2006 Honor Dancer

Harry Khamis

Number of Years Dancing   28

Club Elected Positions and Years Held (Pres., VP, Sec., etc.)

President – 5 years (1990, 1992, 1993, 2003, 2004)

Vice President – 1 year (1989)

Club Appointed Positions and Years Held (Kitchen Chairperson, etc.)

Beginners Class Instructor – 2 years (2004, 2005)

Recordings Committee – 5 years ( 1982 to 1986 )

Weekend Workshop Chairperson – 4 years (1985, 1992, 2003, 2004)

Mini-Workshop Chair – 3 workshops (1985, 1990, 1991)

Service at Club Level (Kitchen, Greeters, Clean-up, Decorate, etc.)

-         Revamped MVFD constitution and bylaws in 1991.

-         Intermediate/beginners level teaching for Miami Valley Folk Dancers (volunteer only) – 1983 to Present

-         Harry has danced with, served with, demo’ed with, and taught dance with MVFD and other dance clubs including:

o       Zivio Yugoslav Dancers – member, guest instructor – 1980-1988

§         Zivio toured and performed throughout Yugoslavia in 1987

o       Columbus International Folk Dancers – guest instructor

o       Indianapolis International Folk Dancers – guest instructor, 2002

o       Columbus Scandinavian Dancers – member & instructor, 2002-2005

Number of Raids and Retrievals   MVFD does not participate in Raids & Retrievals.

Special Activities (Organize or Assist with Demos, Weekend & Week long Workshops, Special Dances, Parades, World A’Fair, State Fair, Festivals, etc.)

-         Harry has participated in many demos with MVFD including for the Sauerkraut Festival and the World A’Fair.   Harry also performed with the Zivio Yugoslav Dancers at the World A’Fair for several years.

-         Harry has attended most MVFD sponsored workshops over the past 25 years (29 workshops).  More importantly, Harry has chaired at least 7 of those workshops.  As chair he was responsible for hiring instructors, booking locations, arranging food, greeters, hosts, persuading other people to help out, and making sure that everything ran smoothly and did not lose money.

-         Additionally, he has attended and supported many folk dance workshops in the Tri-State area and throughout the country.  He has also partnered instructors and assisted with teaching at many of these workshops.  They include:

o       Annual Tri-City Folk Dance Festival – guest instructor many times

o       Folklore Village – taught Swedish couple dances, 2001

o       North South Teachers Workshop, CA - 2004

o       Ann Arbor Dawn Dance, MI - 2003

o       Stockton Folk Dance Camp, CA – 2 week dance camp, 2003

o       Mainewoods Folk Dance Camp – several years (week long camps)

o       Oblebay Camp in West Virginia

o       Old World Music & Dance Camp, NY

o       Kentucky Dance Institute – week long camps

M.V.D.C Position and Years Held (Pres., VP, Treasurer, Trustee, etc.)

None

State & National Positions and Years Held (State Corp, State & National Convention Positions, etc.)

None

State & National Conventions Attended

Ohio 2001

Also see the many workshops and camps listed under special activities that he attended.

Attach a Write Up (Include all information about applicant that might be of importance to the Selection Committee)

MUST BE TURNED IN TO THE COUNCIL SECRETARY BY THE NOVEMBER COUNCIL MEETING!

8/26/00

Write Up

Harry started dancing in graduate school at Virginia Tech in 1978.  He was drawn to the variety of music and movements from across the world.  The incredible richness of melodies, rhythms, beats, and instruments fascinates him, and he thinks it is great fun to move to these rhythms. 

Upon taking a teaching position at Wright State University he started dancing with the Miami Valley Folk Dancers in 1980.  He quickly became a very active and valued member, serving in various positions, and participating in many club functions.  He has served as President, Vice-President, Workshop Chair, Dance Instructor and more.  His leadership and commitment to the club is so well thought of, that he was asked to chair (and he accepted) MVFD’s 50^th Anniversary workshop (held in 2003) while he was on a 2 year sabbatical to Sweden.  It was a resounding success.

His mastery of folk dancing and his inspirational and fun manner has made him an often sought out instructor in the club.  In 2004, MVFD asked Harry to serve on a new committee to run dance classes for beginners.  All of his teaching efforts for MVFD have been on a volunteer basis.

But MVFD members are not the only people who have had the pleasure of Harry’s expertise in dance.  Though a serious statistics professor by day, Harry taught an International Folk Dance course at Wright State for 13 years.  One requirement of his course was that students go out and dance in the community.  As a result MVFD gained several new members through the years.  His experience with this class led him to write a magazine article called “International Folk Dance as a College Course.”  This article was published in Viltis, a folk dance magazine, in 1992.

Harry is also a member of the South Slavic Club of Dayton, and danced with their amateur performing group, Zivio!, for several years, including when they were invited to tour Yugoslavia in 1987 for two weeks. 

Although his early interests in folk dancing leaned toward Israeli and Balkan dances, along the way he has discovered special interests in Scottish Country Dancing, and Swedish couple turning dances.  He lived in Sweden for two years (1999-2000) where he studied and volunteered his time to instruct Swedish "polskor" (couple turning dances done to three-beat music).  As a means to encourage and continue their ethnic dance heritage, Sweden holds a yearly event where dancers from around the world are graded on their dance abilities in this form of dance.  Performed in traditional Swedish attire, one’s level of dancing ability is graded with a simple pass/fail system.  Harry has participated in this event for the last 10 years and has passed all of his attempts.  At most of these events, he volunteered additional time assisting other dancers by partnering them during their grading.

The Miami Valley Folk Dancers are very fortunate to have such an accomplished dancer as a member, but even more fortunate to have had such a committed member for 25 years.  It is our pleasure to recognize him as MVFD’s 2006 Honor Roll Dancer and to nominate him to be the Miami Valley Dance Council’s 2006 Honor Roll Dancer.