So eager are they to dance, even as the band is setting up, they’re already on the floor, ready to go.
That’s what Ernie Kozak says of the seniors’ dances being held at the Ukrainian Catholic Hall in Canora, and the third such dance will be held on Saturday.
“We held the first dance on November 12 and about 150 people, both as couples and as singles, turned up to dance to music provided by Zayshley, a three-piece group from Mikado and Yorkton,” Kozak said recently.
A second dance was held at the Hall in early December to music provided by the Old Country Lads, another band comprised of musicians from Mikado and Yorkton, and about the same number of people showed up.
On Saturday, Zayshley will be returning to provide the traditional music of the 1950s and 60s, and if past experience is an indication, about the same number of people, primarily seniors from communities from a radius of about 70 miles of Canora, from Foam Lake, Saltcoats and Preeceville, will be kicking up their heels.
They’ve been holding these dances in a number of communities, including Yorkton, Preeceville and Hazel Dell, Kozak said. They were greeted with great enthusiasm and interest.
“And people around here were asking for dances in Canora.”
So Kozak, working with Dave Popowich, the president of the Ukrainian Catholic congregation of Ss. Peter and Paul, organized that first dance in Canora in November.
“People enjoy themselves,” he said, listing polkas, waltzes, new versions of bunny hops and the schottische, an old polka-like round dance, as favourites at seniors’ dances.
“People want to dance,” he said. “Dancing is wonderful. It is great exercise and a fine social outing. You learn new dances and you meet new people.
“It’s a win-win situation.”
At these dances, Kozak said that very few people can be seen sitting down; they’re all up and dancing.
The bands, who are chosen by the committee, are well known and members are very effective at encouraging everyone to mingle, he said. They get people involved and enjoying “the beauty of the dance.”
A number of the people who attended the Canora dances are the same people who attended similar seniors’ dances in the other communities, he said. Canora people have been going to those other places to dance, and now can invite those people here to dance.
The $10 admission includes a lunch, and sometimes the lunch is a potluck. Usually 50/50 tickets are sold, no alcohol is served, and the dance goes from 7 p.m. to midnight.
“I like to see new developments in a community with people taking part in activities,” he said. “There’s always something to do if you get off your butt and do it.”
Kozak said that the committee’s plan is to host a dance about once a month, but this one will be the last before Lent.
