Jonesborough Days “Days of Dance”
Four the fourth year, the Historic Jonesborough Dance Society will present their “Days of Dance” during the annual Jonesborough Days Celebration. This year’s featured bands are Appalachian Storm and Dot-Dot-Dash. The caller/teachers will be Diane Silver and Charley Harvey.
The “Days of Dance” program is open to all comers. Dancers can purchase a wristband for $5 per day which allows them to pick and chose any or all of the dance workshops and dances which start with a “Kick off Contra Dance” at noon on Friday, July 3rd.
Following the opening contra dance, Diane Silver will lead our Family Dance from 2:30pm-3:30pm. Family Dance is aimed at beginning dancers and families with children. No experience is necessary and all ages are welcome to participate. Diane will teach circles, mixers, contras and squares.
There will be many more dances during Friday, but those who wish to learn to contra dance can participate in an hour long introduction to contra from 6:00-7:00pm.
Saturday will have a waltz workshop and an open waltz followed by a very popular flat footing and clogging workshop taught by Diane Silver.
The balance of Saturday will be contras and squares with a short program on the Salty Dog Rag at 2:00pm taught by Charley Harvey.
Originally based in the Radford and Blacksburg areas of Southwest Virginia, Dot Dot Dash began performing in the fall of 2002. In the months following, the band was soon playing events and festivals throughout the area, as well as coffee houses, radio and local contra dances. Originally a trio of fiddle, guitar and mandolin, the group welcomed Joel Keebler on double bass in early 2004. In the time since, the group has become spread out geographically, with members living in Boone, NC, as well as Roanoke, Abingdon and Pembroke, VA. The guys recorded an album's worth of tunes in December 2004 and January 2005, and released their first CD in early April 2005. Their follow-up disc, 'Dot Dot Dash 2,' was released on March 1, 2009.
Dot Dot Dash primarily plays contra dances in Virginia, West Virginia, North Carolina and Tennessee, although they can be seen performing at other musical events from time to time.
Appalachian Storm specializes in Appalachian, Irish traditional and contemporary dance tunes. The band consists of David Hayes on guitar, Kris Wallace on mandolin and fiddle, and Terrell Jones on the stand-up acoustic bass and singer and song writer Hannah Seng from Asheville.
David Hayes loves to play music. Beginning with piano at age six, switching to trumpet, flute, then on to guitar, harmonica, eventually dabbling in fiddle, banjo, mandolin and various percussives. A long time finger picker, he now focuses his musical energy on traditional and contemporary Celtic and old-time accompaniment. A lifelong fear of dancing was finally overcome after several years of cajoling by friends—and David discovered contra. So, whilst pursuing his newfound dance addiction he became steeped in this wonderful genre of music that comes with it. Now he's hooked on playing and dancing and is busy working out ways to do both at the same time. When not dancing or playing, he catches babies, ("still the most awesome thing I've ever done - each and every time"), loves growing anything he can get to grow, and is obsessed with propagating his beloved fig tree. He also enjoys sailing, canoeing, hiking, traveling way off the beaten path, tries to be active in Veterans for Peace, and is moving slowly toward a low impact, off the grid lifestyle and bankruptcy.
Terrell Jones is an Asheville native who played electric bass for the rock band Freefall in the Raleigh, NC area during the early 80’s before spending 2 ˝ years overseas, mostly in Africa. Moving back to the mountains in the late 90’s rekindled his old time, bluegrass and Celtic musical roots. The transition led him to the contra dance scene where he joined Appalachian Storm as bass player. Terrell and wife Sara gave birth to their first child, Violet, on February 28, 2008. He works for the North Carolina Department of Environmental Engineering.
Kris Wallace inherited her love of music from her mother, Kathy. Kathy encouraged Kris to start violin and piano lessons at a very young age. As young children go, Kris opted for the fun of getting dirty in the creek beds rather than struggling over a squeaky violin. Looking back, Kris now wishes she had stuck with the discipline and the practice as she later watched with envy many Irish and old time fiddlers. After years in the business world doing computer programming, she changed gears to spend more time on the Appalachian Trail and playing music. Now an accomplished fiddler and mandolin player for Appalachian Storm, she also continues to work as a rural mail carrier.
Overall, the “Days of Dance” program is a way to introduce many of the festival goers to traditional American music and dance which is why the Historic Jonesborough Dance Society was formed in the fall of 2005. Event organizer, David Wiley, and the members of the board, hope everyone will come and give it a try. The complete schedule can be found at www.historicjonesboroughdancesociety.org or the Historic Jonesborough Dance Society on Facebook or right here on this page:
FRIDAY JULY 3rd
12:00 Noon- 2:30 pm Kick-off Contra (Dot-Dot-Dash)
2:30 pm- 3:30 pm Family Dance (Dot-Dot-Dash)
3:45 pm – 5:00 pm Squares/ Big Set / Circle Dances (App Storm)
5:00 pm – 6:00 pm Dinner Break
6:00 pm – 7:00 pm Introduction to Contra Dance
7:00 pm – 9:30 pm Contra Dance (App Storm)
10:00 pm Fireworks
SATURDAY JULY 4th
9:00 am – 10:00 am Waltz Workshop
10:00 am – 11:00 am Open Waltz ( Dot-Dot-Dash)
11:00 am- 12:30 pm Flatfooting / Clogging Workshop
12:30 pm – 4:00pm Contra Dance (Dot-Dot-Dash & App Storm)
Salty Dog Rag 2-2:30pm
4:00 pm – 5:00 pm Squares (Dot-Dot-Dash)
5:00 pm - 6:30 pm Dinner Break
6:30 pm – 10:00 pm Contra Dance (App Storm)
10:00pm - ------------ After Dance Party & Jam |
