Miami Valley Dance Council

2008 Honor Roll Dancer

Carolyn Stovall

Miami Valley Folk Dancers

Dayton, Ohio

Carolyn Stovall became a member of the Miami Valley Folk Dancers (MVFD) in 1961, bringing an already impressive background in folk dancing to the group. Her interest in dance began as a child. She had an early wish “to be the fastest feet in Scioto County.” Her love of dancing continued through her college years at Transylvania University (KY), where she danced with the Transylvania Folk Dancers and attended workshops at Berea College.

By the late 1970s, Carolyn had assumed a leadership role within MVFD and has remained active ever since. Through her 46 years with MVFD, she has served in various offices and on an assortment of committees, several times each. We are particularly grateful that from 1997 through 2003, as an unpaid volunteer, Carolyn organized and taught MVFD’s beginners class and even collected dance instructions for all the dances she had taught and made them available to class members. When Carolyn finally “retired” from teaching the class, the MVFD Chair noted that she had possessed all the requisite qualities: reliability, consistency, punctuality, excellent teaching skills, thorough knowledge of the dances, careful preparation, excellent organizational skills, and excellent people skills. We were blessed by having Carolyn who possessed all these qualities. The club had grown significantly as a direct result of her dedication and hard work.

Carolyn’s interest in expanding her knowledge of dance has taken her throughout the US and the world. She has eagerly attended workshops and camps, from Maine to Macedonia. And she has been instrumental in bringing quality instructors to Dayton.

In the 1990s, Carolyn became involved with the Miami Valley Dance Council, serving four terms as Secretary. She has taken special interest in the Michael Solomon Pavilion (MSP); when the Pavilion was threatened by proposed improvements to the Community Golf Course, Carolyn alerted area dancers and provided them with historical information on it. She was also a member of the Council’s 1995 Ohio Buckeye Dance Convention Committee (Chair of Folk Dancing), and led folk dance sessions for the 2001 Convention as well.

But Carolyn’s leadership has not been limited to MVFD and MVDC. For many years she danced with the Zivio Slavic Dancers, performing locally and in Yugoslavia. She has been active with the Dayton International Festival, serving in various positions, and spearheading a drive to save the festival in the mid-90s. Perhaps most important of all was her leadership as a physical education teacher in Huber Heights elementary schools. For over 10 years, she included recreational dance as part of the physical education curriculum, thereby introducing hundreds of students to recreational dance.

Carolyn’s dedication to the recreational dance activity in the Dayton area cannot be denied. Her contributions of time and talent have been significant. She sees something that needs to be done and she does it. Her enthusiasm for all kinds of dance has been much appreciated, not only by MVFD, but by MVDC members, by her former students, and by the general public whom she encourages to join in. The Miami Valley Dance Council is proud to name Carolyn as its 2008 Honor Roll Dancer.