May 11th Contra Dance

Posted on May 2, 2024 by patdunlavey

Join us Saturday, May 11th, for a delightful community contra dance! North Berkshire Community Dance will hold its monthly contra dance with calling (teaching) by Quena Crain, and live traditional fiddle music by masters of the New England contra dance repertoire.

The dance will run from 7:30 to 10:30 p.m. in the Community Hall of the First Congregational Church, 906 Main St., Williamstown. Admission is pay-as-you-can, $12 to $20 suggested, and barter is also welcome. Covid protocol: masks are very welcome but not required.

Quena Crain, who calls all over New England (and far beyond), brings an infectious joy to the dance hall. Her fun calling, and easy teaching style, are beloved by all age groups, from elementary school, through college, and well past retirement. Quena is adept at leading dance events for people of any experience level. For this dance, Quena will use “larks and robins” role terms.

Mary Cay Brass has been a foundational performer and teacher in the traditional dance and music community for many years, supplying a vital pulse in many beloved dance bands, including “The Greenfield Dance Band” with David Kaynor, and “Airdance” with Rodney Miller. Laurie Indenbaum has been fiddling for dances in Vermont and surrounding states since 1976, with many fine callers and bands, including “Applejack” and “The Full Catastrophe.” Andy Davis has been a part of Nowell Sing We Clear, and on staff at Country Dance and Song Society summer camps for many years. He also plays accordion for a Morris dancing team and calls for contra dances. Each of the three has been playing for contra dances for over forty years, and frequently together. Their music will lift your feet, and bring all the dancers together into one happy dance.

April is the Coolest Month (Or it would have been if T.S.Eliot had tried contra dancing?)

Status

Okay, maybe I just didn’t have a good title. Still, the dance will be friendly, lively, and fun, and the music will be of poetic loveliness.

North Berkshire Community Dance will hold its monthly contra dance on Saturday, April 13th, with live music by “Spare Parts”, and calling (teaching) by Jonathan Greene. The dance will run 7:30 to 10:30 p.m. in the Community Hall of the First Congregational Church, 906 Main St., Williamstown. Admission is pay-as-you-can: $12 – $20 suggested.

All are welcome. Come alone, or with friends — most people change partners for each dance throughout the evening. New dancers and families with children are encouraged to arrive by 7:30 for instruction in the basics.

Jonathan Greene, the caller, will teach all the dances, using “gents and ladies” role terms. Jonathan regularly calls at the popular Lenox, MA contra dance series, and lately has been coaching new callers at a “callers club” dance series in Housatonic.

Berkshire County band, “Spare Parts” will provide live dance music, performing the traditional fiddle tunes in rich and elegant arrangements. Bill Matthiesen on piano and Liz Stell on flute combine with one or more “spare parts du jour.” For our April 13th dance, fiddler Eric Buddington will round out the sound with his much lauded improvisational flair. Spare Parts has performed for period events, contradances, English dances, weddings, parties, concerts, and dance camps from Alaska to Maine. Their historic dance music has been used worldwide in motion pictures (Bright Star) and theater productions as well as television programs including Mercy Street (PBS), Antiques Roadshow and numerous programs on the History Channel (even SpongeBob SquarePants!).

Covid Policy: NBCD encourages masks, but no longer requires them. Be aware: whoever your partner, you’ll wind up dancing with everyone in the room. You may wish to bring a spare mask to change into for comfort throughout the evening. Masks are also available at the door — small donations appreciated.

March 9th Contra Dance – First Ever Appearance of “The Vintons”!

Posted on March 1, 2024 by doonemackay

Come in from the March mud for a friendly contra dance! North Berkshire Community Dance will hold its monthly contra dance on Saturday, March 9th. Cheerful young caller Maggie McRae will teach every dance to live fiddle music in the best New England tradition.

Contra dancing is a living tradition in New England; for hundreds of years, neighbors and friends have made their own social entertainment in this easy and highly collaborative dance form. All are welcome. Come alone, or with friends — most people change partners for each dance throughout the evening. New dancers and families with children are encouraged to arrive by 7:30 for instruction in the basics.

Maggie McRae, the caller, will teach all the dances with her usual sense of fun and enthusiasm, using gender-neutral phrasing.

The band, “TheVintons,” is a new collaboration of three long-time musician friends with a love for the classic New England contradance sound: George Wilson – fiddle, Andy Davis – accordion & piano, and Marko Packard – guitar & flute. With many decades of musical experience of all kinds between them, from George with Fennig’s All-Star String Band & teaching at dance camps, Andy with Nowell Sing We Clear & years of dance calling, and Marko with Airdance & Elixir, these three weave new musical fabric from the traditional tunes that they love.

