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.

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.

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/

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. 

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.

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.

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.

Hi, everyone,

We’re taking a little vacation in August, so I hope you already have plans for this Saturday evening (staying home to relax is a perfectly good plan).

Here’s our schedule for the remainder of 2023:
September 16th (a *third* Saturday) Jeff Walker will call and play guitar, and Kathy Walker play fiddle. They are coming all the way from Poughkeepsie, NY to lead our dance. They specialize in welcoming dancers all experience levels community dances like ours, and say Chorus Jig is one of their favorite dances.

October 14th: Quena Crain will call to music byThree Potatoes Four (Gianna Marzilli Ericson, Rebecca Weiss, and Rebecca Hollingsworth). Quena is a teacher in southern Vermont, and if we’re lucky, she’ll invite her students and their families to join us all at this event.

November 11th: Andy Davis will call, and likely play the accordion. You(!) are welcome to join the open band which will be led by Becky Hollingsworth and Rebecca Weiss. You’re also welcome to dance, watch, or split your time between dance floor and stage in whatever proportions you please.

December 9th: Caller Tony Parkes will come out from Boston to lead our dance; music will be supplied by master musicians Andy Davis, George Wilson, and Selma Kaplan. This is something of a reunion for these four (magnificent) performers, who have enjoyed working together as occaision permits for at least three decades (do I have that right?). Their pleasure in the event will almost certainly give us, the dancers, all a little extra joyous bounce. We know we’ll dance Chorus Jig, and if we’re lucky, we might get some additional old chestnuts beyond that, too. (Monymusk? Hull’s Victory? Lady Walpole’s? They’re all good.)

I hope we’ll see you there!

A few background reminders about our dance: as a community dance in a small college town, we try to be welcoming to and fun for a wide range of dancers. Novices and families with children are encouraged to arrive by 7:30 to participate in the introductory lesson. More experienced dancers can certainly enjoy the first half (simpler dances make socializing easier and more relaxed) , but some may prefer the second half ot the evening when we often shake out somewhat more complex or vigorous dances.
Role Terms: we’re making a slow transition from traditional to gender-neutral role terms, with a preference for gender-neutral. This year we are “caller’s choice”. Most of our callers have chosen to use Larks and Robins when they need to specify roles. Jeff Walker plans to say “the person dancing the gentleman’s [or lady’s] role” or similar, making it clear that these are roles, not identities.

Chorus Jig continues to be our dance of the year for 2023. It’s an “old chestnut” that has been taught and danced since 1820, at least. It has a different flavor from more contemporary contra dances, but is popular at least partly because it’s a very forgiving structure, with plenty of room for mistakes and/or silliness.

We’ve updated our Covid policy as described here (In summary, masks optional, no vaccine requirement, starting in September 2023.)

Location: in the Community Hall of the First Congregational Church, on Main Street, in Williamstown, MA. We hold dances on the second Saturday monthly (most months), and start promptly at 7:30 pm with an introduction for newcomers. From there, the dance runs ’til 10 (or 10:30 on a lively night).

Did I miss anything? If you have questions, please email using the form at the bottom of this page, and let us know!

I hope to see you on the dance floor soon!

-Doone