Folk Arts Center of New England leadership
The Folk Arts Center of New England is run by the FAC Executive Director, Office Manager, Board of Directors, and coordinators of events and projects.
Staff
Marcie Van Cleave, Executive Director (since 1988)
Katy Bishop, Office Manager (since 2019)
Founders
Conny Taylor (1921—2006)
Marianne Patterson Taylor (1930—2008)
Board of Directors
David Salstein (President)
David Salstein started folk dancing in the Boston area in 1974, and has danced in other parts of the country while working outside of Boston. He is enthusiastic about many forms of music; he plays piano and often accompanies his wife, Jane, who plays flute. David and Jane both perform with the Waltham Philharmonic Orchestra as well as help with that orchestra’s finances.
Professionally, he is a researcher in atmospheric and Earth science, with a background in mathematics. His work at an environmental company has been supported through his government grants. David collaborates with scientists internationally, and has traveled for collaborative projects and meetings in Europe, Asia, and South America. He enjoys bicycling, hiking, languages, concerts, and theater.
Lizzie MacLachlan (Vice President)
Elizabeth “Lizzie” MacLachlan has been dancing since she was nine years old, and fell in love with the international scene at Pinewoods Camp, where she worked as Office Manager for several years. Currently she works at Dana Farber Cancer Institute in Boston as a coordinator for the pediatric stem cell transplant team.
In addition to dancing and reading, Lizzie enjoys knitting small toys, lace-weight shawls, and anything else not particularly practical. She has been on the FAC board for six years now, and is the current Vice President and Chair of the Development Committee.
Carl Lazurus (Treasurer)
Carl Lazarus has been active in folk dancing since 1976, and met his wife, Joyce, at MIT folk dancing. His 40-plus-year professional life was spent in computer software and services, beginning in medical computing; two computer start-ups provided him with a variety of business and technical challenges.
He is retired, lives in Newton with Joyce and two parrots, has two adult children out of the nest, and loves travel, reading, all kinds of music (including classical, opera, and jazz), Frank Lloyd Wright, and Alfred Hitchcock. Carl attends and gives classes at the Brandeis Osher Lifelong Learning Institute and is active in the Balkan Music Night organizing committee. He is most happy when he can combine travel and folk dance.
Carolyn Ramm (Secretary)
Carolyn Ramm has served on FAC's Board of Directors for over 15 years and during that time has come to care deeply about the organization and its people. Her background is as a musician, and she appreciates and supports FAC's involvement in traditional music as well as dance.
In her professional life Carolyn has been a practicing attorney for many years, with a special emphasis on corporate governance, and holds an M.B.A. in nonprofit management.
Almas Dossa
Almas Dossa grew up in India and Pakistan and came to the United States in 1977. She went to her first Friday night International Folk Dance in the Fall of 1981, where she met her husband, Ron. They continued to dance at both FAC and MIT events and had a folk dance wedding with the Mandala Folk Orchestra in 1986. Almas was an active member of the International Folk Music Club for many years until the pandemic hit.
Almas worked for 20+ years as a physical therapist both in the clinical and academic field and has her PhD in Health/Social Policy from Brandeis University. She has worked in the research field for many years primarily in the elder wellness and disability arena and has presented at conferences both nationally and internationally. Currently, Almas works for Massachusetts Medicaid (MassHealth) to direct and manage health care policy initiatives and implementation. As a member of the Brookline Unitarian church, she actively participates in the Racial Justice Action Committee to fulfill its mission of demanding social justice and dismantling racism. She enjoys reading fantasy novels, bicycling, hiking, travelling, and cross-country skiing.
Lauren Ingram
Lauren Ingram has always been drawn to traditional music and dance, and first started line dancing as a child when her Greek immigrant family took her to summer Greek festivals. She began studying classical percussion in 4th grade and went on to study music and ethnomusicology in college. Though a classical percussion major, Lauren found herself more interested in folk music traditions, studying Japanese taiko drumming, Indonesian Balinese and Javanese gamelan, Senegalese sabar drumming, and traditional Greek music. She dances several latin dances, but bachata and casino rueda are the two that have stolen her heart. Lauren is relatively new to international dancing and relishes dancing to unusual odd-meter songs.
She is an enthusiastic lifelong learner, with Masters Degrees in Applied Linguistics and Elementary Education, and more recent studies in music education and non-profit arts management. Lauren works as an elementary music and movement teacher and sneaks folk music and dance into the curriculum whenever she can.
