Our June dance in North Adams was a joyful success! Over forty happy dancers, and at least a dozen musicians, helped us open the hall. Are you considering joining us in July? Here are some potentially helpful notes:

Musicians: in July we’re trying a new “mixer” band format. Small groups will take turns playing for dances. Now is a great time to find friends to play with and plan out a set or two, though that’s not required. Please help us plan by emailing eric@buddington.net, with ideas on tunes you want to play and people you want to play with.

Calling Workshop: for July, please come prepared with one dance you are ready to call, at a mic, with live music. This means you’ll have worked out the timing of your calls, and possibly have thought about how to simplify over the course of a dance. Practicing at home, calling aloud, to real music, is highly recommended. One delightful feature of the “CallersBox” website (check out the recommended dances linked below), is that it links to videos for many of the dances, which is a fabulous help for visualization.

In the first half of the workshop, each participant will take a turn at the mic, calling with live music, but without dancers. In the second half, participants will have the opportunity to call for experienced, helpful dancers. (We’ll get into walk throughs and teaching in future workshops.)

Simple dances recommended, such as “Family Contra” by Sherry Nevins: https://www.ibiblio.org/contra…/thecallersbox/dance.php…

Galopede variant, by David Kaynor: https://www.ibiblio.org/contra…/thecallersbox/dance.php…

Lady of the Lake variant, by Don Lennartson: https://www.ibiblio.org/contra…/thecallersbox/dance.php…

Please sign up in advance by emailing Dance@NorthBerkshireDance.com. If you missed the first workshop and want to join now, please do! We’ll share notes to help you catch up, upon request.