Readers
here probably know of my fondness for the "chestnuts,"
those classic contra dances that have been at the core of the
traditional repertoire. Years ago, I wrote a piece, "So Why Are
They Called Chestnuts?" which was later included in the Cracking
Chestnuts book and which can be
found online.
The person responsible for that term entering our dance vocabulary
was Joan Pelton, who died
on February 15, 2012. She is someone who made a difference.
Today's Doonesbury is a Flashback to an earlier strip, which reminds
us that Zonker is well aware of the social benefits of square dancing.
Enjoy!
Dancing at BIDA
Written on .
I called last night at the BIDA dance
in Boston, my first time calling for this Sunday evening series about
which I've heard mny good things. It's not that I'd been playing hard
to get, just that an invitation hadn't come along before. I was
delighted to be invited, and even happier at the end of the evening.
BIDA is the acronym for Boston
Intergenerational Dance Advocates, an unwieldy name so you
readily understand why they go by their nickname. It's a young
series, founded in 2008, and unlike some other new dance events, this
one had an intentional goal from the start. The organizers were
looking to fill a niche in the already very full Boston area dance
scene; they wanted to create "an organization which would
strengthen community ties and provide opportunities for dancers,
musicians, callers, and dance organizers to share knowledge and
energy between generations." They've succeeded.
Musician Noah Van Norstrand is part of the Great Bear Trio with his brother, Andrew, and their mother. They play traditional tunes and they play some sets of original and untraditional material They also sponsor the Great Bear Groove, a lively dance event over Memorial Day weekend where I'll be calling this year.
Noah created a wonderful animation aimed at the "cool, hip dancers" who flock to the center set of some dance halls and will only dance there. In it, he skewers some of the attitudes that make some of us callers cringe. I love that this was created by someone who is not a curmudgeonly old-timer but rather by someone who is very involved in today's dance scene and is clearly a keen observer. Thanks, Noah!
A Night To Remember
Written on .
In the video about the Norwich contra dance with Northern
Spy, musician Rick Barrows muses, "Sometimes it's ordinary and sometimes
it's magical; you just have to keep showing up." Saturday night was one of
those nights we'll all remember. Here's a link to the video footage from that night.
