Miami Valley Folk Dancers Logo
Dayton, Ohio

2013 Honor Roll Dancer

Lina Considine

M.V.D.C. Honor Roll Dancer(s) Nomination for 2013

Nominating Club:  Miami Valley Folk Dancers

Name, Address, & Phone of Couple/Person(s):  Lina Considine

Number of Years Dancing:   12 years with MVFD (since 2000)

 

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

Elected positions Lina has held on MVFD’s Council are:

  • Vice Chair ( 2004, 2007)
  • Member-at-Large (2005, 2006, 2009, 2010)

 

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

Appointed positions Lina has held within MVFD are:

  • MVFD Representative to Miami Valley Dance Council (2005, 2006, 2009, 2010)
  • MVFD Representative to Michael Solomon Support Committee  (2005, 2006, 2009, 2010)
  •  Program Committee (2001, 2003, 2011)
  • Open House Chair (2004, 2007)
  • Chair, MVFD New Year’s Eve Party (2006)
  • Orientation Class Committee (2009, 2010, 2011, 2012)

 

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

In addition to serving in the appointed and elected positions listed above, Lina has contributed to MVFD in many other ways. Perhaps most significant is that she regularly teaches international folk dance at both beginner and intermediate levels at MVFD (2001 to present).  She often brings new people to the beginner classes, and acts as a mentor and resource to ensure that they do not get discouraged.  Lina takes responsibility for various functions at workshops, and quietly steps in to help in the kitchen or with setup, decoration, or serving  whenever she notices a need.   (She is similarly helpful when she is at the Gem City Square Dance Club and the Miami Valley Round Dance Club, where she is equally willing to serve as a new person’s partner or to serve food, as needed.) 

 

Number of Raids and Retrievals

MVFD does not "raid"; this is not customary in folk dance. 

 

Special Activities (Organize or Assist with Demos, Weekend & Week long Workshops, Special

Dances, Parades, World A’Fair, State Fair, Festivals, etc.)

Lina has joined in MVFD demonstrations and performances at the following: 

  • International Friendship Affair at Wright State University (various times, 2001-2006)
  • International Students Festival at Sinclair Community College (various times, 2001-2006)
  • Ole Tyme Music Festival at Caesar’s Creek Pioneer Village (2004-2005)
  • Dayton Youth Club at Riverside Art Center (2004-2008)
  •  Fairborn YMCA (2010)
  •  Friendship Force’s World Friendship Day (2011).  

 

Lina has represented the Dayton Association of Chinese Americans (DACA) at A Wold A’Fair for many years.  She takes an active part in directing Chinese dance performances and culture displays there (1973-present), and has been an instructor of Chinese folk dance at the Greater Dayton Chinese School for five years (2002-04 and 2006-09).  In addition, she has performed at AWAF as a member of the Beseda Dancers of the Czechoslovak Club (2005).  Lina is also a member of the Gem City Square Dance Club and the Miami Valley Round Dance Club.

 

M.V.D.C Position and Years Held (Pres., VP, Treasurer, Trustee, etc.)
Lina has not held an MVDC position, but served as MVFD’s delegate to MVDC in 2005, 2006, 2009, and 2010.  She also sat on the Michael Solomon Support Committee for those four years.

 

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

Lina was involved with two MVDC subcommittees at the 2006 and 2011 Buckeye State Dance Conventions.  She modeled folk costumes for the fashion show (2006), and she has taught folk dancing at the Convention twice (2006, 2011).

 

State & National Conventions Attended

Buckeye State Dance Convention (2006, 2011)

Lina has also attended more than two dozen workshops in international dance since she began folk dancing in 2000, and always brings back dances to share with MVFD.  She attended the Stockton Folk Dance Camp in California on scholarship in 2006, 2007, 2008, and 2010, as well as workshop weekends in Chicago, Detroit, and Columbus.  

 

Write Up

The Miami Valley Folk Dancers (MVFD) are nominating Lina Considine for the MVDC 2013 Honor Roll dancer because of her active involvement in MVFD, in MVDC, and in the Dayton dance community in general.

