This winter and spring we have a special opportunity for those who would like to learn the art and practice of calling dances. The DownEast Country Dance Festival is sponsoring some workshops. There will be two beginning caller workshops, one led by John McIntire and one led by Chrissy Fowler.

Our dance will host session one of John's two-session class on March 8.

Later this year there will be a weekend workshop to learn the next steps. That workshop will be led by Lisa Greenleaf. People who have participated in one of John or Chrissy's local caller workshops over the past couple years will get priorty for the slots in that weekend. More details will be posted as they become available.

Yes - we are back at the Farmington Grange. Thank you SO much to the Wilson Grange for hosting us in February and March. The atmosphere was just right!

We have two special things planned for the May dance. First, we will have calling by a bevy of new callers under the tutelage of John McIntire. Let's turn out a good crowd for them to call for!
Also, special for the may dance, a 7:00 Waltz workshop led by Sandy River. Join us to learn or practice the waltz - both the basic turning waltz that we generally do at contradances, and the box waltz.

This month we will be kicking off a drive to grow our list of Supporting Sustainers from seven to fifteen. If you've been thinking about supporting the dance in this way, now would be a great time to come forward. The Supporting Sustainers have helped us stabilize our finances and guaranteed that we meet expenses reasonably even on nights with lower dancer turnout. To become a supporting sustainer, fill out one of the salmon-colored brochures at the dance and return it to us with your payment.

We are pleased that we will be able to dance at the Wilson Grange in East Wilton for the months of February and March, until the Farmington Grange reopens in April. The Wilson Grange folks are excited to have us, and we are extending a 1/2 price admission offer to Grange members. You can find directions and download a map of all our locations - including the Wilson Grange - on the Directions page.

Note that in March you will again have a chance to learn - or continue to learn - the HAMBO. Sandy and Alan will lead another workshop for us, starting at 7:00 before the March 10 dance. The Hambo is a lovely Scandinavian couples' dance, often danced at modern Maine contradances as a first dance after the break before starting contras again. The workshop is free with dance admission. You can download a flier for the Hambo workshop.

There will be NO beginner workshop on March 10, due to the Hambo workshop. Music that night will be by the Old Grey Goose - folks whose music I've been dancing to since I first started contradancing back in about 1982. Don't miss this opportunity to hear and dance to some really fine New England contra music!

We have secured City Lights North for the December & January dances (see the Directions page to find it). February and March are still up in the air. Suggestions welcome - we are presently following a couple leads.

Details for the upcoming Caller Workshop led by John McIntire have be confirmed. Anyone interested in learning to call dances is welcome. You can download a flier here. Don't miss it! (and if you like Chinese food, plan to get supper on the 6th at the China Star restaurant just down the road from the Norridgewock Grange - it's really yummy!)

Big doings in the works for the October dance.

As a special fun and fundraiser for our dance, several special events are planned for October 14 (our usual second-Saturday).

First, the West Farmington House Band will be playing for dancing at the Grange. Sit-in musicians are always welcome to play with the House Band (and get in for half-price).

In conjunction with the dance we have tentative plans to hold a fundraiser CakeWalk sometime mid-dance that evening. What's a Cake Walk? Well - the details are still unfolding, but there will be Cakes, and music, and of course you get to dance (or walk) to the music and some people will go home with cakes! It promises to be fun.

There will also be special door prizes this month including music, free dance tickets, and more (we would welcome donations of additional door prizes. Contact Cynthia).

The cakewalk will charge an extra donation, but there is no extra charge for the dance and door prizes. So come out to the dance and bring your family and friends. We hope to see you there.

Have you - or anyone you know - ever thought about learning to call dances? John McIntire and Cynthia Phinney are working on putting together a two-Saturday class, "Contradance Calling: The Short Course" that should serve as a solid basic introduction as well as a fine review for someone who already knows the basics but doesn't call frequently.

Tentative plans call for two four-hour classes with an opportunity to call a dance or two (that you've practiced) at an evening dance following the second class. We are aiming for sometime in January or February of this year in the Central Maine area.

Watch this site for more details as they develop. If you want to be contacted directly when things fall into place, contact John McIntire at 207-568-7597 or Cynthia Phinney at webbyone@starleft.org.

We're on the radio!

The piece that Jodi Hausen did on our dance for Maine Public Radio aired this evening. If you missed it, you can listen to it online on the Maine Public Radio website. (updated info follows: September 4)
To listen go to Maine Things Considered Audio-On-Demand
Then, on the left side of the page, click on "Maine News Audio Archives"
It will take you to a search page. Type in the word contradance (all one word) and in a few minutes it will bring up a listing for the piece.
Click on the listing. Then wait.
It will open up your Windows Media Player program and start to play the piece.