Covid Policy: NBCD encourages masks, but no longer requires them. Be aware that, whoever your partner, you’ll wind up dancing with everyone in the room. You may wish to bring a spare mask to change into for comfort throughout the evening.

Dance off the February blahs at a friendly contra dance!

Posted on February 3, 2024 by doonemackay

North Berkshire Community Dance will hold its monthly contra dance on Saturday, February 10th. Popular young caller Liz Nelson will teach every dance to live traditional fiddle music from the local band, Cider Mountain.

The dance will run 7:30 to 10:30 p.m. in the Community Hall of the First Congregational Church, 906 Main St., Williamstown. Admission is pay-as-you-can: $12 – $20 suggested.

Our caller this month is Liz Nelson. She will teach all the dances in an inclusive and welcoming style, using gender-neutral phrasing. Liz believes that anyone and everyone can dance. Her goal is to help create evenings where music becomes movement and moving together becomes joy, just as natural as breathing.

The band, Cider Mountain, will be led by locally beloved Tony Pisano on the accordion. Tony, Butch DeGiorgis (whistles and mandolin), Doone MacKay (fiddle), and Seamus Connor (guitar and mandolin) will be joined by Bill Matthiesen on piano. Music will be the classic jigs, reels, and waltzes of New England and surrounding areas, played with joy and the camaraderie of decades.

New Year’s Dance — New Dancers Wanted!

Posted on January 5, 2024 by doonemackay

New Year’s Dance — New Dancers Wanted! And old dancers and young dancers; expert and uncertain; enthusiastic and hesitantly willing to give it a try. All will be gladly welcomed to our first community contra dance of 2024, on Saturday, January 13th.

Dances will be taught by Paul Rosenberg, and live fiddle music will be led by Eric Buddington. The dance will run 7:30 to 10:30 p.m. in the Community Hall of the First Congregational Church, 906 Main St., Williamstown. Admission is pay-as-you-can: $12 – $20 suggested, and barter is also welcome. Masks will be required for this post-holiday dance.

Paul Rosenberg specializes helping newcomers discover the joys of dancing. He is one of the founders of the Dance Flurry in Saratoga Springs, N.Y., and has called at festivals throughout the Northeast, but he says he was afraid of dancing until he found contra in his 30s. He will open the evening with simpler dances appropriate for novices and families with children, gradually building the dancers’ skill level and confidence while having fun. The calling will be gender-neutral.

Local musicians, Eric Buddington, Seamus Connor, and Jimmy Bergin enjoy tweaking the traditional jigs and reels with collaborative improvisations and forays into ragtime and other adjacent genres. Their music will be lively, cheerful, and, above all, a delight to dancers.

Health precautions: Masks required. For this first post-holiday dance in a season of rising respiratory illness, NBCD will require masks on the dance floor. (Performers may go unmasked while on stage.) Be aware that, whoever your partner, you’ll wind up dancing with everyone in the room. You may wish to bring spare masks to change into for comfort throughout the evening. Masks will be available at the door – $1 donation appreciated!

Exposure notification from North Berkshire Community Dance

Posted on December 12, 2023 by doonemackay

Dear dancers,

A dancer who was at the Williamstown, MA community contra dance on Saturday, 12/9, informed us that they have tested positive for Covid today (Monday, December 11). So far their symptoms are mild congestion and tiredness. Please feel free to contact us with any questions or concerns.

As always, if you test positive for Covid-19 in the 10 days after attending our dance, please let us know. And as with any exposure notification, we encourage everyone who attended Saturday’s dance to take reasonable precautions, including monitoring themselves for Covid-19 symptoms and considering testing. Please refer to CDC recommendations.

dance@northberkshiredance.com

New England Classic Contras – Saturday, December 9th

Posted on November 30, 2023 by doonemackay

North Berkshire Community Contra Dance invites you to come and dance: Saturday, December 9th, in Williamstown, MA. Andy Davis will call a program of New England classics (including some “old chestnuts”), to live fiddle music by George Wilson and Selma Kaplan.

The dance will run 7:30 to 10:30 p.m. in the Community Hall of the First
Congregational Church, 906 Main St., Williamstown. Admission is
pay-as-you-can: $12 – $20 suggested, and barter is also welcome. Masks are optional, though encouraged — if you feel ill in any way, please stay home and come again next month.

