Welcome,
The Historic Jonesborough Dance Society was chartered in the Fall of 2005 as a non-profit, educational organization to promote a better understanding and appreciation of American folk dancing, its music, its history and related folklore. HJDS is a group affiliate of the Country Dance and Song Society. We are an all-volunteer organization based in Jonesborough, the oldest town in Tennessee.
We will hold community dances on the first and third Saturdays every month in the auditorium of the Historic Jonesborough Visitors Center at 117 Boone Street. Our dances are open to the public and feature live music in a smoke and alcohol free environment. No experience is necessary. Each dance is taught by the caller for the evening. You do not have to bring a partner. Comfortable shoes and clothing are recommended. Snacks and beverages are for sale in the visitors center. For more information about Jonesborough, please visit their website that can be found in our links section.
New Dance Floor-Built by Volunteers-Funded by many contributors!  Recent News
Press Release |
Spring Chickens Play Contra in Jonesborough!
The Historic Jonesborough Dance Society welcomes Asheville band “Spring Chickens” and caller Connie Carringer to the next contra
On Saturday, March 6, 2010 at the Historic Jonesborough Visitors Center, 117 Boone Street. There will be a class for beginners at 7:00pm followed by the dance from 7:30-10:30pm. There will be a waltz break at 9:00pm at which time Klondike Bars will be offered to all comers. Admission to the dance is $7, $5 for HJDS members and $4 for students.
The beginner’s workshop gives the experienced dancers and first timers
a chance to warm up together. The caller explains many of the calls
such as balance and swing, star left and star right, ladies chain across,
Do-si-do, courtesy turn, allemande and hey for four. Many of these
calls would be familiar to anyone who has square danced. The contra
dance employs a longwise set and allows couples to progress up
and down the line to dance with all other couples. It’s a group dance where everyone in the longwise set interacts with everyone else during the song which lasts anywhere from seven to ten minutes.
The Spring Chickens known mostly for their hard driving rhythmic old time repertoire will crossover to add contra dance tunes for our dance. The Spring Chickens are lead by regional potters Rob and Beth Mangum from Weaverville, NC. on fiddle and guitar. The remaining members of their group are McLean Bissell on bass, Art Schuster on mandolin and Ben Harvey on banjo.
Connie Carringer, a graduate student at Appalachian State University in the Community Counseling/Expressive Arts Therapy program, is relatively new to contra dance calling but has shown great progress in her second career. Part of her training was the “Callers Week” at the John C. Campbell Folk School last summer. She also plays old time banjo, sings and writes songs.
Event organizer, David Wiley, believes that our dance community, which is open to all comers, is growing both in size but more importantly in dance skill. “Our last dance had over 150 dancers, but the dancing was excellent.” adds Wiley. “We are getting dancers from all over the region because of our dance floor and because we are a very friendly and welcoming group”.
“We combine traditional live music and dances that anyone can
do” adds Wiley. The dances are held two times per month in the Historic Jonesborough Visitors Center. All the dances are taught by
the caller. You don’t have to bring a partner. The dances are smoke and alcohol free.
For more information, contact David Wiley, event organizer at 423-913-3246 or visit www.historicjonesboroughdancesociety.org or Historic Jonesborough Dance Society on FACEBOOK. |
Posted by: David Wiley on
February 26, 2010 |
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