(as of April 04, 2022)
Enjoy Virtual Dancing? Join the All Hands In list to stay informed.
As Toronto moves back to in-person dancing, announcements about All Hands In virtual contra dances will no longer be sent through the Toronto Contra Dance list or displayed on the TCD website.
If you want to stay informed about virtual dances, please join the All Hands In email list for further announcements. Here's how:
- Send an email to Kimbi Hagen (kbs.hagen [insert @ symbol here] emory.edu) with the subject line "Subscribe - All Hands In Listserv"
- Include your full name and email address in the body of the email, and indicate you wish to subscribe.
(as of Sep 07, 2021)
New collaboration! New schedule! Online dances are going weekly!!
Going forward, All Hands In will be held weekly on Saturday nights at 8PM Eastern, hosted by Atlanta (1st Saturdays), Toronto and friends (2nd Saturdays), Glen Echo (3rd Saturdays), and Mt. Airy (4th Saturdays.)
Regardless of who is hosting, the dances can be accessed at http://contradance.link/allhandsin
Now that the dances are weekly, we will not be announcing each dance individually via Toronto Contra Dance newsletter and website. If you want to know the bands and callers for each dance, you can always find that on the All Hands In Facebook page: https://www.facebook.com/allhandsincontra
And now a little more info about this change:
We're excited to announce a new collaboration that is happening with several online contra dances. As of mid-September, online dances will be produced jointly by Mt. Airy, Atlanta, Glen Echo, Toronto, and friends, under the "All Hands In" banner.
As North America has begun opening up, attendance at online dances have fallen somewhat and volunteer capacity has become stretched as other commitments have expanded. So it made sense for us all to join forces to continue to meet the needs of our online dance community without burning out the organizers. This way we can provide a nearly weekly dance but each group only hosts/organizes once/month.
Sincere thanks to everyone who participated in the online dance survey that we put out recently. To accommodate the great number of dancers’ availability and preferences, we decided to hold the new All Hands In dance series on Saturday evenings, at 8PM Eastern.
September 11, 2021 will be the last of the former version of All Hands In dances (with recorded music). All future dances will feature live bands.
So mark your calendar and we'll look forward to seeing you on Saturday nights through the fall of 2021!
------------------------------------(as of Sep 07, 2021)
Saturday, Sep 11th: Raccoon Carnival w/Don Veino
Doors at 7:30PM, dance from 8:00 PM - 9:30 PM EasternToronto is joining forces with communities across North America to produce All Hands In, a virtual contra dance event open to dancers world-wide.
The Raccoon Carnival is a 15-member contra dance band from the Seattle area, playing guitars, mandolins, a bass, a whole lot of fiddles, and a few surprises! Band leader and fiddler Sarah Comer herds the raccoons through the tunes, these days in a virtual format. To stay together through the pandemic, the Raccoon Carnival moved online, recording sets by layering videos together one at a time to create the band’s big sound. Hope you enjoy the Carnival!
Our featured caller is Don Veino of Massachusetts. Don brings joy to dancers through clear teaching and calling. He is a prolific & innovative dance composer as well as an organizer and volunteer for dance related groups. Don strives for that perfect concoction of rhythm, harmony and flow which lifts the spirits of all in the hall.
Have you been to a virtual dance yet? If not, you might be surprised how fun it can be. In virtual (online) contra dancing, dancers interact with imaginary people ("ghosts") in the majority of dances. Because of this, we presume that everyone in attendance has contra dancing experience. Walkthroughs are concise, and there won’t be a beginners’ lesson.
That said, when you dance alone in your living room, the contra line is exactly where you imagine it, and unexpected moves become glorious new choreography! So, everyone is always welcome to join.
To attend the dance, click on the following link:
http://contradance.link/allhandsin
Doors open for tunes and socializing at 7:30PM Eastern, with the dance beginning promptly at 8:00PM Eastern.
At in-person dances, an entry fee is collected; for All Hands In, we work on the honour system, asking dancers to make a donation to the band. Recommended donation is $10 (more if you can; less if you can’t.)
All of our callers and helpers are volunteering, to help our musicians during a difficult time. You can make your donation to our musicians at this link: https://contradance.link/donation
The band has put in a tremendous amount of work preparing this set of tunes specifically for our dance, so please give generously.
Going forward, All Hands In will be held weekly on Saturday nights at 8PM Eastern, hosted by Atlanta (1st Saturdays), Toronto and friends (2nd Saturdays), Glen Echo (3rd Saturdays), and Mt. Airy (4th Saturdays.)
You can keep track of scheduled dances on the All Hands In Facebook page (https://www.facebook.com/allhandsincontra) or the CDSS website: https://www.cdss.org/community/covid19/online-events.
We have a generous limit of 500 participants, so tell your contra dancing friends, and feel free to reshare this announcement.
See you at the dance!
------------------------------------(as of Aug 12, 2021)
Please note: There Is No Dance This Saturday
All Hands In virtual contra dance is taking a break in August, so there will be no dance this Saturday. The next dance will be Saturday, September 11th. Stay tuned for more information!
-------------(as of July 05, 2021)
Saturday, July 10th: Arcanist w/Bev Bernbaum
Doors at 7:00PM, dance from 7:30 PM - 8:45 PM EasternToronto is joining forces with communities across North America to produce All Hands In, a virtual contra dance event open to dancers world-wide.
We are delighted to present the debut of Arcanist. An Arcanist can be defined as an artisan possessing the knowledge of a manufacturing secret, and with some ensorceling trickery, you get a multinational trio blending Scottish and Breton traditional music with arrangements full of twists and turns.
The swirling bagpipes of Matthew Brouard, the melodic flute of François-Xavier Dueymes, and the harmonizing guitar of Everest Witman fuse together to create a rich landscape of sounds inspired by old masters and new inventors. Arcanist combines musical mysteries to entice the listener on an auditory journey unlike any other.
Our caller will be Bev Bernbaum from Toronto, Canada. Bev has called all over North America as well as Europe and New Zealand! Her clear voice, calm manner and straightforward teaching style make contra dancing a pleasure, in person or online.
Because this dance uses pre-recorded video to feature our band, it is best if you join via laptop or PC; those joining on a mobile device will have difficulty if they like to pin or watch other dancers. Or join with both – use your PC for sound and your mobile device for pinned dancing.
Have you been to a virtual dance yet? If not, you might be surprised how fun it can be. In virtual (online) contra dancing, dancers interact with imaginary people ("ghosts") in the majority of dances. Because of this, we presume that everyone in attendance has contra dancing experience. Walkthroughs are concise, and there won’t be a beginners’ lesson.
That said, when you dance alone in your living room, the contra line is exactly where you imagine it, and unexpected moves become glorious new choreography! So, everyone is always welcome to join.
To attend the dance, click on the following link:
http://contradance.link/allhandsin
Join the event at 7:00PM Eastern on Saturday to join our community social room. There will be a brief introduction to virtual dancing at 7:30PM, and dancing will begin promptly thereafter.
