Miami Valley Folk Dancers Logo
Dayton, Ohio

2000 Honor Dancers

Leslie Hyll & Edmund Cordray
NOMINATING CLUB Miami Valley Folk Dancers
NAME OF DANCER(S) Leslie Hyll and Edmund Cordray
NUMBER OF YEARS DANCING 40
NUMBER OF CLUBS (MEMBER)
Currently 6
  • Miami Valley Folk Dancers 1971-2000
  • Zivio Yugoslav Dancers 1981-2000
  • Bagatelle French Dancers 1990-2000
  • Lloyd Shaw Foundation 1984-2000 (American dance)
  • Country Dance and Song Society of America 1991-2000 (American and English dance)
  • Society of Folk Dance Historians 1987-2000
Over the years they have been members of several dance clubs, including:
  • Kettering Historical Dancers 1975-82
  • Kolo San Francisco 1969-1973
  • Palo Alto Scottish Country Dancers 1975-1978
  • Menlo Park Balkan Dancers 1972-1978
  • Sierra Singles 1974-1978
  • Stanford Fri. Night Folk Dancers 1975-1978, 1983-1987
  • Oregon State Univ. Folk Dancers 1980-1982
  • Berkeley Folk Dancers 1987-1990
  • Westwind Folk Ensemble 1985-1987
CLUB POSITIONS HELD
  • President (1989, 1996)
  • Vice-President (1994)
  • Treasurer (1997)
  • Publicity Chair (1988-1991)
  • Representative to MV Dance Council (1988)
  • Program Committee (Chair 1986-1987, member 1981)
  • Workshop Chair (8 workshops)
  • Equipment Committee Chair (1994-2000)
  • Newsletter Editor (1996-1999)
  • Archives (1996-2000)
SERVICE AT CLUB LEVEL (KITCHEN, GREETERS, CLEANING-UP, ETC.) In addition to the various committees listed under Club Positions, there have been several years when Leslie and Ed took it upon themselves to make sure the Pavilion was properly closed. That means that they stayed every Thursday until 10 or 11 pm to pack up the heavy records and equipment after the last dancer had gone home.
ANGELING OF LESSON CLASSES MVFD does not keep track of how often experienced dancers "angel" in our lesson classes. However, Leslie and Eddie have helped out in our classes for many years by dancing with inexperienced dancers. They know the importance of having experienced dancers support our new dancers to help them become comfortable and proficient on the dance floor.
NUMBER OF RAIDS AND DEMOS MVFD does not "raid" because most of our members cannot square dance. However, Leslie and Ed have planned & danced in a full range of demos, although MVFD does not keep count. These include many years at the Waynesville Sauerkraut Festival, MVDC Day in the Park demos, MVDC Holiday at Home demos, and a myriad of demos for nursing homes, schools, and social organizations. When asked, they are always willing to help.
SPECIAL ACTIVITIES (CLUB WORKSHOPS, BENEFIT DANCES, PARADES, COUNCIL SPONSORED WORLD A'FAIR PARTICIPATION, STATE FAIR, ETC.)
Leslie has chaired 2 weekend workshops put on by MVFD and 6 one-day or evening workshops. She has been instrumental in creating relationships with other cultural organizations, such as Cityfolk, Culture Works, and Dayton Dance Partners, allowing us to bring in workshops that we otherwise could not afford or organize. Ed was very involved on the west coast providing sound for bands at various dance events including:
  • San Francisco Kolo Festival 1978-1987
  • CA Folk Dance Federation Statewide Festival 1978-1981
  • CA Folk Dance Federation Heritage Festival 1972-1982
  • Mendocino Balkan Camp 1987-1989
  • Oakland Scandia Festival 1986-1988
Leslie (since 1982) and Ed (since 1990) have been intimately involved with the Dayton World A'Fair. They have performed with 4 different groups, choreographed and directed American, Croatian, Slovenian, and Macedonian suites for the Zivio Yugoslav Dancers, choreographed and directed the Bagatelle French Dancers for the past 10 years, and directed the Italian Dancers for the past 3 years.
MIAMI VALLEY DANCE COUNCIL POSITIONS HELD (ELECTED AND APPOINTED) Michael Solomon Support Committee Chair (Oct 1998 - present)
MVFD Representative to MVDC (1988)
STATE CORP. POSITIONS HELD None
STATE CONVENTIONS ATTENDED Ohio: 1984, 1988, 1991, 1995; National: 1982; CA: 1978-81
In addition to State and National Square Dance Conventions, Leslie and Ed have attended many dance and leadership workshops, festivals, and camps, including:
  • Lloyd Shaw Foundation Workshop 1981
  • Bannerman Family Folk Dance Camp 1974-75
  • Kentucky Dance Institute 1975, 77, 80
  • Maine Folk Dance Camp, 1983
  • Swedish-American Week in Sweden, 1990
  • Telemark Experience, Norway, 1990
  • Scandinavian Week at Buffalo Gap 1989
  • Christmas Country Dance School 1987
  • Various MVFD Ethnic Folk Dance Workshops 1972-present (too numerous to list individual workshops)_
  • Oglebay Folk Dance Camps
  • Old World Music and Dance Camp
  • Oregon State Folk Dance Camp 1979-81
  • San Francisco Kolo Festival (many)
  • Stockton Folk Dance Camp 1986
  • Planina Folk Dance Camp 1972-76
OHIO STATE CONVENTION POSITIONS None
ADDITIONAL INFORMATION
Leslie Hyll was born into a dancing family, and by the time she became a member of the Miami Valley Folk Dancers in 1972 at age 12, she could dance rings around anyone else on the floor. Her teenage years were full of learning at many dance workshops here in Dayton, Virginia, and Kentucky. During this time she also performed with the Kettering Historical Dancers.

