Now that the season of rain, snow & mud is upon us, a gentle reminder to bring a pair of clean, dry shoes to our dances if it’s sloppy out. Changing into them before heading onto our great old dance floors protects them from undue wear and helps your fellow dancers avoid slippery wet spots…. Read more »
Latest News
!! Dec 5 Contra Dance Cancelled
We regret to announce that white-out snow conditions have prevented the band from coming to Rochester tonight. The contra dance for December 5 is cancelled.
The Double Dance is ON! No Snow is Predicted.
Despite all the snow coming off Lake Erie onto Buffalo and off Lake Ontario onto Oswego, Rochester and the Finger Lakes are not having any snow today, Saturday, November 30. The double dance with Bev Bernbaum calling to the music of Calico is on! See you at the dance. In addition, current CDR members may… Read more »
English dances switch to afternoon in November
Starting with our November 3 dance, our English dances are moving to 2:30 – 5:30 PM, to make better use of the diminishing daylight hours.
Did you forget to renew your membership?
If you’re a CDR member, September was the month to renew your membership. Anyone who comes to our dances is encouraged to take this small action to support contra and English dancing in Rochester. Hover over About CDR in the dark blue main menu and click on Membership for prices and other information. You can… Read more »
Syracuse double English dance Sept. 14
Double English Saturday, September 14, 2024 The United Church of Fayetteville Music: Serendipity (Barb Seppeler on keyboard, Laurie Groux-Gilman on flute) Multiple Callers 2:30 to 5:30pm Afternoon dance for experienced dancers 5:30 to 7:00pm Potluck 7:00 to 10:00pm Dancing for all Fine dancing for all who will! Lovely dances with interesting choreography… Read more »
English dances only 1st and 3rd Sundays in July and August
During the warmest months of summer, with a non-air-conditioned hall (one with good cross ventilation), we drop back to two per month – the first and third Sundays. We’ll be back to our regular weekly schedule in September.
No English dance on June 30
… it’s one of those 5th Sundays when we take a short break from our weekly schedule. Do join us on July 7 for a dance featuring music by Sister Haggis, sponsored by Bill & Pat Donaldson to celebrate their 40th wedding anniversary. They are covering all the expenses, so this is a free dance!
No English dance on May 19
Most of our usual dancers will be resting up after spending the evening of May 17th and all of 18th at the Sun Assembly in Syracuse!
English dances have reverted to evenings
Starting in April, our weekly English dances move back to evenings, 6:30 – 9:30 PM. We’ll keep those evening hours until late Fall, when we plan to switch back to afternoons.
No English dance on March 31
It’s a 5th Sunday and also Easter. The next Rochester English dance will be on April 7.
Thistle, Rose & Shamrock
Scottish, English & Irish Country Dance Workshops & Ceili
Trip to Totality
Celebrate the 2024 Solar Eclipse by dancing away the bad karma! David Smukler will call appropriate dances for the disappearance of the sun. Sister Haggis is teaming up with Catherine Sloboda to form the new band Bellamira.
Jane Austen Ball 2025
The next Jane Austen Ball is 2025
We’re taking a break this year to plan an extra-special Jane Austen Ball for her 250th Birthday next year. Syracuse Country Dancers are holding a Sun Assembly with Dan Blim calling, and music by Bellamira [Jane Knoeck (piano), Eileen Kalfass (violin) and Catherine Sloboda (violin/viola)] on May 17-18. Registration will open on the Ides of… Read more »
Scholarship applications due Feb. 12
Country Dancers of Rochester offers $500 of financial assistance (either to one person or divided among multiple applicants) to help with the expense of summer dance camps. You can get an application here. The due date is Feb. 12, 2024. You can reach the scholarship committee by email at if you have questions.
No English dance Dec. 24
There will be no Sunday English dance on December 24 (or December 31). Instead, come to our ever popular Turning of the Year Ball
Dec. 10 English dance cancelled
We were unable to find a caller or musicians who were free on Dec. 10, so have had to cancel the dance. We suggest heading to Skaneateles for Mr. Fezziwig’s Ball, at 5PM on Dec. 10, run by our friends in the Syracuse Country Dancers! Find out more here.