At in-person dances, an entry fee is collected; for All Hands In, we work on the honour system, asking dancers to make a donation to the band. Recommended donation is $10 (more if you can; less if you can’t.)
All of our callers and helpers are volunteering, to help our musicians during a difficult time. You can make your donation to our musicians at this link: https://contradance.link/donation
The band has put in a tremendous amount of work preparing this set of tunes specifically for our dance, so please give generously.
Toronto’s contra dance community hosts the infrastructure and provides the funding to produce All Hands In, with further volunteer assistance from participating communities like ours. Let us know if you would like to volunteer when it is our turn to help out, so we can show up strong as part of this collaborative initiative.
All Hands In is scheduled once a month through the summer, on the second Saturday of the month. You can keep track of scheduled dances on the All Hands In Facebook page (https://www.facebook.com/allhandsincontra) or the CDSS website: https://www.cdss.org/community/covid19/online-events.
We have a generous limit of 500 participants, so tell your contra dancing friends, and feel free to reshare this announcement.
See you at the dance!
------------------------------------(as of June 10, 2021)
Saturday, June 12th: Contra Classics, Moves and Grooves Featuring Bandwidth, and Lisa Greenleaf
Doors at 7:00PM, dance from 7:30 PM - 8:45 PM EasternToronto is joining forces with communities across North America to produce All Hands In, a virtual contra dance event open to dancers world-wide.
Lisa Greenleaf has put together a special program for this month's dance, featuring a selection of classics and chestnuts, as well as modern grooves. Dancers are in for a treat!
Lisa is a caller from the Boston area, and she is loving these virtual dances. In non-pandemic times, Lisa calls regularly throughout New England, and has been a staff member at dance camps and festivals throughout the country and beyond. Her specialties include traditional and contemporary contras, fun squares, challenging dances of all shapes and sizes, and caller training.
Stepping out from behind their Zoom screens and sound gear, Bandwidth is Brian Lindsay (WA, fiddle), Eric Schedler, (IN, accordion & banjo) and Jonathan Whitall (IL, piano, viola). Brian, Eric and Jonathan draw from their shared love of Irish and New England music. You might recognize them from online dances, and from Countercurrent, Supertrad or The Cosmic Otters - and you won't want to miss their fresh, yet familiar tour of contra dance favorites.
Because this dance uses pre-recorded video to feature our band, it is best if you join via laptop or PC; those joining on a mobile device will have difficulty if they like to pin or watch other dancers. Or join with both – use your PC for sound and your mobile device for pinned dancing.
Have you been to a virtual dance yet? If not, you might be surprised how fun it can be. In virtual (online) contra dancing, dancers interact with imaginary people ("ghosts") in the majority of dances. Because of this, we presume that everyone in attendance has contra dancing experience. Walkthroughs are concise, and there won’t be a beginners’ lesson.
That said, when you dance alone in your living room, the contra line is exactly where you imagine it, and unexpected moves become glorious new choreography! So, everyone is always welcome to join.
To attend the dance, click on the following link:
http://contradance.link/allhandsin
Join the event at 7:00PM Eastern on Saturday to join our community social room. There will be a brief introduction to virtual dancing at 7:30PM, and dancing will begin promptly thereafter.
At in-person dances, an entry fee is collected; for All Hands In, we work on the honour system, asking dancers to make a donation to the band. Recommended donation is $10 (more if you can; less if you can’t.)
All of our callers and helpers are volunteering, to help our musicians during a difficult time. You can make your donation to our musicians at this link: https://contradance.link/donation
The band has put in a tremendous amount of work preparing this set of tunes specifically for our dance, so please give generously.
Toronto’s contra dance community hosts the infrastructure and provides the funding to produce All Hands In, with further volunteer assistance from participating communities like ours. Let us know if you would like to volunteer when it is our turn to help out, so we can show up strong as part of this collaborative initiative.
All Hands In is scheduled once a month through the summer, on the second Saturday of the month. You can keep track of scheduled dances on the All Hands In Facebook page (https://www.facebook.com/allhandsincontra) or the CDSS website: https://www.cdss.org/community/covid19/online-events.
We have a generous limit of 500 participants, so tell your contra dancing friends, and feel free to reshare this announcement.
See you at the dance!
------------------------------------(as of May 20, 2021)
Saturday, May 22nd: Confluence w/Christa Torrens
Doors at 7:00PM, dance from 7:30 PM - 8:45 PM EasternToronto is joining forces with communities across North America to produce All Hands In, a virtual contra dance event open to dancers world-wide.
We are delighted to present Confluence, a mother-daughter duo from Western New York State. Nadine Dyskant-Miller contributes the flute and foot percussion, Barbara Dyskant contributes the piano, and they both contribute their joy of playing traditional music from Québec, New England, Ireland, and Scotland, original tunes, and more, for contra dances, English country dances, and concerts.
Our caller will be Christa Torrens. Christa is an upbeat, enthusiastic caller known for her clear, concise teaching and short walkthroughs. Her dance selection and smooth voice have delighted dancers across the West and Midwest. She loves to get folks of all experience levels moving, grooving and having fun.
Because this dance uses pre-recorded video to feature our band, it is best if you join via laptop or PC; those joining on a mobile device will have difficulty if they like to pin or watch other dancers. Or join with both – use your PC for sound and your mobile device for pinned dancing.
Have you been to a virtual dance yet? If not, you might be surprised how fun it can be. In virtual (online) contra dancing, dancers interact with imaginary people ("ghosts") in the majority of dances. Because of this, we presume that everyone in attendance has contra dancing experience. Walkthroughs are concise, and there won’t be a beginners’ lesson.
That said, when you dance alone in your living room, the contra line is exactly where you imagine it, and unexpected moves become glorious new choreography! So, everyone is always welcome to join.
To attend the dance, click on the following link:
http://contradance.link/allhandsin
Join the event at 7:00PM Eastern on Saturday to join our community social room. There will be a brief introduction to virtual dancing at 7:30PM, and dancing will begin promptly thereafter.
At in-person dances, an entry fee is collected; for All Hands In, we work on the honour system, asking dancers to make a donation to the band. Recommended donation is $10 (more if you can; less if you can’t.)
All of our callers and helpers are volunteering, to help our musicians during a difficult time. You can make your donation to our musicians at this link: https://contradance.link/donation
Barbara and Nadine have put in a tremendous amount of work preparing this set of tunes specifically for our dance, so please give generously.
Toronto’s contra dance community hosts the infrastructure and provides the funding to produce All Hands In, with further volunteer assistance from participating communities like ours. Let us know if you would like to volunteer when it is our turn to help out, so we can show up strong as part of this collaborative initiative.
All Hands In is scheduled every 2nd and 4th Saturday evening until we can dance in person again. You can keep track of scheduled dances on the All Hands In Facebook page (https://www.facebook.com/allhandsincontra) or the CDSS website: https://www.cdss.org/community/covid19/online-events.
We have a generous limit of 500 participants, so tell your contra dancing friends, and feel free to reshare this announcement.
See you at the dance!
