Details
At 7:00, we’ll have an orientation session to the contra dance form.
Starting at 7:30, experience the magic of contra dancing, where all are welcome, and no partner or experience is necessary. Music this week is by Missing Lynx, the exciting duo of Oliver and Alex and featuring Tim Ball with calling by David Smukler. Bring your friends, family, and fellow dance enthusiasts for a night of lively music, connection, and community. All dances are taught. An introduction to contra dancing is provided around 7:00.
We have a sliding scale admission policy, with a target of $12. Pay more if you can, less if you can’t – come dance!
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.
Bands
Missing Lynx
Oliver Scanlon (fiddle, feet), Alex Fortier (keys)
Missing Lynx unites Oliver, a soulful fiddler, mandolinist and spellbinding tunesmith, with Alex, a rocking keys man covering an amazing breadth of styles in depth. Together, they rock the dance hall.
Both have been studying American music since they were small and have attracted the mentorship of great figures in traditional music.
Tim Ball
Tim Ball (fiddle)
Tim Ball has been on the contra music scene for over 15 years. As a performer, he tours throughout the northeast with his Celtic trio Arise & Go, contra dance bands Center Street and Tempest, and has played with Renaissance festival bands Empty Hats and Cantiga. Tim leads the Ithaca Irish Session. He has performed and taught at Ashokan and Pinewoods, teaches regularly at the Ithaca Suzuki Institute and the Kanack School of Music fiddle camp, and maintains a private fiddle/violin studio in Ithaca, New York.