| Ralph & Joan Collipi began round dancing in 1969, and in January of 1972 began teaching rounds in Salem, New Hampshire. 1997 marked their 25th anniversary of teaching rounds,at that time were given the Maestro Award. In 2000 they were awarded the Silver Circle Award, Roundalab’s 2nd Highest Award. Also in the year 2000 they were inducted into the “Pappy Shaw” Foundation. In 2002, the were awarded the Yankee Clipper Award, for outstanding service to the Program. In 2003 they were inducted into the New England Hall of Fame. They teach classes weekly ranging from basic to advanced, and have a full schedule of private lessons. Their advanced club is chapter #93 of the National Carousels. The Collipi's have been and are scheduled to be on staff at several weekends and festivals covering 38 states including Alaska, Mexico, Canada and Europe. In Frankfurt, Germany, they conducted a Leaders/Clinic/Workshop for the European Round Dance Leaders, which included Dance Teachers from Brussels, England, the Netherlands, as well as Germany, there were 40 round dance teachers in attendance at this workshop. This was sponsored by ECTA (European Callers & Teachers Association). They are one of five " ROUNDALAB TEACHER COACH" couple's. They presently are working on test preparation for the RAL Organization. Recently they were clinicians for a mini lab in Abilene, Texas , and in Heartland, Michigan. Ralph & Joan host Phase IV, V, VI, Round-E-Vous R/D weekends twice a year for the past 15 years, featuring well known National R/D Leaders. An additional Chesepeake Round-E-Vous weekend in Maryland was formed with Dom & Joan Filardo, geared to the III,IV,V Dancers. They have also been featured leaders in R/D events in 32 States including , Alaska (4 times), and have been featured leaders in the prestigious Washington D.C. Area Round and Square Dance Festival (WASCA), 13 consecutive years and still counting They have taught and been Clinicians at Local, National, Roundalab and Universal Round Dance Council Conventions, and have conducted clinics throughout the United States, Canada, Prince Edward Isle, Alaska, Mexico and Germany. Also they are on staff at the popular Holiday Round Dance Ball held at Myrtle Beach, S.C,.
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In 1992 ,they formed the East Coast Round Dance Leaders College in Salem, New Hampshire. Their staff includes Wayne and Barbara Blackford, who are also one of the 4 Roundalab Teacher Coach couples. In 9 years, they have graduated 84 Leaders from the United States encompassing California, Michigan, Illinois, Alaska, New Brunswick, Montreal, Fredericton, N.B., Germany, & Japan. The year 2001, two schools were conducted by the East Coast College, one in Anaheim California, and one in Salem, New Hampshire, graduating 16 leaders. They are Staff Writers for the Northeast Square Dancer Magazine and American Square Dance Magazine and Cue Sheet Magazine writing round dance record reviews for both magazines. This review encompasses Phases II through VI.. They are Past-Chairman of the Board of ROUNDALAB and presently members of the Board of Directors, and on the Executive Committee, and were Education Co-ordinators for the 2000 RAL Convention, as well as 2001 Education Co-ordinators, as well as Roundalab Convention Managers. They are presently on the Executive Committee for Roundalab, and Budget Officers. They have served on the Board of Directors of URDC, and were Registrars for the URDC 2000 Convention, and will be Registrars for the 2003 Convention. They are presently serving as Chairman of the Board of ACCORD. They are members of Dixie R/D Council. For 15 years they were on the New England Screening Committee. They have studied Ballroom dance lessons privately for several years, with Marie Darnell Noel, Former Black Pool English Champion. Their choreography includes over 95 dances. Ralph & Joan both retired from AT&T, Ralph as an Accounting Analyst Manager and Joan as a Buyer. They look forward to spending what little free time they have with their son Ralph Jr., daughter Maureen, 3 grandchildren, their grandson Joel, who is a musician, and 2 granddaughters Nikki-Sue and Kristina Marie. We especially THANK THE DANCERS for enriching our lives. |
122 Millville Street
Salem, N. H. 03089-2238
Tel.
603-898-4604
E Mail ralph.collipi@verizon.net
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We teach at the Knights of Columbus
Gaythorne Hall - Methuen, Massachusetts
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