------------------------------------(as of May 03, 2021)
Join us on Saturday, May 8th for our Gala - Celebrating One Year of Virtual Dancing!
Doors at 7:00PM, dance from 7:30 PM - 8:45 PM EasternPromo Video: https://youtu.be/yU6yVKrRYqc
Facebook Event Link: https://fb.me/e/2fyidxa44
Toronto is collaborating with communities across North America to produce a special Gala evening, celebrating one year of virtual dance.
Volunteers, bands, callers, sound techs, and organizers have all put in much effort over the past year to keep our communities connected, as we've found a way to dance in our homes. This special evening will honour those who have contributed to this creative effort.
We are thrilled to present twelve bands and eleven callers, as we pay tribute to the dance communities across North America:
- Cosmic Otters w/Katie Zukof (Bloomington)
- Box & String Trio w/Donna Hunt (Mt. Airy)
- Corwin & Grace w/Becky Liddle (Toronto)
- Maivish w/Louise Siddons (Scissortail/Oklahoma)
- Reelplay w/Cis Hinkle (Atlanta)
- Countercurrent w/Michael Karcher (Lake City/Seattle)
- Gròóvåtrøñ w/Janine Smith (Glen Echo/DC Area)
- Smith & Stam w/JoLaine Jones-Pokorney (Gainesville)
- Audrey & Max w/Claire Takemori (SF Bay Area)
- Bethany & Glen w/Sue Gola (Mt. Airy)
- Andrew & Noah VanNorstrand w/Drew Delaware (All Hands In Collective)
- The Figments (Waltz)
Wear something sparkly or fancy, and join us for what will be an action-packed evening of pure joy and celebration!
Because this dance uses pre-recorded video to feature our bands, it is best if you join via laptop or PC; those joining on a mobile device will have difficulty if they like to pin or watch other dancers. Or join with both – use your PC for sound and your mobile device for pinned dancing.
Have you been to a virtual dance yet? If not, you might be surprised how fun it can be. In virtual (online) contra dancing, dancers interact with imaginary people ("ghosts") in the majority of dances. Because of this, we presume that everyone in attendance has contra dancing experience. Walkthroughs are concise, and there won’t be a beginners’ lesson.
That said, when you dance alone in your living room, the contra line is exactly where you imagine it, and unexpected moves become glorious new choreography! So, everyone is always welcome to join.
To attend the dance, click on the following link:
http://contradance.link/allhandsin
Join the event at 7:00PM Eastern on Saturday to join our community social room. There will be a brief introduction to virtual dancing at 7:30PM, and dancing will begin promptly thereafter.
At in-person dances, an entry fee is collected; for All Hands In, we work on the honour system, asking dancers to make a donation to the band. Recommended donation is $10 (more if you can; less if you can’t.)
All of our callers and helpers are volunteering, to help our musicians during a difficult time. You can make your donation to our musicians at this link: https://contradance.link/donation
Donations will be shared across the musicians participating, so please give generously.
Toronto’s contra dance community hosts the infrastructure and provides the funding to produce All Hands In, with further volunteer assistance from participating communities like ours. Let us know if you would like to volunteer when it is our turn to help out, so we can show up strong as part of this collaborative initiative.
All Hands In is scheduled every 2nd and 4th Saturday evening until we can dance in person again. You can keep track of scheduled dances on the All Hands In Facebook page (https://www.facebook.com/allhandsincontra) or the CDSS website: https://www.cdss.org/community/covid19/online-events.
We have a generous limit of 500 participants, so tell your contra dancing friends, and feel free to reshare this announcement.
See you at the dance!
------------------------------------(as of Apr 17, 2021)
All Hands In (Toronto) on-line contra is CANCELLED for April 24. We encourage interested dancers to attend the on-line NEFFA (New England Folk Festival) dances that weekend instead. There will be on-line contra dancing available at the NEFFA conference from 7pm to 11pm Eastern on April 23, and from 1:00pm to 11:00pm on April 24.
Because aficionados of on-line dancing can attend events regardless of where they live, we saw no reason to duplicate efforts and conflict with the NEFFA Saturday evening contra dances.
NEFFA is also universally affordable this year, operating on voluntary donations as you are able, rather than a fixed entrance fee. They have a suggested donation of $40 for the weekend, but if you are just dropping in for a dance or two, or if your finances do not allow, you are welcome to donate less or nothing at all.
Registration for NEFFA is here: https://cgi.neffa.org/public/festival-lobby.pl
And the schedule is available here: https://www.neffa.org/folk-festival/schedule/
Future All Hands In dances through June:
- Saturday April 24th: NO DANCE. Join us at NEFFA instead! https://cgi.neffa.org/public/festival-lobby.pl
- Saturday May 8th: Gala: One Year of Virtual Dancing. Many bands and many callers: Virtual contra organizations across North America join to dance and celebrate what we have created: Mt. Airy, Atlanta, Lake City, Bay Area, Scissortail, Bloomington, and Gainesville join All Hands In for this Gala evening.
- Saturday May 22nd: Music by Confluence with Christa Torrens calling
- Saturday June 12th: Chestnuts Night! Music by Supertrad with Lisa Greenleaf calling
- Saturday June 26th: Music by Contraforce; caller TBA
- Stay tuned for news in July & August. We will likely have just one dance in each of those months, so the organizers can take a well-earned break!
Happy dancing!!
------------------------(as of Apr 06, 2021)
Saturday, April 10th: The Figments w/Drew Delaware
Doors at 7:00PM, dance from 7:30 PM - 8:45 PM EasternToronto is joining forces with communities across North America to produce All Hands In, a virtual contra dance event open to dancers world-wide.
We are thrilled to present The Figments, known for their driving fiddle and guitar with the rich texture and rhythmic excitement of the clarinet. Elegant melodies evolve into raucous riffs, transcendent harmonies, and playful improvisations. The Figments are Anna Patton, Ethan Hazzard-Watkins, and Owen Morrison, who are also known for their roles in the dance band Elixir.
Our caller will be Drew Delaware from Toronto, Canada. Drew is an inventive and joyful caller, who has called virtual dances from coast to coast and beyond. Drew was an early advocate for creative adaptations of dance choreography for virtual dancing, and has contributed a dozen dances and countless adaptations to the virtual dance movement.
Because this dance uses pre-recorded video to feature our band, it is best if you join via laptop or PC; those joining on a mobile device will have difficulty if they like to pin or watch other dancers. Or join with both – use your PC for sound and your mobile device for pinned dancing.
Have you been to a virtual dance yet? If not, you might be surprised how fun it can be. In virtual (online) contra dancing, dancers interact with imaginary people ("ghosts") in the majority of dances. Because of this, we presume that everyone in attendance has contra dancing experience. Walkthroughs are concise, and there won’t be a beginners’ lesson.
That said, when you dance alone in your living room, the contra line is exactly where you imagine it, and unexpected moves become glorious new choreography! So, everyone is always welcome to join.
To attend the dance, click on the following link:
http://contradance.link/allhandsin
Join the event at 7:00PM Eastern on Saturday to join our community social room. There will be a brief introduction to virtual dancing at 7:30PM, and dancing will begin promptly thereafter.
