Back to Williamstown – First Fall Dance September 28th

Posted on September 22, 2024 by doonemackay

North Berkshire Contra Dance returns to Williamstown on Saturday, September 28th, with a lively community contra dance taught by caller Jeff Walker, and energetic, New England-style fiddle music.

Contra dancing is the contemporary face of a living tradition; some of the dances are hundreds of years old, some are recently composed. Jeff’s hallmark clear instructions and infectious enthusiasm 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. Jeff will use “gents and ladies” role terms. Visit www.NorthBerkshireDance.org for more information.

Covid Policy: Please stay home if you feel unwell (then come next month!) Masking is welcome, but not 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.

Poster: Help more people find the dance, if you feel so inclined. Print and hang our flier! Available at https://northberkshiredance.org/poster/

June 8th, Contra Dance in North Adams

Posted on May 31, 2024 by patdunlavey

Saturday, June 8th: come to a delightful community contra dance! North Berkshire Community Dance will hold its monthly contra dance with calling by Peter Stix, and live music provided by an open band, at All Saints Episcopal Church, 59 Summer St., in North Adams.

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.

Peter Stix will call all dances, starting the evening with easy dances friendly to newcomers and families with children. The caller teaches new moves and skills as needed, so that beginners can dance with everyone right from the start.

Music will be provided by an open band, led by George Wilson on fiddle and Becky Hollingsworth on keyboard. “Open band” means that anyone with an acoustic instrument is welcome to join. A list of likely tunes is available at 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. Our summer 2024 series in North Adams will be even more participatory than currently common. In addition to the open band, we will have an introductory calling workshop for curious dancers. Please check out the details at www.NorthBerkshireDance.org

The dance will run 7:30 to 10:30 p.m. in the Community Hall of the All Saints Episcopal Church, 59 Summer St., North Adams. Admission is pay-as-you-can: $5 – $15, or barter equivalent, suggested.

North Adams Summer Season – Dancing and More!

Posted on May 20, 2024 by doonemackay

Announcing our 2024 summer season!

In June, July, and August, we (North Berkshire Community Dance) will be in North Adams (not Williamstown). The new location gives us the opportunity to try some things we’ve been wanting to do for a while.

But, first, what will stay the same? We are still hosting a community oriented contra dance, welcoming to new and experienced dancers alike, with live music and expert teaching, on the second Saturday of the month, from 7:30 – 10:30 PM.

So, what’s new?

Location: All Saints Episcopal Church, 59 Summer Street, North Adams MA. This is next-door to the post office, in the upstairs community room. (An elevator is available.) It’s a pleasant space, with windows that open, plenty of parking, and centrally located in very walkable North Adams.

If all you want to do is dance, that’s all you need to know. But there’s more!

Calling Workshops: we’re learning to call, and you’re welcome to learn also! From 3-5PM, preceding each dance, we’ll host an introduction to calling for curious dancers. Intended for moderately experienced dancers with no (or minimal) calling experience. The first calling workshop will be led by Peter Stix, who will focus on the mechanics of calling, which centers around timing, and fitting your verbal prompts to the music. Sign up in advance: email Dance@NorthBerkshireDance.com

Music: more opportunities to play! Yay! Rather than hiring in musicians, we’d like to develop, and further develop, local talent. Contra dance music is a very particular thing – the AABB form is well defined, and (relatively) easy to play adequately, which makes it accessible to musicians with skill in other genres. However, contra dance music also has immense room for specialization, improvisation, and collaboration. It’s particularly rewarding for musicians who like to feel appreciated: you can see and feel appreciation from the dance floor when you succeed. Try playing for our community dance, and feel the joy of connection for yourself!

The musical opportunities come in two flavors: an open band on June 8th, and mixer bands on July 13th and August 10th.

Open Band: all musicians with acoustic instruments are welcome to play in one big group, led by experienced musicians. A standard repertoire tune list will be available on our website in advance.
Mixer Bands: volunteer musicians, in small groups, will rotate throughout the evening. Suitable for musicians familiar with the genre and ready to play in smaller, self-organizing, groups. Bring your instrument, and your favorite tunes, and sign up at the dance. Eric Buddington will organize.

Questions? Please email NorthBerkshireDance.com, or ask on our Facebook page: http://www.facebook.com/northberkshiredance/

We hope to see you there! Come dance, play music, bring your friends! It will be lots of fun.

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.

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 on July 8th

Posted on July 4, 2023 by doonemackay

The North Berkshire Community Contra Dance will hold its monthly dance on Saturday, July 8, with friendly high-energy dancing to caller Peter Stix and live music from Berkshire musicians Tony Pisano, Eric Buddington, Butch DeGiorgis, Seamus Connor and Doone MacKay.

Contra dancing is the contemporary face of a living tradition. Both the dance and its music can be traced to roots in 17th century England, France, and Scotland, but have been vigorously mixed and remixed in New England and nearby regions since. The music is live, the dances are taught, and anyone is welcome, with or without a partner — people change partners fluidly for each dance.

Peter Stix will call (teach) all dances, starting the evening with easy dances friendly to newcomers and families with children. The caller teaches new moves and skills as needed, and everyone is welcome. Come alone or with friends.

Many of the band have played together at dances and jams around the county for a generation — locals may recognize them from the dance floor and informal Saturday morning music at Mass MoCA. Tony Pisano on accordion joins Eric Buddington and Doone MacKay on fiddle, Butch DeGiorgis on mandolin and penny whistle and Seamus Connor on guitar.

The dance will run 7:30 to 10 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 continues to require masking for this July 8 dance — because contra dance isn’t made to social distance. No matter your partner, you’ll wind up dancing with everyone in the room. (Having a spare mask to change into can help with comfort when dancing in warm weather.)