Eisteddfod chairman Graham Oke said it would be a serious blow for the festival if a dance co-ordinator could not be found.

Michelle Parisi has co-ordinated the dancing section for the past two years but she lives at Wangaratta and is no longer willing to undertake the arduous task.

“We’ve written to all the local dance academies but haven’t received one reply,’’ Mr Oke said.

“Several hundred dancers take part in different sections and it’s a complicated job to co-ordinate them.

“It’s not something I could take on myself because you have to have a good knowledge of dancing.’’

Highland dancing is in a different category not supervised by the main dance co-ordinator.

The eisteddfod is run by volunteers, apart from a part-time administration person.

This year it was held from July 26 to August 9.

Mr Oke will report the dance problem to the annual meeting of the eisteddfod organisation on Friday, the first since he was elected a year ago when the eisteddfod was in danger of folding.

“This year’s eisteddfod was probably the most successful so far, and the income topped $101,000, leaving us with a $15,000 surplus,” he said.

“We’d need every cent of that if we don’t have dance competitions next year.’’

Mr Oke said venue hire in Albury and Wodonga for the 15-day event remained an issue.

“The two city councils gave us $28,000 in grants between them but we paid out $36,000 to hire the Albury Entertainment Centre and the Wodonga Civic Centre,’’ he said.

Calisthenics will be back on the program for 2010 for the first time since 2002.

Editorial — page 20