At in-person dances, an entry fee is collected; for All Hands In, we work on the honor system, asking dancers to make a donation to the band. Recommended donation is $10 (more if you can; less if you can’t.)
All of our callers and helpers are volunteering, to help our musicians during a difficult time. You can make your donation to our musicians at this link: https://contradance.link/donation
The Figments has put in a tremendous amount of work preparing this set of tunes specifically for our dance, so please give generously.
Toronto’s contra dance community hosts the infrastructure and provides the funding to produce All Hands In, with further volunteer assistance from participating communities like ours. Let us know if you would like to volunteer when it is our turn to help out, so we can show up strong as part of this collaborative initiative.
All Hands In is scheduled every 2nd and 4th Saturday evening until we can dance in person again. You can keep track of scheduled dances on the All Hands In Facebook page (https://www.facebook.com/allhandsincontra) or the CDSS website: https://www.cdss.org/community/covid19/online-events.
We have a generous limit of 500 participants, so tell your contra dancing friends, and feel free to reshare this announcement.
See you at the dance!
----------------(as of Mar 24, 2021)
Saturday, March 27th: Megamedley Night! Featuring the Faux Paws and Don Veino
Doors at 7:00PM, dance from 7:30 PM - 8:45 PM EasternToronto is joining forces with communities across North America to produce All Hands In, a virtual contra dance event open to dancers world-wide.
We are thrilled to present The Faux Paws, featuring brothers Andrew and Noah VanNorstrand and multi-instrumentalist Chris Miller. The Faux Paws' distinctive sound bends and blends traditional folk and classic country with driving dancehall rhythms and explosive improvisation.
Our featured caller is Don Veino of Massachusetts. Don brings joy to dancers through clear teaching and calling. He is a prolific & innovative dance composer as well as an organizer and volunteer for dance related groups. Don strives for that perfect concoction of rhythm, harmony and flow which lifts the spirits of all in the hall.
Don will call the majority of the dance, and then will be joined by seven other callers for our very first NEFFA-style Megamedley! Calling the medley along with Don are: Bev Bernbaum (Toronto); Seth Tepfer (Atlanta); Chet Gray (Louisville); Claire Takemori (San Francisco); Becky Liddle (Toronto); Cis Hinkle (Atlanta); and Drew Delaware (Brampton). It will be an eight dance romp through some of the Faux Paws most energetic tunes - you're in for a treat!
Because this dance uses pre-recorded video to feature our band, it is best if you join via laptop or PC; those joining on a mobile device will have difficulty if they like to pin or watch other dancers. Or join with both – use your PC for sound and your mobile device for pinned dancing.
Have you been to a virtual dance yet? If not, you might be surprised how fun it can be. In virtual (online) contra dancing, dancers interact with imaginary people ("ghosts") in the majority of dances. Because of this, we presume that everyone in attendance has contra dancing experience. Walkthroughs are concise, and there won’t be a beginners’ lesson.
That said, when you dance alone in your living room, the contra line is exactly where you imagine it, and unexpected moves become glorious new choreography! So, everyone is always welcome to join.
To attend the dance, click on the following link:
http://contradance.link/allhandsin
Join the event at 7:00PM Eastern on Saturday to join our community social room. There will be a brief introduction to virtual dancing at 7:30PM, and dancing will begin promptly thereafter.
At in-person dances, an entry fee is collected; for All Hands In, we work on the honor system, asking dancers to make a donation to the band. Recommended donation is $10 (more if you can; less if you can’t.)
All of our callers and helpers are volunteering, to help our musicians during a difficult time. You can make your donation to our musicians at this link: https://contradance.link/donation
The Faux Paws have put in a tremendous amount of work preparing this set of tunes specifically for our dance, so please give generously.
Toronto’s contra dance community hosts the infrastructure and provides the funding to produce All Hands In, with further volunteer assistance from participating communities like ours. Let us know if you would like to volunteer when it is our turn to help out, so we can show up strong as part of this collaborative initiative.
All Hands In is scheduled every 2nd and 4th Saturday evening until we can dance in person again. You can keep track of scheduled dances on the All Hands In Facebook page (https://www.facebook.com/allhandsincontra) or the CDSS website: https://www.cdss.org/community/covid19/online-events.
We have a generous limit of 500 participants, so tell your contra dancing friends, and feel free to reshare this announcement.
See you at the dance!
----------------(as of Mar 09, 2021)
Saturday, March 13th: Gròóvåtrøñ w/ Perry Shafran
Doors at 7:00PM, dance from 7:30 PM - 8:45 PM EasternToronto is joining forces with communities across North America to produce All Hands In, a virtual contra dance event open to dancers world-wide.
We're thrilled to present Gròóvåtrøñ, an enchanting contra trio featuring flute, oboe, acoustic and electric guitar, tenor banjo, didgeridoo, hotel bell, and various groovatronics™. The band features Everest Witman (Nova), along with Grace Hendrickson-Jones, and Jonathan Werk.
Gròóvåtrøñ joins us via video they’ve pre-recorded specifically for this dance. They pulled out all the stops - with easter eggs and antics, along with some fantastic tunes you’ll be certain to enjoy.
Our caller will be Perry Shafran of Alexandria, VA (just outside Washington, DC.) Perry has been calling contra dances since 2003 and has been organizing dances throughout that time, as well. He is well known for quick, efficient walk-throughs and a smooth calling voice. Perry organizes Glen Echo’s Friday Night Dance (FND) Virtual Contras, and has called for several other virtual dances, as well.
Because this dance uses pre-recorded video to feature our band, it is best if you join via laptop or PC; those joining on a mobile device will have difficulty if they like to pin or watch other dancers. Or join with both – use your PC for sound and your mobile device for pinned dancing.
Have you been to a virtual dance yet? If not, you might be surprised how fun it can be. In virtual (online) contra dancing, dancers interact with imaginary people ("ghosts") in the majority of dances. Because of this, we presume that everyone in attendance has contra dancing experience. Walkthroughs are concise, and there won’t be a beginners’ lesson.
That said, when you dance alone in your living room, the contra line is exactly where you imagine it, and unexpected moves become glorious new choreography! So, everyone is always welcome to join.
To attend the dance, click on the following link:
http://contradance.link/allhandsin
Join the event at 7:00PM Eastern on Saturday to join our community social room. There will be a brief introduction to virtual dancing at 7:30PM, and dancing will begin promptly thereafter.
At in-person dances, an entry fee is collected; for All Hands In, we work on the honor system, asking dancers to make a donation to the band. Recommended donation is $10 (more if you can; less if you can’t.)
All of our callers and helpers are volunteering, to help our musicians during a difficult time. You can make your donation to our musicians at this link: https://contradance.link/donation
Gròóvåtrøñ has put in a tremendous amount of work preparing this set of tunes specifically for our dance, so please give generously.
