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.

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.

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.

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.

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!