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Doing the Louky in Huntington Station

BY MERLE ENGLISH | lidesk@newsday.com

8:42 AM EDT, May 10, 2008

Estelle Birnbaum and other members of the Huntington Folk Dancers during a session in Huntington Station. (Newsday / Thomas A. Ferrara)

On a spring night not so long ago, several married couples and a few unaccompanied women began strolling into the gym at Washington School in Huntington Station.

Soon, about 30 people were in the room, most of them retirees 70 to 93 years old. There is an esprit de corps about them as they greet one another with hugs and smiles and exchange pleasantries. They place their coats on the few chairs in the room, and those who were wearing sturdy shoes remove them and slip on soft-soled ones.

Soon recorded music fills the gym. As if on cue, everyone moves toward the center of the floor, forms an open circle and joins hands. Estelle Birnbaum, 80, walks to the break in the circle and leads them through the steps of a Louky, a Czech folk dance. Six small steps forward, a slight knee bend, then rising slightly on the balls of the feet, arms moving slightly in. The movements are carried out in a gentle, smooth style.

Dancing since forever

The Huntington Folk Dancers, who describe themselves as "the longest continuously running, nonprofit, recreational international folk dance group on Long Island," are engaging in their favorite pastime.

Every Monday at 8 p.m., except on holidays when the school is closed, the group meets at the gym, and for about two hours they tirelessly and joyfully work their way through 25 to 30 selections from a repertoire of about 1,000 traditional folk dances, mostly of European origin. The dances include Bulgarian, Greek, Latvian, Russian, Israeli, Chinese and Scottish selections and are about 2 to 3 minutes in length. They vary in tempo, "from the vigorous to the more sedate," said Monie Rawn of Jericho, a 45-year member of the group and a practicing psychoanalyst. Dancers move according to their physical capabilities. No one sits out a dance. "There are no couch potatoes," Birnbaum said.

Her husband, Bill, 81, organizes the group's library of music tapes and plays the selections for each session. "The people want a continuum. As soon as a piece of music ends they want to hear the next," he said.

Most of the dancers are retired teachers, engineers, doctors, artists, lawyers, entrepreneurs and accountants who come from all over Long Island. The group was started in 1955 by a physicist -- whose name group members can't recall -- at Cold Spring Harbor Laboratory. He led it until he relocated to California in the early 1970s.

Birnbaum, of Old Bethpage, who ran a nursery school office before she retired, is only the third person to head the group, which she has done since 1973. She plans and conducts the program for each session and memorizes new dances that she teaches group members.

"It does keep you more flexible, more alert, more focused, and it's fun," Rawn said. "There are Mondays we don't dance because it's a holiday. I won't say you get the shakes, but you feel something's missing, a letdown feeling. It is a powerful elixir."

Birnbaum began dancing in grade school. Her parents were from Hungary, and she "grew up with the music in my blood," she said. "Music and dance were a huge part of my family's life. My husband, who had never folk-danced, got into it when we married, but he discovered if you're in a circle of 35 people and you don't do it as well as the next person, who cares? He says it's a wonderful workout for the body."

To keep the repertoire refreshed, ethnic folk dance specialists are hired once or twice a year. There are mostly couples in their group, which members said is not the case with most other folk-dancing groups.

There were once about 50 members, according to Rawn, but now "there are always more women than men because the men die sooner," she said. "As time goes by we have more and more single people dancing, and that's the wonderful thing about folk dancing, you really don't need a partner. You don't have to have a spouse or significant other or any other to dance."

A Queens couple, Herb Plever, 84, a retired lawyer, and his wife, Sylvia, 82, who live in Jamaica, have been dancing with the group for 26 years. They were attracted to it, Plever said, because, "the dance repertory was varied and the level of dancing generally high, and there were many couples in the group. There were a lot of men dancing, which is unusual in the folk-dance world. The ambience is friendly, and there is a spirit that emphasizes fun."

The dancers once wore authentic costumes to sessions but opted for more casual dress in recent years. In the summer they dance at the air-conditioned American Legion Hall in Plainview. They don't perform for the public or enter competitions, but visitors are welcome at practice sessions. Members pay $4 a person each session to defray the custodial fee for use of the school and for light refreshments.

Joyful music
Speaking for the group, Birnbaum said folk dancing "has made a wonderful addition to our lives. We became aware of other cultures and other people through the dancing. A lot of us have traveled extensively to some of the countries whose dances we do. I cannot tell you what a joy it's been to our lives. The music is joyful, and it's a great social group."

So strong is the allure of the music that some regulars who are under the weather still show up. "If somebody just had a hip replacement or is not feeling well, they just come down to move to the music," Birnbaum said.

For beating the blues, "folk dance is an anti-depressant," Rawn said. "It's the best one. If people would know about folk dancing, I'd be out of business," she said with a laugh.

But the group fears that the tie that binds them may be unraveling because members are getting older and young people are not taking up folk dancing.

"People are much more mobile," said Bill Birnbaum. "They have all these other things to do which occupy their time. When we started folk dancing you didn't have television, computers. There are so many other forms of entertainment now."

Although there are about half a dozen international folk dance groups on Long Island, the outlook is bleak, said Ellen Golann, 68, of Woodbury, who heads her own dance group. She holds sessions on Thursday evenings at the Plainview American Legion and teaches a class at the Great Neck Senior Center on Fridays. "International dance was part of college curriculum and physical education," she said. "It's no longer, therefore it cuts out a lot of young people."

Nevertheless, the Huntington Folk Dancers continue to trip the light fantastic, crediting Estelle Birnbaum's enthusiasm and leadership. "We are greatly indebted to Estelle," said Jean Schneider, a group member for 40 years and a retired schoolteacher. "She's done a fantastic job keeping us dancing."