Toronto’s contra dance community hosts the infrastructure and provides the funding to produce All Hands In, with further volunteer assistance from participating communities like ours. Let us know if you would like to volunteer when it is our turn to help out, so we can show up strong as part of this collaborative initiative.
All Hands In is scheduled every 2nd and 4th Saturday evening until we can dance in person again. You can keep track of scheduled dances on the All Hands In Facebook page (https://www.facebook.com/allhandsincontra) or the CDSS website: https://www.cdss.org/community/covid19/online-events.
We have a generous limit of 500 participants, so tell your contra dancing friends, and feel free to reshare this announcement.
See you at the dance!
----------------(as of Feb 22, 2021)
Saturday, February 27th: New Dance Spotlight, featuring Countercurrent
Doors at 7:00PM, Dance from 7:30 PM - 8:45 PM Eastern.Toronto is joining forces with communities across North America to produce All Hands In, a virtual contra dance event open to dancers world-wide.
For this special dance, we are featuring four callers who have been writing new choreography specifically for virtual dancing.
Our callers will be Don Veino (Concord, MA); Cis Hinkle (Atlanta, GA); Susan English (Wooster, OH); and Drew Delaware (Toronto, Canada.) The callers have been working together on a program that will absolutely thrill you with variety and living-room ingenuity!
The music will be fantastic, too. Countercurrent is a powerhouse acoustic duo based in Seattle WA, featuring fiddle, guitar, and foot percussion.
Alex Sturbaum and Brian Lindsay display a musical fluency that comes from a decade of playing together at contra dances, concert halls, jam sessions, festivals, bars, and living rooms all across the continent.
When dancers and listeners experience the blend of lyrical melodies, groovy chords, thumping percussion, and vocal harmonies all simultaneously, the reaction is usually "How does so much music come from just two people?!"
Because this dance uses pre-recorded video to feature our band, it is best if you join via laptop or PC; those joining on a mobile device will have difficulty if they like to pin or watch other dancers. Or join with both - use your PC for sound and your mobile device for pinned dancing.
Have you been to a virtual dance yet? If not, you might be surprised how fun it can be. In virtual (online) contra dancing, dancers interact with imaginary people ("ghosts") in the majority of dances. Because of this, we presume that everyone in attendance has contra dancing experience. Walkthroughs are concise, and there won't be a beginners' lesson.
That said, when you dance alone in your living room, the contra line is exactly where you imagine it, and unexpected moves become glorious new choreography! So, everyone is always welcome to join.
To attend the dance, click on the following link:
http://contradance.link/allhandsin
Join the event at 7:00PM Eastern on Saturday to join our community social room. There will be a brief introduction to virtual dancing at 7:30PM, and dancing will begin promptly thereafter.
At in-person dances, an entry fee is collected; for All Hands In, we work on the honor system, asking dancers to make a donation to the band. Recommended donation is $10 (more if you can; less if you can't).
All of our callers and helpers are volunteering, to help our musicians during a difficult time. You can make your donation to our musicians at this link:
https://contradance.link/donation
Countercurrent has put in a tremendous amount of work preparing this set of tunes specifically for our dance, so please give generously.
Toronto's contra dance community hosts the infrastructure and provides the funding to produce All Hands In, with further volunteer assistance from participating communities like ours. Let us know if you would like to volunteer when it is our turn to help out, so we can show up strong as part of this collaborative initiative.
All Hands In is scheduled every 2nd and 4th Saturday evening until we can dance in person again. You can keep track of scheduled dances on the All Hands In Facebook page (www.facebook.com/allhandsincontra) or the CDSS website: https://www.cdss.org/community/covid19/online-events.
We have a generous limit of 500 participants, so tell your contra dancing friends, and feel free to reshare this announcement.
See you at the dance!
-----------------(as of Feb 05, 2021)
On Saturday, February 13th, Love Wins! Featuring Corwin & Grace, with Becky Liddle calling.
Doors at 7:00PM, Dance from 7:30 PM - 8:45 PM Eastern.Toronto is joining forces with communities across North America to produce All Hands In, a virtual contra dance event open to dancers world-wide.
For Valentines weekend, we are celebrating love of all stripes, with LGBTQ talent bringing us a night of creativity and joy.
Corwin & Grace are a talented young duo, who bring unique flavor to tunes new and old. Corwin is an internationally touring fiddle player and recent graduate of the Berklee College of Music. They've been fiddling since they were 4 years old, and play a myriad of styles ranging from Contra to Hot Club Jazz to Americana/Folk.
Grace Fellows is a 22-year-old multi-instrumentalist, music educator, and Songwriter from Ojai, California. She specializes in live-feeling, dynamic, lyric-focused folk-pop, but also has experience in traditional and classical music, New Music, and improv. She holds a BFA from CalArts in the Musical Arts.
Calling this evening will be All Hands In co-founder Becky Liddle. Becky did not discover contra dancing until 2015, but has embraced it with gusto: she is president of Toronto Contra Dance, and in April was among the first to take contra online, co-hosting what has since become "All Hands In" virtual contra dance. She's been calling online frequently during the pandemic.
Because this dance uses pre-recorded video to feature our band, it is best if you join via laptop or PC; those joining on a mobile device will have difficulty if they like to pin or watch other dancers. Or join with both - use your PC for sound and your mobile device for pinned dancing.
Have you been to a virtual dance yet? If not, you might be surprised how fun it can be. In virtual (online) contra dancing, dancers interact with imaginary people ("ghosts") in the majority of dances. Because of this, we presume that everyone in attendance has contra dancing experience. Walkthroughs are concise, and there won't be a beginners' lesson.
That said, when you dance alone in your living room, the contra line is exactly where you imagine it, and unexpected moves become glorious new choreography! So, everyone is always welcome to join.
To attend the dance, click on the following link:
http://contradance.link/allhandsin
Join the event at 7:00PM Eastern on Saturday to join our community social room. There will be a brief introduction to virtual dancing at 7:30PM, and dancing will begin promptly thereafter.
At in-person dances, an entry fee is collected; for All Hands In, we work on the honor system, asking dancers to make a donation to the band. Recommended donation is $10 (more if you can; less if you can't).
All of our callers and helpers are volunteering, to help our musicians during a difficult time. You can make your donation to our musicians at this link:
https://contradance.link/donation
Corwin & Grace have put in a tremendous amount of work preparing this set of tunes specifically for our dance, so please give generously.
Toronto's contra dance community hosts the infrastructure and provides the funding to produce All Hands In, with further volunteer assistance from participating communities like ours. Let us know if you would like to volunteer when it is our turn to help out, so we can show up strong as part of this collaborative initiative.
All Hands In is scheduled every 2nd and 4th Saturday evening until we can dance in person again. You can keep track of scheduled dances on the All Hands In Facebook page (www.facebook.com/allhandsincontra) or the CDSS website: https://www.cdss.org/community/covid19/online-events.
We have a generous limit of 500 participants, so tell your contra dancing friends, and feel free to reshare this announcement.
See you at the dance!
