Doubleheader Contra Dance in Jonesborough!
The Historic Jonesborough Dance Society will hold a doubleheader contra dance on Saturday and Sunday, February 6-7, 2010 at the Historic Jonesborough Visitors Center, 117 Boone Street. Admission to the dances is $7, $5 for HJDS members and $4 for students. All dances are smoke and alcohol free. No partner is necessary. Families and children are welcome.
Performing for the Saturday event will be Cailen Campbell and David Brown from Asheville. The callers will HJDS members Warren & Terry Doyle from Mountain City, TN. They will also teach a full hour waltz workshop from 6-7pm.
Cailen Campbell has been thrilling contra dancers all over the southeast and around the country for over a decade. His innovative, highly improvisational, lyrical fiddling has been heard in numerous acclaimed regional dance bands, including The Atomic City Rhythm Rascals, The String Beings, The Rocket Boys, The Gypsy Hicks, in addition to a dynamic duo with renowned Asheville area guitarist and banjo virtuoso David Brown. Calien and David will be bringing their unique blend of contra grooves to Jonesborough.
Super Bowl Sunday brings the second event of the doubleheader. It’s the Second Annual Foot Ball. While the fans of the sport of NFL Football are gearing up for the championship game of the season, contra dancers will gather at the Jonesborough Visitors Center to share potluck lunch starting at noon, waltzing from 12:45 to 2:00pm and contra dance from 2:30-5:30pm. “We did this event last year and surprisingly had over 130 dancers come for the afternoon dance” states event organizer David Wiley, President of the Historic Jonesborough Dance Society. The waltz music will be provided by local duo “Feverish” made up of 16 year old pianist Courtnie Magamoll joined by Flutist Cricket Hull.
The afternoon contra dance will feature the band Hot Sonata with Karen Gaughan on keyboard, Mark Mueller on fiddle and Art Shuster on mandolin. Ever popular caller, Beth Molaro from Asheville, will do the dance calling. There will be no beginner workshop for this dance. The dance will conclude at 5:30pm in plenty of time for dancers to change back over to football fans as the Super Bowl Game kicks off at 6:25pm.
Contra dancing is a traditional form of American folk dance that evolved from the long ways country dances popular in English society centuries ago. Contra dance communities now thrive all over the country. There are websites that can direct you to contra dances in most states. The modern contra dances provide dancers of all ages and experience levels with the opportunity to smile, move, connect, flirt and create an evening of dance nirvana with each other. No previous dance experience is necessary. No fancy footwork is required. If you can walk and count to eight, you can contra dance!
Contra dances are community events. At almost any contra you will find people of all ages and all dance skill levels, from young to old, beginner to expert. Contra dancers form a very open and welcoming group of people. You can come alone or with others since it is a tradition to dance with a variety of partners throughout the night. It is perfectly acceptable for either a man or a woman to ask someone to dance. It’s a great way to make friends with someone they haven’t met before. You will find contra dancing a great way to make new friends.
For more information, contact event organizer, David Wiley, at 423-913-3246 or visit www.historicjonesboroughdancesociety.org an the Historic Jonesborough Dance Society on FACEBOOK. |