English moves to afternoons
Starting on Nov. 5, our weekly English dances will be switching to our winter schedule: Sundays 2:30 – 5:30 PM. This is a popular time for many, and one which lets us enjoy window light for dancing. Another advantage is that for those who come from out of town, the trip back doesn’t go so… Read more »
Masquerade Ball 10/28/23
Join us for this popular Halloween event on Saturday, October 28 at 6:30 pm.
September is Membership Month
The Annual Meeting for Country Dancers of Rochester will be held in two parts, at Contra on Sept 14, and at English on Sept 17. To participate, join or renew your membership now, both to support traditional dance in Rochester, and to vote for the officers. Do it at any dance, or online. This meeting… Read more »
CDR Relaxes COVID for Regular Dances
As of July 5, we have agreed to remove the proof of vaccination requirement at our English Country and contra dances. Our COVID policy page has been updated with the details. Basically, The federal pandemic health emergency is over. Both URMC and RGH have dropped vaccination requirements for their health care workers. CDC has ceased… Read more »
Contra Moves to Masks Optional
All weekly CDR contras are mask optional until further notice. At our June 17 Contra planning meeting, we discussed our COVID policy. We had agreed in May tentatively that starting with the last dance in June, all contras would be mask optional, but we would continue to require proof of vaccination and contact tracing information…. Read more »
2nd & 4th Thursdays Masks Optional at Contra
On review of the COVID Policies Survey and discussion with the Contra and ECD organizing teams, we are instituting this change at our Thursday night contra dances: Background Overall, contra dancers were in favor of keeping vaccination and booster requirements, and largely in favor of dropping masking requirements. But we have many dancers who are… Read more »
Registration is open for the Jane Austen Ball
We are happy to announce that you can now register for our Jane Austen Ball. Details on our webpage.
Results of the Covid Policies Survey
With bivalent boosters now widely available and public views on appropriate covid precautions continuing to shift, we wanted to run a survey to understand how our particular community was thinking about this sort of thing. After a bit over a week we’ve wrapped up the survey, and the results are in! Of course, in the… Read more »
ECD at 2:30 in Feb. & Mar.
Do you dread driving in the dark to and from ECD during the bad weather winter months? Do you work early on Monday morning and can’t stay to finish the dance on Sunday nights? You aren’t the only one! English country dances will take place at 2:00 – 5:00 pm in January, then (to accommodate… Read more »
English dances moving to afternoon in January
Starting in January, CDR’s Sunday English dances will be moving from evenings to afternoons, 2 PM to 5 PM. The afternoon time gives us more window light in these dark months and hopefully will be more attractive to those who can’t come Sunday night. Once Daylight Savings Time starts, on March 12, 2023 we plan… Read more »
Dancing on Thanksgiving weekend
Rejoice! The weekend after Thanksgiving is full of chances to dance off all those calories! Two contra dances on Saturday and English on Sunday.
English is on Saturday this weekend!
It’s our probably-most-fun-of-the-year Masquerade Ball. No dance Sunday Oct. 30.
Beginners’ Ball – August 27
Join us for the ROC Bridgerton Ball on Saturday, August 27 at 6:30 pm at the air-conditioned Harmony House in Webster. This is a wonderful opportunity to learn the basics of English country dancing in a party atmosphere. For more information go here.
Conviviality (noun): the quality of being friendly and making people feel happy and welcome
The Gaye Fifer/Stomp Rocket weekend is going to be a little bit different from your usual dance weekend. We’ll have one band, one caller, we’ll take long breaks between sessions. We’ll have a game room and we’ll have English and contra equally. “Conviviality” will be the theme of the weekend. Let’s all make each other… Read more »
Contra dances resume on June 2
After a two year hiatus, our contra dances are resuming (with effective masking and proof of vaccination). Click here for details of the June 2 dance. Please review our COVID Safety Protocol before you attend.
No English dance this Sunday
It’s one of those months containing 5 Sundays, and we usually do not hold a dance on those 5th Sundays. May 29 is one of those, so no dance that night. We had a mysterious e-mail glitch (now corrected) that claimed otherwise, so just wanted to reinforce the message.
Contra dances resume on June 2
After a two year hiatus, our contra dances are resuming (with effective masking and proof of vaccination). Click here for details of the June 2 dance. Please review our COVID Safety Protocol before you attend.
Ball registration extended
Our deadline for registering for the Jane Austen Ball has been extended a couple of days. If you still want to come, contact the registrar at . It may still be possible to get you in if you apply before 9 PM on April 12. Click here to get to the registration page.