-----------------(as of Jan 21, 2021)
All Hands In Contra dance this Saturday, January 23rd: Nathan Smith & Emilyn Stam w/Jacqui Grennan
Doors at 7:00PM, Dance from 7:30 PM - 8:45 PM Eastern.Toronto is joining forces with communities across North America to produce All Hands In, a virtual contra dance event open to dancers world-wide.
If you're not familiar with multi-instrumentalists Nathan Smith and Emilyn Stam of Toronto, you'll be all abuzz about them after this dance - they are a dynamic, high-energy duo!
Drawn together by their shared love of Québecois fiddle and piano music, Nathan and Emilyn's combined influences and pursuits include bluegrass, old-time, Scandinavian, and Western European traditional music.
Their unique instrumental magic are an enchantment and a delight to their audiences. Both are prolific tune composers with a flair for combining their creative spark with the timeless vitality of traditional songs and tunes. Both Smith and Stam have played extensively for contra dances as a duo, as well as with their numerous other musical projects.
We are also excited to announce that our caller will be Jacqui Grennan of Los Angeles, California. Jacqui has been calling contra dances around the country both online and in person for several years. She likes to put together dances that are varied in movement and in pace, and is noted for her enthusiasm and clarity in calling.
Because this dance uses pre-recorded video to feature our band, it is best if you join via laptop or PC; those joining on a mobile device will have difficulty if they like to pin or watch other dancers. Or join with both - use your PC for sound and your mobile device for pinned dancing.
Have you been to a virtual dance yet? If not, you might be surprised how fun it can be. In virtual (online) contra dancing, dancers interact with imaginary people ("ghosts") in the majority of dances. Because of this, we presume that everyone in attendance has contra dancing experience. Walkthroughs are concise, and there won't be a beginners' lesson.
That said, when you dance alone in your living room, the contra line is exactly where you imagine it, and unexpected moves become glorious new choreography! So, everyone is always welcome to join.
To attend the dance, click on the following link:
http://contradance.link/allhandsin
Join the event at 7:00PM Eastern on Saturday to join our community social room. There will be a brief introduction to virtual dancing at 7:30PM, and dancing will begin promptly thereafter.
At in-person dances, an entry fee is collected; for All Hands In, we work on the honor system, asking dancers to make a donation to the band. Recommended donation is $10 (more if you can; less if you can't).
All of our callers and helpers are volunteering, to help our musicians during a difficult time. You can make your donation to our musicians at this link:
https://contradance.link/donation
Nathan and Emilyn have put in a tremendous amount of work preparing this set of tunes specifically for our dance, so please give generously.
Toronto's contra dance community hosts the infrastructure and provides the funding to produce All Hands In, with further volunteer assistance from participating communities like ours. Let us know if you would like to volunteer when it is our turn to help out, so we can show up strong as part of this collaborative initiative.
All Hands In is scheduled every 2nd and 4th Saturday evening until we can dance in person again. You can keep track of scheduled dances on the All Hands In Facebook page (www.facebook.com/allhandsincontra) or the CDSS website: https://www.cdss.org/community/covid19/online-events.
We have a generous limit of 500 participants, so tell your contra dancing friends, and feel free to reshare this announcement.
See you at the dance!
-----------------(as of Jan 04, 2021)
Saturday, January 09th: Maivish w/Bev Bernbaum
Doors at 7:00PM, Dance from 7:30 PM - 8:45 PM Eastern.Toronto is joining forces with communities across North America to produce All Hands In, a virtual contra dance event open to dancers world-wide.
If you haven't yet had the opportunity to dance to the glorious music of Maivish, you are in for a treat!
Maivish is a collaboration between American fiddler Jaige Trudel and British-born guitarist Adam Broome. Jaige and Adam have been performing together as a duo for over a decade.
Maivish explores the landscape of time-honored melodies, and comes home along new pathways, making music with vibrant energy and delight. Gathering traditions from the British Isles, Ireland and America with a mix of original compositions, their performance is infused with lush harmonies, inspired interplay, and captivating spirit.
Our caller will be Bev Bernbaum from Toronto, Canada. Bev has called all over North America as well as Europe and New Zealand! Her clear voice, calm manner and straightforward teaching style make contra dancing a pleasure in person or online.
Because this dance uses pre-recorded video to feature our band, it is best if you join via laptop or PC; those joining on a mobile device will have difficulty if they like to pin or watch other dancers. Or join with both - use your PC for sound and your mobile device for pinned dancing.
Have you been to a virtual dance yet? If not, you might be surprised how fun it can be. In virtual (online) contra dancing, dancers interact with imaginary people ("ghosts") in the majority of dances. Because of this, we presume that everyone in attendance has contra dancing experience. Walkthroughs are concise, and there won't be a beginners' lesson.
That said, when you dance alone in your living room, the contra line is exactly where you imagine it, and unexpected moves become glorious new choreography! So, everyone is always welcome to join.
To attend the dance, click on the following link:
http://contradance.link/allhandsin
Join the event at 7:00PM Eastern on Saturday to join our community social room. There will be a brief introduction to virtual dancing at 7:30PM, and dancing will begin promptly thereafter.
At in-person dances, an entry fee is collected; for All Hands In, we work on the honor system, asking dancers to make a donation to the band. Recommended donation is $10 (more if you can; less if you can't).
All of our callers and helpers are volunteering, to help our musicians during a difficult time. You can make your donation to our musicians at this link:
https://contradance.link/donation
Jaige and Adam have put in a tremendous amount of work preparing this set of tunes specifically for our dance, so please give generously.
Toronto's contra dance community hosts the infrastructure and provides the funding to produce All Hands In, with further volunteer assistance from participating communities like ours. Let us know if you would like to volunteer when it is our turn to help out, so we can show up strong as part of this collaborative initiative.
All Hands In is scheduled every 2nd and 4th Saturday evening until we can dance in person again. You can keep track of scheduled dances on the All Hands In Facebook page (www.facebook.com/allhandsincontra) or the CDSS website: https://www.cdss.org/community/covid19/online-events.
We have a generous limit of 500 participants, so tell your contra dancing friends, and feel free to reshare this announcement.
See you at the dance!
-----------------(as of Dec 28, 2020)
Thursday, December 31, 2020: ONLINE Music & Dance Party
NYE Sea to Sea, a New Year's Eve EXTRAVAGANZAwith multiple tracks of programming with music, dance, songs, games, and hanging out.
Give 2020 the boot across 5 midnights, starting in UK and working west to the West Coast. Sponsored by many organizations on 2 continents.
Information and registration is available at NYEdance.info. Our own Becky Liddle is calling to the music of Groovatron from 7:40 to 8:25 Eastern.
(as of Dec 22, 2020)
December 26: No dance. Happy Holidays! Please consider spending your New Year's Eve with your dance friends at the New Year's Eve Sea to Sea event: nyedance.info(as of Dec 04, 2020)
All Hands In: Andrew & Noah VanNorstrand w/Drew Delaware
Toronto is joining forces with communities across North America to produce All Hands In, a virtual contra dance event open to dancers world-wide.
