Saturday Dec 20 20:00 - 23:00: last contra dance of the year in Ottawa. Doors open 19:00.
Location, Richmond Road and Churchill.
Beginners welcome - no partner needed. Wear clothes that are comfortable for aerobic exercise, and bring indoor shoes that slide on the wood floor and won't damage it. Walking shoes are ok, but not if gravel and salt are encrusted into the soles.
There is always live music and a caller at contra dances.
📆 You might also like to check out Casterton 2026 where Geoff Cubitt will be calling contras and squares.
#folkdance #folkmusic #contra #dance #contradance #lancaster #lancashire #lancasteruk #livemusic
6/6
I’ll be calling contra dances along the east coast this month! Catch me in one of these cities.
Full details at https://chromamine.com/dance/
Working on a mix for a local contra dance that involves a Nirvana song. I know techno contra* is a thing, but did I just invent grunge contra?
* that has nothing to do with techno music.
Excellent contradance tonight near Syracuse, part of the Phylla Mae Fall Festival. Not a big event but great music, calling, and dancing. This year's featured caller is Michael Karcher with music by Stove Dragon and Raven & Goose. Continues all day tomorrow with English country dancing and more contra.
https://syracusecountrydancers.org/special-events/phylla-mae-fall-fest/
#Syracuse #SyracuseNY #contradance #contradancing #EnglishCountryDance #EnglishCountryDancing #folkDance #folkDancing
So I DJed a contra dance a few weeks ago and I wrote up a little retrospective of the evening: what was good, what went wrong, etc. with a few recordings. Probably not super interesting to anyone else, but if somehow you happen to DJ contra, it's here!
https://blog.samwhited.com/2025/10/2025-09-30-trolley-barn-contra-post-mortem/
We welcome dancers of all ages and abilities, so bring your friends or come alone - we look forwards to seeing you on the dance floor!
For more info see https://lancastercontra.org.uk/events/
#folkdance #folkmusic #contra #dance #contradance #lancaster #lancashire #lancasteruk #livemusic
2/2
More musical sub-quests:
In 1985 Wild Asparagus, released their first album, "In Season". To my knowledge it was only ever released on cassette, and went out of circulation long ago.
Does anyone have this cassette, and if so:
A. would you be willing to rip it and share WAV or FLAC files, or
B: physically mail it to me so I can rip it and send it back?
I'd like to preserve this album before all the tapes go bad.
https://musicbrainz.org/release/d543decb-8239-4f5a-bc0d-63daff76dfab
Another "a bit of a stretch" question: I have a musical mystery on my hands! There was a band in 1998 called "Callithump" that recorded an album ("A Collection of Contra Dance Tunes"). I have emailed the only band I can find by that name to try and get any information about the recording or the band, and they say that it's not them! Does anyone know who this band was or have more information about this album?
https://musicbrainz.org/release/f84f61d4-9091-4938-b9a5-d5ac2026c4ca
If you're in the Atlanta area on Tuesday September 30th, swing by Inman Park's famous Trolley Barn for music and contra dancing by my myself and my friend Valerie!
There's a lesson at 7PM and each dance is taught individually throughout the night, so even if you've never done any kind of dance before you'll be able to do this (Valerie is a great teacher)! Come with or without a partner; there will be plenty of friendly people to dance with!
We welcome dancers of all ages and abilities, so bring your friends or come alone - we look forwards to seeing you on the dance floor!
For more info see: https://lancastercontra.org.uk/events/
#contra #contradance #lancasteruk #folkdance #livemusic #lancashire
2/2
Our next Contra Dance is on 1st November 13:30-16:45 at St. Pauls Community Hall, Lancaster.
Rhodri Davies Caller will lead us through the dances before we dance to live music
#contra #contradance #lancasteruk #folkdance #livemusic #lancashire
1/2
Okay internet, help me out: I've been trying to find new Contra dance bands and improve their listings on #MusicBrainz. There must be some contra folks on here! Who are your favorite bands (that have actually recorded albums)?
The ones I've already improved the listings for somewhat are:
Only one more week to go til our July contra. 5 July 1:30pm at St Paul’s Parish Hall.
For more info and to book your tickets see our website http://LancasterContra.org.uk
#contra #contradance #lancasteruk #folkdance #livemusic #lancashire
One neat thing I’ve used Cursor for recently is translating my contra dance programs from photos of my physical cards to the YAML format I use to record them.
"Falshoods programmers believe about contra dances"
I just applied for a scholarship to the John C. Campbell Folk School for their traditional dance callers week. Not something I had on my bingo card for this year, but apparently I was recommended for it by someone in the local contra scene and invited to apply, so why not? I've always thought it would be fun to learn to call properly (I've only ever done it at open-mic type dances and workshops)!
Many contra dance callers use The Caller’s Box, a phenomenal dance choreography database from Chris Page and Michael Dyck. For those of us who primarily call gender free dances, though, using it requires mental translation from gendered role terms to gender neutral ones. I’ve created a browser plugin, Caller’s Box Configurator, to fix this.
Sunday 7 lesson, dance 730 - #ContraDance in #PorterSquare #CambridgeMA - Masks required - not wheelchair accessible - $5+ sliding scale admission, live music https://www.bidadance.org
#BostonDancing #BostonWeekend 10/x