While in high school, she wrote a 20-page research paper on the history of American Folk Dance. This paper was published in the periodical, "Northern Junket", and in a Canadian publication. During her college years, she attended a Lloyd Shaw Foundation Workshop for dance leaders for college credit. She broadened her knowledge by attending too-many-to-mention dance workshops including Maine Camp, a camp in Norway, and a Playford Ball in Manchester, England. Very soon it became evident that the recreational dance scene in Dayton would benefit greatly from all her workshop exposure.

In MVFD, all the dance programming and teaching is done by its members - all strictly volunteer by amatuers. Leslie has been one of our favorite dancer-instructors. She is always ready to teach. But with this, her home club, she has done a little of everything. She has been chairperson, club treasurer, dance council delegate, and program committee chairman. She has chaired very successful French and English workshops, and organizes the yearly Tri-City Folk Dance Festival, because it's important to her to keep this long time activity going. Everyone enjoys her occasional Halloween parties.

The dancing and leadership abilities she developed from MVFD and workshops has not gone to waste else where. Leslie had the opportunity for two years to teach a folk dance class that was offered for credit at Wright State University. For the past ten years she has been the director and choreographer of the French dancers at the World A'Fair. She also taught the Italian dancers for three years. And she has often been a source of leadership and choreography for the Zivio Yugoslav Dancers.

MVFD looks forward to the newsletter which she designs and prints. She has taken it upon herself to establish a written history of the club and to continue adding to it. She both established and maintains a site for the Miami Valley Folk Dancers on the World Wide Web. She updates this frequently with snapshots of members from various events. This site gives a history of our club and advertises dance activities of an ethnic nature in the surrounding area.

Probably the biggest highlight of Leslie's involvement with the folk dancers was her wedding to Edmund Cordray of California in 1991. The event was a true folk dance wedding in which all participants wore folk costume attire. Wedding and reception were at the pavilion with members of the dance group in attendance.

As a result, Ed was now a member of MVFD, and he was ready to contribute his expertise. He, also, is a fine dancer having come from a dancing family that schooled him as a child in Balkan and Scottish Country Dance. As he grew he attended many workshops on both the west and east coasts before coming to Dayton. For one year he partnered his sister as she taught Norwegian workshops across the country.

Besides dancing, Ed's work and talents lie in electronics. For more than 10 years he ran the sound at several major dance festivals on the west coast. He has his own amplification system and is ready to share this when the need arises. He is much interested in preserving the wealth of music this club has acquired during its 46 year history. Ed took it upon himself to transfer all the club's records and tapes to a CD format. This in itself took about 350 to 400 work hours. Then he categorized all that music into several listings: by alphabet, by nationality, by type of dance, and by CD number. This was a true labor of love.

Even though he is a relative newcomer to the Dayton dance scene, you can sense his commitment as he volunteered to chair the Michael Solomon Support Committee when it was desperately in need of leadership. Out of that leadership have come several pavilion improvements, notably the ladies restroom. Currently, he is working on re-finishing the pavilion dance floor. Also, Ed is trying his hand at choreography, as he puts together this year's World A'Fair program for the Zivio Yugoslav Dancers.

In the greater Dayton community, both Ed and Leslie actively support CityFolk, and at the time of the first National Folk Festival in Dayton, they recruited and organized volunteer workers for this event. They also presented a style show of ethnic costumes.

Never has this club had the opportunity to honor members so early on in the vigor of their lives. They have shared so much of themselves already. We are confident there will be more to come. Recreational dance and folk dance in particular will be just fine in the hands of Leslie and Ed and others like them.

Back to Honor Dancer Index

Copyright © Miami Valley Folk Dancers 2000-2003