Ball prep session this Sunday afternoon
Our first practice session for the May 1 Jane Austen Ball will be happening this Sunday, April 10, from 1 – 4 PM, with a cost of $5. The location is the auditorium at Temple Beth El, 139 Winton Road South, at the corner of Hillside. NOTE that this a change from our earlier plans… Read more »
April 3 Ball prep cancelled
We’ve had to cancel the afternoon Ball prep session planned for April 3 because our venue suddenly became unavailable and scrambling around for other spaces was unsuccessful. However the good news is that the evening English dance program that night at First Baptist, taught by David Smukler, will contain many Ball dances; come to that… Read more »
Summer dance camps
Registration is now open for the summer week-long dance camps run by CDSS at Pinewoods Camp and other locations! To whet your appetite, read Jilli Walch’s testimonial below, written after her scholarship-supported dance week in August 2021. To make it easier for everyone to attend, CDR, CDSS and Pinewoods all offer scholarship help. To find… Read more »
Indigenous Peoples Day
Territorial Acknowledgement The land that is now known as New York State has a rich history of First Nations people, many of whom continue to influence and play critical roles in shaping the region. Therefore, CDR would like to acknowledge the traditional territory of the Haudenosaunee and honor the sovereignty of the Six Nations–the Mohawk,… Read more »
Report on Pinewoods American Week
Rachel O’Donnell reports on her August 2021 experience: This year I had the great luck to be a recipient of the CDR scholarship to the American Dance and Music Week at Pinewoods Camp in Plymouth, Massachusetts. Being at camp and dancing after the long isolation of the the pandemic was such a tremendously cup-filling, joy… Read more »
CDR Officers Nominated for 2021
For CDR’s 2021 Annual Meeting, we have one agenda item: to approve the slate of officers proposed by the Nominating Committee. It is our usual practice to conduct the annual meeting business during the break at our regular dancers. We can’t do this in 2021 in light of the continuing COVID-19 pandemic. Accordingly, we will… Read more »
ECD Cancelled
English country dances are regretfully cancelled until our community transmission rate lowers. We are not planning any dances in August or September.
Masks Required
Updated requirements for ECD. To dance at First Baptist, we have agreed to follow the rules established by the church. Please do not come to a dance if you have a temperature, loss of smell or taste, a cough, a cold, or are feeling unwell. Only fully vaccinated people will be allowed into Hubbell Hall…. Read more »
ECD is back!
ECD is back! Yes, that’s right! English Country Dancing is back at First Baptist Church on Sundays from 6:30 – 9:30 pm. We are starting with a soft opening in July of 2021. We’ve have missed all of you and can’t wait to see you again! To dance at First Baptist, we have agreed… Read more »
Humans of CDR – Elizabeth Smith
by Anna Antonik My next featured dancer on Humans of CDR is Elizabeth Smith. A joy to have as a friend and fellow dancer, Elizabeth first inspired my love of contra dancing. Congratulations to Elizabeth as she celebrates the birth of her new baby boy, Nathan Peter! Maybe another dancer in the making…? For now,… Read more »
Humans of CDR: Dave Boyer
Hello fellow dancers! My name is Anna Antonik. I will be your new writer/host for posts on the Humans of CDR (Country Dancers of Rochester) thread. I am excited to share stories of dancers, new and experienced, near and far, as we strive to stay connected during this time. May the joy and companionship… Read more »
Humans of CDR: Bob Fabinski
A story about getting into dancing from our booker, caller, board member, and friend, Bob Fabinski: — I was taking ballroom dance lessons with a couple friends, to prepare for my sister’s wedding. At the end of each lesson, there was a circle couples dance where the partners progressed – step together, step apart, turn… Read more »
Lunch with Tim Ball
Join fiddler Tim Ball and his fans from all over the world, every week day at 12:30 pm for a concert featuring all kinds of tunes including contra, English, Irish, blue grass and more. Look for on Facebook under Tim Ball Music or follow the link: https://www.facebook.com/timballmusic/
Online events
CDSS Online Events Online Events We are gathering information on online events for the dance and song community, and we’ll post them here as soon as they are available. Submit an online event! Be sure to choose Online Events in the Categories box and add your event URL in the Extra Info box. Online Events ONLINE Bal Folk Party Sunday, March 22,… Read more »