You may have seen our July 3rd Montpelier parade entry, featuring a live band and caller, and a few dozen dancers in the street—now is your chance to try it out! Join a hundred or more contra dancers at the Capital City Grange Hall on Saturday evening, July 20! Dela Murphy, the dance caller for the evening will lead a newcomers' instruction session.
If you are new to this type of dancing, or just want a refresher, come about 7:30 and get ready to dance with Dela about 7:45! We'll follow this with 3 hours of fun dancing starting at 8:00. "Spintuition" will play music that, they say, "will set your feet aflame".
Dela Murphy, based in Portland ME, brings her big smile and love for dancing to our dance, having called all around New England and New York. She says you should come and dance "if you want your face to hurt from smiling!" She loves to teach dances to newcomers and dance veterans alike.mile and love for dancing to our dance, having called all around New England and New York.
The band for this dance is "Spintuition", a Vermont-based band, which includes Willy Clemetson on fiddle & foot percussion, Samuel Foucher on accordion & piano, and Silas Hamilton on guitar—and also feet! They play their own tunes, plus traditional favorites for dancing, and also love to smile.
Contra dances with great callers and hot live bands like these are presented on the 1st, 3rd and 5th Saturday evenings, at the Capital City Grange Hall in Berlin. The Hall is located 6612 Rt. 12 (aka Northfield St), Berlin VT 05602 (for GPS) just south of the I-89 overpass, a mile from downtown Montpelier. The Contra Dance Umbrella, the volunteer committee which puts on the dances, wants everyone to come and have a good time. Admission is $10 for adults, $5 for kids and low-income folks.
We suggest light, comfortable clothing, clean soft-soled shoes to protect the beautiful dance floor, and a water bottle to keep hydrated--you can fill it at the water fountain/bottle filler. Come by yourself and find partners at the dance, or bring your friends! Whoever you are, we invite you to share a warm evening of friendly, social, high-energy dancing!
Questions? Call Tim Swartz at 802-225-8921 for more info, or see the Contra Dancing page on the Grange website: http://capitalcitygrange.org/dancing/contradancing