,” taught by the lively and energetic Yuliyan Yordanov.  Yuliyan made all his classes lots of fun and never slowed down as he taught.  His repertoire ranged from Pirin in the southwest to areas in the north of Bulgaria, and even included a couple of dances from the Bulgarian and Serbian communities in the US.

This was also the first time that we danced in the gymnasium of Greene Family Camp’s sports center.  Although there were a few hiccups in adjusting to the new space, in the end it seemed to work remarkably well.  The GFC kitchen staff provided plentiful and excellent food to keep us all going, and we doubt that anyone minded not having to chop vegetables in the kitchen during classes or wash dishes after meals.

The Camp Band, under the able direction of Don Weeda, provided the usual complement of great live music at evening dance parties.  Steve and Donna Bing treated us to their repertoire of lively Cajun tunes on Friday night and also kicked off the Bruceville Roadhouse.  Holly Plotner and friends played a live set of three Greek tunes on Thursday night, and Slavadillo’s performances on Friday and Saturday nights included a live version of “Star Merak,” the song to Yuliyan’s “Pirinsko Sirto,” among other favorites.  The Homegrown Contra Band was on hand to provide energetic music for the afternoon contra session, and for evening parties.

This year’s Rewind Sessions featured Postie’s Jig and Mairi’s Wedding (led by Lisa Smith), and several English country dances (led by John Bloom).   The usual group of stalwarts performed a stepped-up version of “Arkan” to mark the 65th Texas Camp, and as if all that wasn’t enough, there were the ever-popular Bruceville Roadhouse and group sing-alongs to round things out.  The excellent weather and gorgeous autumnal countryside set off a truly fabulous weekend.

(This report was written with much assistance from Misi Tsurikov — thanks, Misi!)