Chris eloquently addressed this tragic loss.
I remember the encouragement and advise she provided me after my guest slot
calling at the Ralph Page Dance Legacy Weekend, when I was still new and
nervous.
I will miss her incredible warmth and support.
On Tue, Feb 13, 2018 at 1:50 PM, Seth Seeger via Callers <
callers@lists.sharedweight.net> wrote:
> Dear callers,
>
> It is with great sadness that I pass on the message below. Her support of
> this community and to many of us as individuals cannot be overstated. She
> will be missed.
>
> Seth
>
>
> Begin forwarded message:
>
>
> To the dance community:
>
> These are excerpts from a letter from Chris Ricciotti.
>
> It is with great sadness that I am passing on the news that Linda Leslie
> passed away Sunday evening. She called on Thursday night at the Concord
> Scout House, Friday evening at the Rehoboth Contra Dance, and then again on
> Saturday evening at our own contra dance in Jamaica Plain. She called an
> amazing dance program for all of us those evenings!
>
> Linda had been having difficulty breathing during the past week or so,
> particularly after walking, and this became increasing worse over the past
> few evenings. On Sunday evening, she was taken by ambulance to her local
> Emergency Room and she passed away in the ambulance on the way to the
> hospital.
>
> Her husband Bob Golder has requested that Linda’s passing NOT be posted on
> Facebook. Email and word of mouth is fine, but he prefers this not to
> become a Facebook event.
>
> As a caller, she took the love and the joy she experienced as a dancer,
> and transformed the dance community every where she went, touching us all
> with her lovely soft spoken presence that would make you feel embraced with
> that love she had when she danced. To many of us, she was like our dancing
> “mom” or “grandmom”, always a warm smile, always ready with humor, always
> looking out to make sure everyone was having a good time, and feeling safe
> within the room.
>
> In our community, she was a bridge builder, and a role model of what good
> dancing and community building are all about. She was also a HUGE advocate
> of gender-free dancing. She was one of the key people who helped us
> connect with and be an accepted part of the greater community of dancers,
> and encouraged us to share our love of dancing with others as a way to help
> build those connections.
>
> She was also a part of helping us to build the strong relationship we have
> with NEFFA, being a support to our fundraising food booth, being present at
> meetings we had with NEFFA as we worked on being more of a part of the
> greater dance community, helping us to navigate the issues that were
> occasionally a part of this process, as she helped us to better understand
> the greater dance community, as they came to know us
>
> At our dance camps, as many of you know, her presence was always a welcome
> treat, whether she came as a dancer simply because she loved our community
> so much, or when she would come as a caller to build our community, and the
> bonds that go with it, as she shared her passion and love of music and
> dancing.
>
> And of course, we cannot forget her delightful husband Bob, who has also
> been a warm personality, much loved in our community, also sharing his love
> of dancing with us, not only as a dancer, but as a caller, having written
> some of my favorite dances along the way. Bob has also being a great NEFFA
> advocate helping us many times along the way. His warm smile and
> delightful presence has brought a lot of joy to us a lot over the years,
> and he continues to be a part of the family that makes our dance a special
> place to be.
>
> I know we will all miss Linda very much. It’s very difficult to lose
> someone who has had such a presence in our lives and who has brought us so
> much, and who was a big part of our dancing family. As we find out more
> information about memorial service arrangements, we will let you know,
> along with any memorial dances that may be organized in her honor.
>
> In the mean time, when we come together to dance, let us honor her memory
> by sharing that joy she brought to each of us, with each other, and let us
> dance in honor of all our friends and loved ones who have gone before us.
> It is moments like this that are so precious – and Linda was certainly one
> of them!
>
> In sorrow and gratitude for having the honor of knowing Linda,
>
> Chris Ricciotti
>
>
>
>
> ___
> List Name: Callers mailing list
> List Address: Callers@lists.sharedweight.net
> Archives: https://www.mail-archive.com/callers@lists.sharedweight.net/
>
>
--
Luke Donforth
luke.donfo...@gmail.com
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