Siu-ching Lui
Siu-Ching Lui discovered international folk dancing in 1995 at an evening class in Green Brook, NJ. She immediately fell in love with the beautifully eclectic music and the intricate footwork, and she and her husband (Paul Tong) have been folk dancing ever since. They enjoy being part of the folk dance community around New Jersey and beyond, especially in Vancouver, Canada where they lived for several years.
During the same time period when folk dancing came into her life, Siu-ching, along with Paul, began pursuing the practice of Chinese brush painting, which quickly became a second passion. Over the years, their work has been exhibited at local libraries and art centers. Besides folk dancing and painting, she enjoys hiking, skiing, windsurfing and traveling.
Siu-ching became a fan of the Folk Arts Center after attending the dance sessions on Zoom, and especially after venturing out to the 2020 Pinewoods Camp. She is thrilled to be joining the FAC Board as a Folk Leader, and looks forward to sharing her experience in starting and organizing dance groups in the NJ area to the Board.
Professionally, Siu-ching had a long career as a research scientist in R&D at Honeywell, Inc., after earning a PhD in Materials Science and Engineering from the University of Pennsylvania.
Jim Madigan
Jim Madigan first started folk dancing at Yale in 1974, and performed with the Ajde! Folk Ensemble in New Haven. Jim has remained active in folk dance communities ever since, including stints in Oregon and Washington DC before arriving in Boston in 1988.
Professionally, he retired from a long career in Information Technology in 2016 to enjoy time away from the computer - spending time dancing, hiking and traveling. When Covid-19 hit, Jim returned to his IT roots, and helped to spearhead FAC's turn to virtual programming using Zoom, and can still be found behind-the-scenes at most of the FAC virtual events! Jim has been a member of the FAC board since 2016, and currently chairs the FAC Technology Committee, and is a member of the FAC Nominating Committee, and Balkan Music Night organizing committee.
Jim is married to a Yale Slavic Chorus alumna (Daphne), and has two sons (Elliot and Julian), who are alumni of FAC’s FolkDays at Pinewoods Camp.
Sue Rose
Sue Rose began folk dancing in college at Brown in 1976, where she also taught, programmed and performed. She discovered the MIT Folk Dance Club in 1981 and schlepped up to Boston regularly, finally moving to Cambridge to lessen the commute. In order to subsidize her folk dance habit, she got a Masters of Public Health while programming and teaching at all three dance sessions at MIT’s Folk Dance Club.
Yaron Shragai
Yaron Shragai, born in Israel and come of age in New York, with stints elsewhere in the US before landing in Boston in 2003, is a music and dance leader in the local folk and folk-inspired music/dance community, including both the American-Anglo-Celtic sphere and the international sphere.
While his younger years saw him chasing the musical cutting edge, he has always cultivated an interest in the traditional as well, which over time became his primary interest. Yaron began international folk dancing at MIT in 2003 and playing the associated music after connecting with the International Music Club at NEFFA 2004, and subsequently became organizationally involved in the community and evolved into his current roles. In his spare time, Yaron is a computer engineer.
Ron Wilkinson
Ron Wilkinson discovered international folk dancing in New Haven in 1974 and found it a great source of multicultural awareness, exercise, comradery, and fun! Upon moving to Boston in 1977, Ron quickly connected with both the MIT Folk Dance Club and the Folk Arts Center of New England for their rich offerings of weekly dance sessions and seasonal special events. In the early 80’s, Ron was a member of the MIT Folk Dance Club’s Performing Group, known colloquially as the “PG”, which performed at NEFFA, First Night Boston, nursing homes, and assorted other venues.
Ron met his wife, Almas Dossa, in 1981 at a Folks Arts Center weekly dance session. Their wedding reception in 1986 featured the Mandala Folk Orchestra and guest Marianne Taylor showing some of their non-folk dancing family and friends how to join in the fun! After 35 years of marriage, Ron and Almas count folk dancing as one of the great highlights of their lives together!
Ron has a Bachelor of Arts degree from Yale and Masters degrees in both Statistics and Computer Science from Boston University. He has spent his professional life applying information technology to healthcare, in 2022 rounding out his 28th year at Boston Children’s Hospital and still not quite ready to retire. In addition to dancing, Ron enjoys, bicycling, photography, hiking, reading, and international travel.