If you have a dialup or other slow connection, just let it download and play all the way through (it will do this in bits and will take some time). Then go back and start it over and it will play normally.

We now have a sandwich board sign to announce the dance to the passing public. Thank you to Monica Mann for making and donating it! Sandy River will be putting the sign out in front of the Grange during the day on dance days.

Thanks also to Brian Dreher for bringing fans to the dance last night to help cool the hot dancers.

We have our first three supporting sustainers. This is a great start. Our goal is to enroll fifteen to twenty as soon as possible. All the details and a sign-up form are included in the brochure, as well as a list of other ways you can support the dance. If you are not in a financial position to become a Supporting Sustainer but know someone else who might be, please reach out to them.

Below are the immediate steps we will be taking to keep our dance going strong, and to keep dancing at the Grange. Additional ideas, input, and participation are welcome.

1) ADMISSION PRICE: Effective immediately the admission price for the dance will be $6 per person, with a $15 max for families (this really means immediate family or family you live with - not the universe of anyone related to you in any way). This alone will not be sufficient to overcome the gap!

2) SUPPORTING SUSTAINER PROGRAM: We will establish a "Supporting Sustainer" program for people who wish to support the dance financially in a significant and predictable way. Supporting Sustainers will contribute $100 per year. For that year, they will be able to attend all dances without paying at the door. A small portion of the $100 will be saved for emergency dance expenses. The remainder will be divided into twelve equal portions and go into the take at the door for each dance, whether or not that supporter actually attends all the dances.

The Supporting Sustainer program allows a participant to support the dance every month, whether or not s/he can actually attend every month, and at a slightly higher contribution rate than the normal door charge. It will give us regular predictable minimum income, while still allowing us to keep the door price low for dancers in tighter financial constraints. The goal is to find 15-20 Supporting Sustainers. At least three have already expressed a willingness to sign on.

3) FORMAL ORGANIZATION: Because the Supporting Sustainer will work better if we have a bank account, we will move toward setting up a formal organization to coordinate the dance (currently all money that comes in on a given evening goes out that same evening).

4) EXTRA DONATIONS: The admission price notice on the money can will invite people to make an extra donation if they wish. This will allow dancers who cannot afford to be a Supporting Sustainer but still wish to help keep the minimum admission low for others to contribute a little extra when they are at the dance.

5) SIGNAGE OUTSIDE THE GRANGE: Sandy River has offered to barter her acupuncture services with a local sign maker to get us a banner that can be hung on the building to advertise the dance (the Grange had suggested this to us a few years ago - but we had not gotten around to following up). She will also recruit someone to make a sandwich board that can be used in the sidewalk area at both the Grange and City Lights (or wherever else we end up in the winter) to announce the dance on the day of. (News Flash 6/10/2006 - Monica Mann has volunteered to make the sandwich board!)

6) BROCHURE: Cynthia will create a brochure about the dance that can be used at the dance as well as potentially at other local venues where the dance can be promoted. Stan will create some drawings for the brochure, and Jodi will take a photo of the Grange for Stan or other artists to draw from. The brochure will also serve as a signup form for the Supporting Sustainer program.

7) ADDITIONAL PUBLICITY: Jodi took pictures of dancers at the May dance and is working on a newspaper article about the dance. She has also contributed some pictures to be used when we update the website (News Flash 6/10/2006 - Jodi is also working on a radio piece)

8) JOINING THE GRANGE: Sandy River and Cynthia have applied to join the Grange. At least one other person who was not able to attend the meeting expressed an interest in doing that as well. This will allow us to become a more active part of seeing to the health and well-being of the wonderful building.

9) ADDITIONAL FUNDRAISING: We are exploring possibilities for one or two dances each year that will be special fundraisers. These may involve the House Band (which invites sit-in musicians and which does not get paid) or other volunteer musicians, and special activities such as a cake walk. We will try for maximum fun, minimum extra work on these events - but they will require participation and contributions from more people in order to work (cake bakers, for instance).

How you can help:

• Dance often!
• Bring your friends to the dance
• Become a Supporting Sustainer
• Volunteer to put up fliers in your area
• Volunteer to bring snacks for the dancers (this doesn't help directly with money - just makes the dance more fun)
• Volunteer to staff the door for an evening
• Volunteer to cook/bake for special fundraisers
• Other ideas?
  

See you on the dance floor!