December 12th: Music by Andrew & Noah VanNorstrand, with Drew Delaware calling
For our last dance of 2020, we are incredibly excited to feature talented brothers Andrew & Noah VanNorstrand, who you likely know from the Great Bear Trio, Wake Up Robin, and the Faux Paws. They are known all over North America for their epic dynamics, genre-transcending arrangements, and deep dance grooves. Noah's genre-defying fiddle and mandolin playing, along with his unique take on foot percussion, has a skillful counterpoint in Andrew's driving rhythm guitar, banjo, and fiddle. You're in for a treat!
Our caller will be Drew Delaware from Toronto, Canada. Drew is an inventive and joyful caller, who has called virtual dances from coast to coast and beyond. Drew was an early advocate for creative adaptations of dance choreography for virtual dancing, and has contributed a dozen dances and countless adaptations to the virtual dance movement.
Because this dance uses pre-recorded video to feature our band, it is best if you join via laptop or PC; those joining on a mobile device will have difficulty if they like to pin or watch other dancers. Or join with both - use your PC for sound and your mobile device for pinned dancing.
Have you been to a virtual dance yet? If not, you might be surprised how fun it can be. In virtual (online) contra dancing, dancers interact with imaginary people ("ghosts") in the majority of dances. Because of this, we presume that everyone in attendance has contra dancing experience. Walkthroughs are concise, and there won't be a beginners' lesson.
That said, when you dance alone in your living room, the contra line is exactly where you imagine it, and unexpected moves become glorious new choreography! So, everyone is always welcome to join.
To attend the dance, click on the following link:
http://contradance.link/allhandsin
Join the event at 7:00PM Eastern on Saturday to join our community social room. There will be a brief introduction to virtual dancing at 7:30PM, and dancing will begin promptly thereafter.
At in-person dances, an entry fee is collected; for All Hands In, we work on the honor system, asking dancers to make a donation to the band. Recommended donation is $10 (more if you can; less if you can't).
All of our callers and helpers are volunteering, to help our musicians during a difficult time. You can make your donation to our musicians at this link:
https://contradance.link/donation
Andrew and Noah have put in a tremendous amount of work preparing this set of tunes specifically for our dance, so please give generously.
Toronto's contra dance community hosts the infrastructure and provides the funding to produce All Hands In, with further volunteer assistance from participating communities like ours. Let us know if you would like to volunteer when it is our turn to help out, so we can show up strong as part of this collaborative initiative.
All Hands In is scheduled every 2nd and 4th Saturday evening until we can dance in person again. You can keep track of scheduled dances on our community Facebook page or the CDSS website: https://www.cdss.org/community/covid19/online-events.
We have a generous limit of 500 participants, so tell your contra dancing friends, and feel free to reshare this announcement.
See you at the dance!
-----------------(as of Nov 22, 2020)
All Hands In: Cloud Ten w/Chet Gray
Toronto is joining forces with communities across North America to produce All Hands In, a virtual contra dance event open to dancers world-wide.
November 28th: Music by Cedar Stanistreet and Donal Sheets, with Chet Gray calling
We are delighted to feature Cedar Stanistreet and Donal Sheets of Cloud Ten. Cedar and Donal have both been playing for dances for more than a decade, in bands such as Nor'easter, Gallimaufry, and lately together with their band Cloud Ten. Cedar's spirited fiddling and Donal's driving rhythm guitar create an energetic sound that has delighted dancers across North America.
Our featured caller will be Chet Gray from Louisville, Kentucky. Chet brings an ease and a lively energy to his calling, and draws on a varied repertoire of dances and styles to breathe life into a program. When not dancing or calling, he can be found playing bass with The New Hoosier Broadcasters.
Because this dance uses pre-recorded video to feature our band, it is best if you join via laptop or PC; those joining on a mobile device will have difficulty if they like to pin or watch other dancers. Or join with both - use your PC for sound and your mobile device for pinned dancing.
Have you been to a virtual dance yet? If not, you might be surprised how fun it can be. In virtual (online) contra dancing, dancers interact with imaginary people ("ghosts") in the majority of dances. Because of this, we presume that everyone in attendance has contra dancing experience. Walkthroughs are concise, and there won't be a beginners' lesson.
That said, when you dance alone in your living room, the contra line is exactly where you imagine it, and unexpected moves become glorious new choreography! So, everyone is always welcome to join.
To attend the dance, click on the following link:
http://contradance.link/allhandsin
Join the event at 7:00PM Eastern on Saturday to join our community social room. There will be a brief introduction to virtual dancing at 7:30PM, and dancing will begin promptly thereafter.
At in-person dances, an entry fee is collected; for All Hands In, we work on the honor system, asking dancers to make a donation to the band. Recommended donation is $10 (more if you can; less if you can't).
All of our callers and helpers are volunteering, to help our musicians during a difficult time. You can make your donation to our musicians at this link:
https://contradance.link/donation
Cedar and Donal have put in a tremendous amount of work preparing this set of tunes specifically for our dance, so please give generously.
Toronto's contra dance community hosts the infrastructure and provides the funding to produce All Hands In, with further volunteer assistance from participating communities like ours. Let us know if you would like to volunteer when it is our turn to help out, so we can show up strong as part of this collaborative initiative.
All Hands In is scheduled every 2nd and 4th Saturday evening until we can dance in person again. You can keep track of scheduled dances on our community Facebook page or the CDSS website: https://www.cdss.org/community/covid19/online-events.
We have a generous limit of 500 participants, so tell your contra dancing friends, and feel free to reshare this announcement.
See you at the dance!
-----------------(as of Nov 10, 2020)
All Hands In! Saturday Night Virtual Contra Dance
Toronto is joining forces with communities across North America to produce All Hands In, a virtual contra dance event open to dancers world-wide.
November 14th: Music by Steáfán and Saskia, with Sue Gola calling
We are delighted to feature Steáfán Hannigan and Saskia Tomkins, an incredibly talented husband and wife duo who each play a wide assortment of contemporary and Celtic instruments. Steáfán and Saskia are from Cobourg, just outside of Toronto along the shores of Lake Ontario. Their music is enchanting and full of energy - you're in for a treat!
Our featured caller will be Sue Gola. A long-time contra dancer, Sue was drawn into calling for contras in 2014. Since then, she has called at dances both large and small throughout the Northeast. Sue gives instructions concisely and clearly, and has a friendly way about her that makes dancers feel welcome.
Because this dance uses pre-recorded video to feature our band, it is best if you join via laptop or PC; those joining on a mobile device will have difficulty if they like to pin or watch other dancers. Or join with both - use your PC for sound and your mobile device for pinned dancing.
Have you been to a virtual dance yet? If not, you might be surprised how fun it can be. In virtual (online) contra dancing, dancers interact with imaginary people ("ghosts") in the majority of dances. Because of this, we presume that everyone in attendance has contra dancing experience. Walkthroughs are concise, and there won't be a beginners' lesson.
That said, when you dance alone in your living room, the contra line is exactly where you imagine it, and unexpected moves become glorious new choreography! So, everyone is always welcome to join.
