Author: althewebmaster

Join us for an evening of contra dancing at American Legion Post #43, 143 Church Street in Belfast. The festivities begin at 6:30 pm, with a Community Dance called by Chrissy Fowler and with music by the All Comers Band. All musicians are welcome to sit in. Fun and simple dances will be taught, giving beginners the opportunity to learn new skills and offering experienced dancers a chance to brush up on their steps. The Contra Dance begins at 8:00 pm.

This month’s caller is Belfast’s own Chrissy Fowler. A founder and leading light of the Belfast Flying Shoes dance series, Chrissy called her first dance in 1999. Since then, she has cheerfully guided people through the steps of contra dances at festivals, schools, dance series, and special events throughout New England. She is especially gifted at introducing the joys of traditional dance to the uninitiated in educational, community and professional settings. Chrissy is committed to building community and sees traditional dancing as a vital means to connect people of all ages and levels of experience.

Sharing the Flying Shoes stage with Chrissy will be:

Cedar Stanistreet, Jonathan Cannon, and Ness Smith-Savedoff

Cedar and Ness are well known and loved in contra dance circles across North America, playing with a variety of bands such as Cloud Ten, Nor’easter, Nova, and Gallimaufry. Jonathan is a multi-talented musician, teacher, and organizer steeped in both Klezmer and contra dance traditions (as well as computational neuroscience and game design). Together they create a vivid blend of musical styles, weaving melodies, harmonies, and rhythmic riffs to propel the dance.

• Cedar Stanistreet—fiddle
• Jonathan Cannon—fiddle and guitar
• Ness Smith-Savedoff—percussion

Sound provided by Eric Weest Johnson

Admission to the Community Dance is $2 for adults and $1 for children. Admission to the Contradance is $10 for adults, $8 for ages 13 to 20 and adult All Comers, and $5 for children. Bring along a window fan and get $1 off. For more information: call 338-0979, email us at [email protected], or find us on Facebook.

Join Belfast Flying Shoes for an evening of contra dancing at American Legion Post #43, 143 Church Street in Belfast. The festivities begin at 6:30 pm, with a Community Dance called by Chrissy Fowler and with music by the All Comers Band. All musicians are welcome to sit in. Fun and simple dances will be taught, giving beginners the opportunity to learn new skills and offering experienced dancers a chance to brush up on their steps. The Contra Dance begins at 8:00 pm.

This month’s caller is Luke Donforth. Based in Burlington, VT, Luke is a contra dance caller, a choreographer, and a founder of The Mad Robin’s Callers Collective, a group of callers dedicated to improving their own craft and advancing the skills of others. He brings a warm and inviting playfulness to the stage and a mix of classic and new compositions to the dance floor.

Sharing the Flying Shoes stage with Luke will be:

Shandy

Shandy features Eileen Nicholson Kalfass on fiddle, Rebecca McCallum on fiddle, and Jane Knoeck on piano. After years of playing together in such bands as the Groovemongers (Rebecca and Jane) and New Brew (Jane and Eileen), these three skilled, energetic dance musicians have finally come together as a trio, and the result is electrifying. Their wide-ranging repertoire blends musical traditions from Ireland, Quebec, France, New England. The spicy mix of tunes and the band’s contagious enthusiasm are guaranteed to keep feet moving on the dance floor.

Eileen Nicholson Kalfass—fiddle
Rebecca McCallum—fiddle
Jane Knoeck—piano

Sound provided by Eric Weest Johnson

Admission to the Community Dance is $2 for adults and $1 for children. Admission to the Contra Dance is $10 for adults, $8 for ages 13 to 20 and adult All Comers musicians, and $5 for children. Bring along a window fan and get $1 off. For more information: call 338-0979, email us at [email protected], or find us on Facebook.

Join us for an evening of contra dancing at American Legion Post #43, 143 Church Street in Belfast. The festivities begin at 6:30 pm, with a Community Dance called by Chrissy Fowler and with music by the All Comers Band. All musicians are welcome to sit in. Fun and simple dances will be taught, giving beginners the opportunity to learn new skills and offering experienced dancers a chance to brush up on their steps. The Contra Dance begins at 8:00 pm.

This month’s caller is Belfast’s own Chrissy Fowler. A founder and leading light of the Belfast Flying Shoes dance series, Chrissy called her first dance in 1999. Since then, she has cheerfully guided people through the steps of contra dances at festivals, schools, dance series, and special events throughout New England. She is especially gifted at introducing the joys of traditional dance to the uninitiated in educational, community and professional settings. Chrissy is committed to building community and sees traditional dancing as a vital means to connect people of all ages and levels of experience.

Sharing the Flying Shoes stage with Chrissy will be:

Riptide

For anyone who hasn’t noticed, we are living in a golden age of contra dance bands. The current generation of New England dance musicians are gifted enough to captivate concert hall audiences, yet they bring the same musicianship, tradition-rootedness, and contemporary zing to small-town dances like ours. This month’s Maine-based feature band is a great example. Comprised of local favorites—and Maine Fiddle Camp mainstays—Alden Robinson, Glen Loper, and Owen Marshall, Riptide serves up the Franco-Celtic-American repertoire with a combination of sweetness and energy that is eminently listenable but really must be danced to be believed.

Alden Robinson—fiddle
Glen Loper—mandolin & tenor banjo
Owen Marshall—guitar

Sound provided by Eric Weest Johnson

Admission to the Community Dance is $2 for adults and $1 for children. Admission to the Contradance is $10 for adults, $8 for ages 13 to 20 and adult All-Comers, and $5 for children. Bring along a window fan and get $1 off. For more information: call 338-0979, email us at [email protected], or find us on Facebook.