Lina has been a MVFD member for 12 years.  Since first being introduced to the club in 2000, she has been an exceptionally active participant in the club.  As noted on the form above, she has contributed her services in many areas, as well as serving in both elected and appointed positions.  She has served as MVFD’s liaison with MVDC several times.  Perhaps most important to the club, Lina is a frequent teacher at MVFD, in both the weekly beginners’ orientation class and at the intermediate level.  But she is also a person who quietly moves in to help wherever she sees a need; the members of the Gem City Square Dance Club  have commented on that helpfulness, especially in the kitchen.

Lina has been dancing since she was a child in Taiwan (she began with ballet).  She broadened her horizons by studying clogging and tap dance when she found herself in Kernersville, North Carolina.  (She also had a solo dance in a performance of Kismet there!)  It was only when she came to Dayton that she discovered international folk dance (as well as round, square, and ballroom dance).  Nonetheless, her sensitivity to different ethnic dance styles, and her ability to reproduce them authentically, make her exceptionally valuable as a teacher (and performer).

Lina has honed these skills by attending not only most of the international folk dance workshops held in the Tri-City area, but a number of out-of-state ones, including the Spring Festival at the University of Chicago (2006), a Greek workshop in Detroit (2009), and the week-long Stockton Folk Dance Camp in California, to which she has received a work scholarship four times (2006-08 and 2010).  Her enthusiasm for this annual workshop has inspired other MVFD members to attend as well, not just teaching them new dances but broadening their understanding of folk dance.  Lina always brings back the music from these workshops and camps, and teaches a number of the dances to MVFD dancers.

Besides being an inspiring teacher, Lina is a constant publicist for MVFD.  She has been instrumental in recruiting many people to the club, and provides extra tutoring if they need help to become comfortable with the steps.  She also mentors them so that they become active contributors to the club and its operations.  Unlike most dance clubs’ memberships, MVFD’s has actually increased slightly over the past 10 years, and we credit Lina with some of that increase!

Lina has taught folk dance on MVFD’s behalf at Dayton schools as well (Girl Scouts of Western Ohio and Cultural Club of Northwood Elementary School, 2009), helping children explore different cultures around the world.  She also joined other MVFD members in team teaching of dance to adults at the Lifelong Learning Institute of the University of Dayton (2005, 2006, and 2008). She serves as something of a teacher at the Miami Valley Round Dance Club as well, where they note that she is always willing to partner beginners of either gender and help them learn any steps they are having trouble with.

In addition to teaching, Lina faithfully represents MVFD at folkdance demonstrations at festivals and other request performances, from shopping centers to retirement homes.  She has participated a number of times in the International Friendship Affair at Wright State University and the International Students’ Festival at Sinclair Community College.  She has also been part of MVFD groups dancing at the Ole Tyme Music Festival at Caesar’s Creek Pioneer Village (2004-05), the Dayton Youth Club at Riverside Art Center (2004-2008), and World Friendship Force Day in Centerville (2011).   

Lina has not neglected her Chinese roots.  From 2002 to 2009 she studied Chinese dance with a Chinese-certified folk-dance instructor, and has herself been an instructor of Chinese folk dance at the Greater Dayton Chinese School (2002-04 and 2006-09).  She was a member of the Dayton Chinese Folk Dance Troupe from 2002 to 2009, which focused on various folk dances in Chinese tribes and performed at local events.   As a member of this troupe, she performed at the Chinese New Year Festival at Wright State University, the DACA Chinese Lenten Festival, the International Women’s Club, and the Tour of Asia.

Lina is a longtime member of the Dayton Association of Chinese Americans (DACA).  She has served on its Board of Directors (1999-2005), where she was twice elected Vice President.  She has  been particularly involved in DACA’s presence at A World A’Fair, directing both Chinese dance performances and cultural displays.  (One year, 2005, she danced at AWAF with the Czechoslovak group Beseda as well!)  She has also represented DACA in the Asian American Council for community issues, particularly health.

Because of her many contributions to MVFD, her commitment to keeping folk dance strong, her passion for sharing folk dance with others, and her involvement in the greater dance community,  MVFD is proud to nominate Lina Considine for MVDC’s 2013 Honor Roll Dancer. 

 

PRESENT AND PAST DANCE CLUB MEMBERSHIPS

Present:

Miami Valley Folk Dancers

Gem City Square Dance Club

Miami Valley Round Dance Club

Past:

Dayton Chinese Folk Dance Troupe (2002-2009)

Beseda Dancers of Czechoslovak Club (2005)