Photograph by Kathy De La Torre
Playing My Tune: Ned and Marian Gault are partners on and off the dance floor. Among other instruments, Ned plays the button-accordion, an instrument from Central Europe also called the 'harmonika.'
Lord and Lady of the Dance
Ned and Marian Gault founded an internationally known folk dance troupe
By Shari Kaplan
When Ned and Marian Gault say they've danced their way through life, they aren't talking in metaphor. Dancing is the couple's life in a very literal way: They not only met because of it, but also teach, perform and create it.
Like their relationship with each other, their relationship with the art of dance is marked by love, respect, perseverance and a willingness to learn and change constantly. Their progeny--Ensemble International, an internationally known dance troupe of South Bay residents--is a direct reflection of this.
The Gaults are also devoted to many other loves. Marian, an Idaho native, does calligraphy, pen-and-ink drawing and watercolor painting. Ned, originally from Michigan, enjoys glass-blowing, computer graphics and programming, and composing and playing of music.
Both are college graduates and retired teachers--she of English, social studies, sewing, calligraphy and dance in the Cambrian School District; he of chemistry and computer programming in the Campbell Union High School District and industrial glassblowing at San Jose State University. Ned's original job in Silicon Valley was as a research engineer for the former Fairchild Semiconductor in Mountain View, the first local company to produce silicon chips.
If it hadn't been for dance, however, this Jack- and Jill-of-all-trades probably would never have met. In the 1950s, Ned and Marian ended up as partners while attending the international folk-dancing classes Ned's parents taught through the San Jose Metropolitan Adult Education Department.
"We started dancing together and have been ever since," Marian says, smiling at her husband.
"Once we started dancing together, that was it! It's a whole different type of communication and trust that develops," Ned adds, explaining how their relationship evolved from on to off the dance floor.
By 1958, Ned's parents retired and passed the role of instructors to Ned and Marian, who by then were dating. The couple married in 1962 and lived in Sunnyvale, where they gathered a following when they brought their dance classes to the city's Parks and Recreation Department. In 1966, with organizational help from fellow dance enthusiast Jules DiCicco, the Gaults brought Ensemble International into their lives. To this day, the city of Sunnyvale remains a major benefactor.
"We had organized group performances as well as solo ones before, so this was just a logical thing," Marian recalls. "We were inspired, or rather urged, by Jules to start the group."
The Ensemble began with a few dancers from the Gaults' classes--those with the most enthusiasm, skill and time.
"The most difficult part of having a group like this is finding people who will devote all that time and effort to gaining the skills and doing it right. It's all voluntary; no one gets paid," Marian says.
As artistic directors and choreographers, the Gaults devote much time to learning dances from various nations and studying their historical and cultural backgrounds. Sometimes they bring in guest teachers or choreographers from these countries to help introduce material.
"There's no better way to learn something new than to teach it," Ned says.
The Gaults even outfit themselves and their dancers--eight to 10 couples--in authentic ethnic costumes that are either imported or painstakingly recreated to be accurate in every detail. Marian has had a hand in many pattern designs. Funding comes from the group's paid performances and from grants by the Arts Council of Silicon Valley (formerly the Arts Council of Santa Clara County).
Over the past three decades, the Ensemble's repertoire of dances and costumes has grown to include the following ethnicities and regional groups: Austrian, Bavarian, Croatian, English, Filipino, French, French Canadian, Hungarian, Irish, Italian, Mexican, Norwegian, Polish, Russian, Scottish, South American (for tango numbers), Swiss and Swedish. Not forgetting their home country, the Ensemble also performs Appalachian, Colonial American, mid-19th century and square dances.
"It's their whole life. They really give their all into it," Marilyn Recupero of San Jose says of the Gaults, who have written three books on dance and served on the faculty of the annual University of the Pacific Folk Dance camp for 28 years. Marilyn and her husband, Andrew, joined the Ensemble after taking folk-dancing classes from the Gaults through the Santa Clara Adult Education Department.
"They feel it's crucial to stretch a group by doing performances; you get the most learning that way. You definitely don't want to be careless!" Recupero adds. "I especially like performing in a way that touches someone in the audience and makes a difference in someone's day."
During the past 35 years, those performances have taken the Ensemble on three tours in Europe--two through Austria, Bavaria and Northern Italy, and one through Norway, Denmark and Sweden. The highlights of these tours included an appearance before King Karl Gustav of Sweden and a show at Tivoli Gardens in Copenhagen, Denmark. In the South Bay, the Ensemble has hosted eight European performing groups, providing the housing, transportation, sightseeing and performing opportunities during the groups' stays.
The Ensemble's many other credits include a performance by special invitation at the World's Fair in Spokane, Wash.; a representation of France and Switzerland at the St. Paul (Minn.) Festival of Nations; a half-time show during a 49ers football game at the former Candlestick Park; a half-time show at World Cup Soccer playoffs; and participation in the San Jose Performing Arts Summer Series.
The Ensemble also appears at schools, convalescent hospitals, retirement homes, senior citizen groups and church groups. Although they rarely get paid for these appearances, the Gaults say they are rewarding nonetheless.
"One of my favorite things [about being in the Ensemble] is the feeling of education, in the sense that you're showing the folk customs of a certain group of people. You're educating as well as entertaining the audience," Ned says.
Marian and Ned say they relish the pride they feel when someone from the ethnic group being portrayed at a given Ensemble event compliments the group's costumes or dance interpretations.
The busy couple recently learned they are being recognized for their contributions to the folk dancing movement with a national award at an annual dance festival in San Antonio, Texas. The National Folk Organization's convention takes place there. The Ensemble has also booked a large Rotary convention this year at the Westin Hotel in Santa Clara. There are always Oktoberfests for which to plan, and, of course, the Gaults continue to teach their weekly non-Ensemble folk-dancing classes in Santa Clara.
"We love performing, and we love to dance! We plan to do it as long as we can," Marian says.
Ensemble International welcomes new members with an adequate background in folk dance and the time and ability to practice and travel. For information about the Ensemble or the Gaults' regular dance classes, call 408.395.8026.
Campbell, California
