Details
Please click here to review our safety protocols. The policy will change if conditions warrant. Windows in the hall may be open for good ventilation. We occasionally have to depart from our usual dance time, or (rarely) cancel a dance on short notice, so check web site before you come.
Caller
David Smukler
David Smukler leads evenings of contras and squares, English country dances, family dances, school programs, and special events such as weddings, festivals, etc. He has also presented workshops on numerous dance related topics. His taste in dances is eclectic, and he presents a wide variety of dances. His repertoire includes plenty of New England contras, as well as an assortment of squares, singing calls, mixers, old chestnuts and freshly minted dances. He has a special fondness for English country dances, and his English programs also blend old favorites with new gems.
David grew up singing folk songs with his mom and began dancing contras in New Hampshire as a teen. In 1981 he was drafted to call for his local dance and has been calling ever since. David calls contras and squares, English country dances, and family and community dances, and is also a choreographer.
David is a retired inclusive early childhood and childhood educator who has also taught for years at the college level in a teacher preparation program. He has frequently used dance and song in his teaching, both with children and adults, sometimes to the great surprise of his students. A teacher through and through, David believes that people can always learn and grow. While welcoming change and evolution, David has enormous respect for the value of folk traditions and is the author (with David Millstone) of Cracking Chestnuts: The Living Tradition of Classic American Contra Dances, published in 2008 by CDSS.
Band
Raven & Goose
Corwin Zekley (fiddle), Grace Fellows (piano)
Raven & Goose are a nationally touring contra duo. With fiery fiddlin’ and foot stompin’ piano, they play original compositions and breathe new life into traditional tunes, all delivered with a passion that will get you up and dancing!
Virtuoso violinist, Corwin Zekley was born with a fiddle in their hands and plays with an intensity yet delicacy that pulls on the heartstrings of all who hear them. Corwin has eclectic musical roots, and enchants audiences playing anything from Celtic to Jazz to Country to Metal. Corwin studied at the Berklee College of Music, has played thousands of concerts, appeared on dozens of records, and has published books and albums of their own compositions.
Grace Fellows grew up playing traditional music on fiddle, and she synthesized her broad musical influences while studying at Calarts, and doing her masters at BIMM London. She became an accomplished pianist while performing as a singer/songwriter, and in the last years has become a powerhouse contra-pianist whose potent sense of rhythm will propel you around the dance floor.