Andy Davis will teach all dances in an inclusive and welcoming style, using gender-free phrasing. His goal is to put everyone at ease so they can have fun and dance. Music will be provided by George Wilson, whose dynamic fiddling, strongly influenced by Cape Breton and French Canadian styles, has been popular with contra dancers and concert-goers since the late 1970s. George will be accompanied by Selma Kaplan on keyboard. Selma is an accomplished pianist, composer, and arranger, and one of the most requested dance musicians on the East Coast.

While we expect this dance to be a pleasure for all who come, sadly, Tony Parkes, whom we had originally scheduled to call a program of “old chestnuts”, will not be here. He will be home recuperating from a serious illness. You can see his latest health update and write him an encouraiging note here: https://www.caringbridge.org/visit/tonyparkes Here’s a snapshot of Tony calling the first dance in our current series, back in May of 2019:

Thank you, Tony, for helping us all enjoy community dancing!

Contra dancing is a living tradition in New England. (And when we say “contra dance”, we really mean community events with group dances in various formations which could be more specifically described as squares, and circles, as well as contras, and other longways sets.) For hundreds of years, neighbors and friends have made their own social entertainment in this highly collaborative dance form.

New dancers and families with children are encouraged to arrive by 7:30 for instruction in the basics. All are welcome. Come alone, or with friends — most people change partners for each dance throughout the evening. We hope to see you there!

Come Dance and Play! November 11th, in Williamstown

Posted on November 3, 2023 by doonemackay

We hope to see you (and dance with you, talk with you, and maybe even hear you playing music) at the North Berkshire Community Contra Dance in Williamstown, on Saturday, November 11th.

Our caller this month is Andy Davis. Andy will teach all the dances in an inclusive and welcoming style, using gender-free phrasing. His goal is to put everyone at ease so they can have fun and dance.

Music will be provided by an open band, led by Rebecca Weiss on fiddle and Becky Hollingsworth on piano. “Open band” means that anyone with an acoustic instrument is welcome to join. Tunes likely to be played are listed here: https://northberkshiredance.org/tune-list/

Contra dancing is a living tradition in New England; for hundreds of years, neighbors and friends have made their own social entertainment in this highly collaborative dance form. All are welcome. Come alone, or with friends — most people change partners for each dance throughout the evening. New dancers and families with children are encouraged to arrive by 7:30 for instruction in the basics.

Come Dance, October 14th, in Williamstown!

Posted on October 8, 2023 by doonemackay

three pictures of dancers, the first college age dancers circling left, the second two waltzing couples ranging in age from about five to about seventy, the third, a long set of mixed ages all wearing masks

Quena, in a polka dotted dress, grins with a microphone in her hand; The three musicians of "Three Potatoes Four" pose with their instruments, smiling at the camera

First Dance in the of Fall 2023

Posted on September 7, 2023 by doonemackay

Please come to our first dance of the fall season, on Saturday, September 16th. We’ll haveh a lively community contra dance taught by caller Jeff Walker, and energetic, New England-style fiddle music.

As a community dance in a small college town, we like to welcome everyone into the ever-changing tradition of New England contra dances. Some of the dances are hundreds of years old, some are recently composed. This month, Jeff’s hallmark clear instructions and infectious enthusiasm will combine with the band’s high-energy music to create an unforgettable evening of dancing just right for the level of experience of the crowd. Everyone is welcome. New dancers and families with children are encouraged to arrive at 7:30 for an introductory lesson. Come with or without a partner; most people change partners for each dance throughout the evening.

Kathy and Jeff Walker have been playing New England-style dance music for over 40 years. Kathy plays fiddle and Jeff accompanies her on guitar and calls. Their repertoire spans the Celtic world drawing tunes from Ireland, Scotland, Galicia, French Canada, Cape Breton, and Appalachia, and includes many kinds of dance music from fast, energetic jigs and reels to slow, beautiful waltzes.

The dance will run 7:30 to 10:30 p.m. in the Community Hall of the First Congregational Church, 906 Main St., Williamstown. Admission is pay-as-you-can, $12 – $20 suggested, and barter (especially help with cleanup) is also welcome.

Covid Policy: NBCD encourages masks, though they are no longer required. Be aware that contradance isn’t made to social distance, as whoever your partner, you’ll wind up dancing with everyone in the room. Bring a spare mask to change into, for comfort throughout the evening.

Role Terms: at our September 16th dance, Jeff will refer to “the person dancing the lady’s role” and the person dancing the gentleman’s role”, making it clear that these are roles taken within the dance, not social identities.