Tag Archives: North Adams contradance

June 8th, Contra Dance in North Adams

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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. 

June 10th – Delightful Dance

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Join us this Saturday, June 10th, for a delightful community contra dance!  Maggie McRae will call (teach), starting the evening with easy dances accessible to novices and families with children.  The hall will fill with lively, energetic dancers, new skills will be taught as needed, and by the end, we’ll have danced the old chestnut, “Chorus Jig”, to the traditional reel of the same name.  (Trust us, Chorus Jig is fun! That’s why people have been dancing it since 1820, at least.)  Come alone, or with friends.
Music will be provided by two masters of New England’s traditional dance music:  Laurie Indenbaum on fiddle, and Mary Cay Brass on keyboard.  Mary Cay has been a foundational performer and teacher in the traditional dance and music community for many years. In addition to teaching choral singing, she has supplied a vital pulse in various 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”.

Location: the Community Hall of the First Congregational Church. 906 Main Street, Williamstown, MA  
Time: 7:30 – 10 PM
Admission: pay-as-you-can.  $12 – $20 suggested.  Barter (especially help with cleanup) also welcome.
Covid Policy: we continue to require proof of vaccination and masking for this June 10th dance.  Please be prepared to show proof of vaccination at the door, if you have not previously registered at our dance.  (Pre-registration form here:  https://tinyurl.com/NorthBerkshireDancePreReg)  Having a spare mask to change into can be really helpful – just like shirts, masks get a bit dampish from dancing in warm weather, and changing into a fresh, dry one is a pleasure.

Speaking of Covid policies, ours is potentially up for revision.  Would you contribute your thoughts, please, in this survey?  https://tinyurl.com/NBCDCovidSurvey2023  We had planned to launch this survey last month, but then one of our key organizers came down with Covid (he’s recovered now), and we had a bit of a scramble to put on the May dance without him.  He reports that Covid is distinctly unpleasant, even with Paxlovid.  Since he stayed home (model comportment) we didn’t have to worry he would spread Covid at the dance — but it was a good reminder that,  A. we miss people when they’re away and, B. Covid’s not gone and we do still need to think about how we want to manage it.

We hope to see you at this dance, and many more!  

Who We Are

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North Berkshire Community Dance began with a conversation. In the fall of 2018, Doone MacKay, a longtime local fidder in North Adams, met John Seto, a board member of the Country Dance and Song Society. He came to renovate an apartment in North Adams, and he found a longstanding dance community here.

The Northern Berkshires has had a dance community for generations — singing squares in the 1940s, dawn dances in Williamstown in the ’70s. College musicians formed a band 20 years ago and taught themselves to call and held informal dances in Goodrich Hall or played reels in the Berkshire quad. MCLA professors and students danced downtown.

Bennington and North Adams have both had dances until the last few years, and active dances thrive within an easy hour’s drive, in Lenox, Albany and Greenfield.

NBCD has formed to revive dance in North Adams and Williamstown. We are affiliated with Country Dance and Song Society, and with support from them and the Dance Flurry Organization just over the New york border, we are opening the doors this spring.