Join us for an evening of contra dancing at American Legion Post #43, 143 Church Street in Belfast. The festivities begin at 6:30 pm, with a Community Dance called by Chrissy Fowler and with music by the All Comers Band. All musicians are welcome to sit in. Fun and easy dances will be taught, giving beginners the opportunity to learn new skills and offering experienced dancers a chance to brush up on their steps. The Contra Dance begins at 8:00 pm.

This month’s caller is David Smukler. David is an engaging caller and teacher who presents a wide variety of dances, including old chestnuts and freshly minted dances. Along with contras and English dances, his programs can include squares, singing calls, triplets, mixers, and more. Sharing the stage with David will be perennial Flying Shoes favorite, the accordion-fortified fun machine …

Anadama

Boston-based contra dance band Anadama is Amelia Mason, Emily Troll, and Bethany Waickman, who root their sound in the traditions of New England, Ireland, and Quebec. As the trio say: “It is dynamic, earthy music, all—from sweetly rolling jigs to breathless, freewheeling reels—played with vigor and honesty, and dance at its heart.” Come to Belfast the first Friday in June, and these three will put dance in your heart too.

Amelia Mason—fiddle
Emily Troll—accordion
Bethany Waickman—guitar

Sound by Glen Loper

Admission to the Community Dance is $2 for adults and $1 for children. Admission to the Contra Dance is $10 for adults, $8 for ages 13 to 20 and adult All Comers, and $5 for children. Bring along a window fan and get $1 off. For more information, email us at [email protected], or find us on Facebook.

Join us for an evening of contra dancing at American Legion Post #43, 143 Church Street in Belfast. The festivities begin at 6:30 pm, with a Community Dance called by Chrissy Fowler and with music by the All Comers Band. All musicians are welcome to sit in. Fun and easy dances will be taught, giving beginners the opportunity to learn new skills and offering experienced dancers a chance to brush up on their steps. The Contra Dance begins at 8:00 pm.

This month’s caller is Belfast’s own Chrissy Fowler. A founder and leading light of the Belfast Flying Shoes dance series, Chrissy called her first dance in 1999. Since then, she has cheerfully guided people through the steps of contra dances at festivals, schools, dance series, and special events throughout New England. She is especially gifted at introducing the joys of traditional dance to the uninitiated in educational, community, and professional settings. Chrissy is committed to building community and sees traditional dancing as a vital means to connect people of all ages and levels of experience.

Sharing the Flying Shoes stage with Chrissy will be:

The Racket Factory

Based in beautiful Western Maine, the Racket Factory has decades of experience playing traditional acoustic music for dances and listening. Their dance repertoire highlights New England fiddle music’s roots in the Celtic, French Canadian, and Old Time traditions. And With three fiddles and a super-solid rhythm section–including guitarist and Flying Shoes sound guy Eric Johnson–they put their tunes across with style and drive.

The band’s name comes from the old Maine Racket Factory building in New Sharon, the town where most of the members lived when the band was formed.

Margaret Cox—fiddle
Cynthia Phinney—fiddle
Hank Washburn—fiddle
Eric Johnson—guitar
Mark Rains—bass

Sound provided by Eric Johnson and John Pranio

Admission to the Community Dance is $2 for adults and $1 for children. Admission to the Contra Dance is $10 for adults, $8 for ages 13 to 20 and adult All Comers, and $5 for children. Bring along a window fan and get $1 off. For more information, email us at [email protected] or find us on Facebook.

Join us for an evening of contra dancing at American Legion Post #43, 143 Church Street in Belfast. The festivities begin at 6:30 pm, with a Community Dance called by Chrissy Fowler and with music by the All Comers Band. All musicians are welcome to sit in. Fun and easy dances will be taught, giving beginners the opportunity to learn new skills and offering experienced dancers a chance to brush up on their steps. The Contra Dance begins at 8:00 pm.

This month’s caller is Vermont-based Mary Wesley. Mary is a dance leader, caller, and organizer for contras, squares, morris, and family and community dances. A native of Vermont, she travels throughout New England and beyond to share her friendly enthusiasm and love of dance. When she isn’t calling, Mary works at the Vermont Folklife Center, in Middlebury,

Sharing the Flying Shoes stage with Mary will be:

Maivish

Maivish taps a deep vein of musical tradition that spans from the British Isles to North America. Fiddler Jaige Trudel grew up in Vermont, in a musical family, and has performed professionally since 2001. Guitarist Adam Broome was raised in the Cotswolds in west central England and has pursued a lifelong passion for traditional English dance music and song. (Trudel and Broome were also two thirds of the dance trio Crowfoot.) Matthew Olwell, on blackwood flute and percussion, has been performing and teaching as a dancer and percussionist at festivals and theatres across North America and Europe since 1996. Maivish is celebrated for a powerfully rhythmic and lyrical sound that is honed to perfection for dancing. The name Maivish comes from an English colloquial term for the song thrush.

Jaige Trudel—fiddle
Adam Broome—guitar
Matthew Olwell—flute, percussion

Sound provided by Eric Weest Johnson

Admission to the Community Dance is $2 for adults and $1 for children. Admission to the Contra Dance is $10 for adults, $8 for ages 13 to 20 and adult All Comers, and $5 for children. Bring along a window fan and get $1 off. For more information, email us at [email protected] or find us on Facebook.