Folk Dances, Nature Walks, Movie Nights, Sightseeing and MORE for Singles, Couples and Families - all in Glen Cove and all on a budget! The Gregarians is a social club open to everyone.
Second Sunday Events
On the second Sunday of each month The Gregarians sponsor a social event. This may include museum visits, nature walks or film screenings. In May our field trip was to Shu Swamp!
A recent Gregarian event was a guided tour of Coe Hall at the Planting Fields Arboretum led by Sue Cheney. For details on other events contact the church office at (516) 671-0258.
English Country Dance and Potluck!
Join us for quarterly folk dances. The next dance will be on Saturday, May 15, 2010 at 6:00 pm.
The musical duo Luyster Hill Connection will perform for the Gregarians’ next English country dance at 6:00 pm on Saturday, April 17th at Glen Cove's First Presbyterian Church. The band includes New York City fiddler Paul Friedman and Glove Cove resident pianist Jim Stevenson-Mathews. The public is invite to attend this event, which will include a "potluck" style dinner along with a full evening of spirited music and dancing. No previous dance experience is necessary to participate. Attendees are encouraged to dance but can also elect to watch.
Long-time Glen Cove resident, Eleanor Rapelje is co-chairing the event with Denise Hernaiz and asks that those interested in attending contact her at (516) 676-0694 to coordinate their food offering. "Especially in this economy," stated Rapelje, "our group is working to find creative and fun activities for singles, couples and families that can be enjoyed by all ages and enjoyed on a budget." Tickets to the dance event are a suggested minimum donation of $5.00 per person to help defray the cost of the musicians and those attending are encouraged to bring a dish to share. Tickets are only available at the door on the evening of the event.
As the name implies, The Gregarians are a "gregarious" group of individuals. Membership is open to the public and participants represent a diverse group of individuals from the Glen Cove area. For more information on the Gregarians and their upcoming events visit www.TheGregarians.org or call First Presbyterian Church at (516) 671-0258
Eleanor Rapelje can be contacted at (516) 676-0694 to coordinate your dish to share.
What is Traditional English Country Dance? English Country Dance is the dance form that was popular in England and America in the 1600's, 1700's and early 1800's. It is one of the dance forms from which moderncontra and square dance are descended. If you've seen any of the recent Jane Austen movies then you've seen this sort of dance.
Click on dance images below to view video clips of English Country dancing!
All ages join in on the fun!
Right Hands Across
History of English Country Dance
English Country Dancing is believed to be the oldest form of folk dance still being danced in the world. Its origins can be traced back at least as far as 1480, or many years before Columbus sailed to America (the date of the tune of “Sellenger’s Round,” a circular or maypole dance that uses a variation on the hymn tune “All glory, laud and honor to thee redeemer King”). Many names of English Country Dances appear in sixteenth and early seventeenth century literature (including in Shakespeare), and many of their tunes appear in manuscript and published sources of the period, but the earliest surviving set of dance instructions appears on a 1648 manuscript, and the earliest published source is John Playford’s The English Dancing Master of 1650-1.
The earliest dances seem to have been in the form of large circles, suitable for dancing outdoors. Related to them were circles intended for three couples and four couples (the latter being the ancestors of modern square dances), and petty-squares for two couples. Early dancers also danced nonprogressive longways dances for three or four couples, and progressive longways dances for as many couples as were interested. English great houses of 1560 to 1650 developed long picture galleries to accommodate these longways dances.
From the scant surviving information, most of the folk dances of Europe were so simple as to be boring. By contrast, the dances danced at court were so difficult that only the leisure classes could afford the time to learn them. English Country Dance stands in the middle between those extremes. It is simple enough that most people have little trouble learning enough to enjoy themselves, and yet challenging enough to hold the dancers’ interest. As a result, English Country Dance spread rapidly throughout Europe and the European colonies around the world, displacing the indigenous folk dances. For example, a 1770 manuscript from Mexico City, discovered in the late twentieth century, gives both tunes and instructions for many well known English dances.
Special thanks to contributing photographers Michael Ach and Robert McNally.
Welcome to the Gregarians! 
On the second Sunday of each month The Gregarians sponsor a social event. This may include museum visits, nature walks or film screenings. In May our field trip was to Shu Swamp! 
A recent Gregarian event was a guided tour of Coe Hall at the Planting Fields Arboretum led by Sue Cheney. For details on other events contact the church office at 