To attend the dance, click on the following link:
http://contradance.link/allhandsin
Join the event at 7:00PM Eastern on Saturday to join our community social room, with dancers from Toronto, Montreal, Ottawa, and around Canada. There will be a brief introduction to virtual dancing at 7:30PM, and dancing will begin promptly thereafter.
At in-person dances, an entry fee is collected; for All Hands In, we work on the honor system, asking dancers to make a donation to the band. Recommended donation is $10 (more if you can; less if you can't).
All of our callers and helpers are volunteering, to help our musicians during a difficult time. You can make your donation to our musicians at this link:
https://contradance.link/donation
Steáfán and Saskia have put in a tremendous amount of work preparing this set of tunes specifically for our dance, so please give generously.
Toronto's contra dance community hosts the infrastructure and provides the funding to produce All Hands In, with further volunteer assistance from participating communities.
All Hands In is scheduled every 2nd and 4th Saturday evening until we can dance in person again. You can keep track of scheduled dances on our community Facebook page or the CDSS website: https://www.cdss.org/community/covid19/online-events.
We have a generous limit of 500 participants, so tell your contra dancing friends, and feel free to reshare this announcement.
See you at the dance!
-----------------(as of Oct 18, 2020)
All Hands In! Saturday Night Virtual Contra Dance
Toronto is joining forces with communities across North America to produce All Hands In, a virtual contra dance event open to dancers world-wide.
October 24th: Music by Countercurrent, with Gaye Fifer calling
We are delighted to feature Countercurrent, a powerhouse acoustic duo based in Seattle WA, featuring fiddle, guitar, harmony vocals, and foot percussion. Alex Sturbaum and Brian Lindsay display a musical fluency that comes from a decade of playing together at contra dances, concert halls, jam sessions, festivals, bars, and living rooms all across the continent. When dancers and listeners experience the blend of lyrical melodies, groovy chords, thumping percussion, and vocal harmonies all simultaneously, the reaction is usually "How does so much music come from just two people?!"
Gaye Fifer is an accomplished caller from Pittsburgh, PA. An active dancer herself, Gaye understands the subtleties of making dances particularly satisfying for dancers. An easy smile and delightful sense of humor are part of Gaye's relaxed, pleasant style at the microphone. Gaye is currently President of the Board of CDSS.
Because this dance uses pre-recorded video to feature our band, it is best if you join via laptop or PC; those joining on a mobile device will have difficulty if they like to pin or watch other dancers. Or join with both - use your PC for sound and your mobile device for pinned dancing.
Have you been to a virtual dance yet? If not, you might be surprised how fun it can be. In virtual (online) contra dancing, dancers interact with imaginary people ("ghosts") in the majority of dances. Because of this, we presume that everyone in attendance has contra dancing experience. Walkthroughs are concise, and there won't be a beginners' lesson.
That said, when you dance alone in your living room, the contra line is exactly where you imagine it, and unexpected moves become glorious new choreography! So, everyone is always welcome to join.
To attend the dance, click on the following link:
http://contradance.link/allhandsin
Join the event at 7:00PM Eastern on Saturday to join our community social room. There will be a brief introduction to virtual dancing at 7:30PM, and dancing will begin promptly thereafter.
At in-person dances, an entry fee is collected; for All Hands In, we work on the honor system, asking dancers to make a donation to the band. Recommended donation is $10 (more if you can; less if you can't.
All of our callers and helpers are volunteering, to help our musicians during a difficult time. You can make your donation to our musicians at this link:
https://contradance.link/donation
Countercurrent has put in a tremendous amount of work preparing this set of tunes specifically for our dance, so please give generously.
Toronto's contra dance community hosts the infrastructure and provides the funding to produce All Hands In, with further volunteer assistance from participating communities like ours. Let us know if you would like to volunteer when it is our turn to help out, so we can show up strong as part of this collaborative initiative.
All Hands In is scheduled every 2nd and 4th Saturday evening until we can dance in person again. You can keep track of scheduled dances on our community Facebook page or the CDSS website: https://www.cdss.org/community/covid19/online-events.
We have a generous limit of 500 participants, so tell your contra dancing friends, and feel free to reshare this announcement to your local contra dance websites!
See you at the dance!
-----------------(as of Oct 04, 2020)
All Hands In! Saturday Night Virtual Contra Dance
Communities across North America are collaborating to produce All Hands In, a twice-monthly virtual contra dance event open to dancers world-wide. Our October 10th dance is produced by Toronto, Los Angeles, Princeton, and Mid-Missouri.
October 10th: New Dance Spotlight featuring Gròóvåtrøñ
For this special dance, we are featuring four callers who have been writing new choreography specifically for virtual dancing.
Our callers will be Don Veino (Concord, MA); Louise Siddons (Stillwater, OK); Wendy Graham (Durango, CO); and Drew Delaware (Toronto, Canada.) The callers have been working together on a program that will absolutely thrill you with variety and living-room ingenuity!
The music will be fantastic, too. We're thrilled to present Gròóvåtrøñ, an enchanting contra trio featuring flute, oboe, acoustic and electric guitar, tenor banjo, didgeridoo, hotel bell, and various groovatronicsTM. The band features Everest Witman (of "Nova"), along with Grace Hendrickson-Jones, Jonathan Werk.
Gròóvåtrøñ joins us via video they've pre-recorded specifically for this dance. They pulled out all the stops - with easter eggs and antics, along with some fantastic tunes you'll be certain to enjoy.
Because this dance uses pre-recorded video to feature our band, it is best if you join via laptop or PC; those joining on a mobile device will have difficulty if they like to pin or watch other dancers. Or join with both - use your PC for sound and your mobile device for pinned dancing.
To attend the dance, click on the following link:
http://contradance.link/allhandsin
Join the event any time between 7:00PM and 7:30PM Eastern on Saturday. If your local dance group is participating in All Hands In, you will be able to join your community social room between 7:00 & 7:25. Otherwise, you'll be hanging out in the main space listening to great music until the dance begins. There will be a brief introduction to our dance at 7:30PM, and dancing will begin promptly thereafter.
At in-person dances, an entry fee is collected; for All Hands In, we work on the honor system, asking dancers to make a donation to the band. Our recommended donation is $10 (more if you can; less if you can't). Our callers and helpers are volunteering, to help our musicians during a difficult time. Please make your donation to our musicians at this link:
https://contradance.link/donation
The band has prepared this music specifically for our dance, so please give generously.
All Hands In is scheduled every 2nd and 4th Saturday evening until we can dance in person again. You can keep track of scheduled dances here https://www.cdss.org/community/covid19/online-events or on the Toronto Contra Dance Facebook page.
We have a generous limit of 500 participants, so tell your contra dancing friends, and feel free to reshare this announcement to your local contra dance websites!
Toronto volunteers provide the infrastructure and funding to produce All Hands In, with further volunteer assistance from our participating communities. Communities who want to participate and have not signed up yet can email Becky < president "at" tcdance.org > for further information.
See you at the dance!
About All Hands In
All Hands In provides an opportunity for communities who do not have the resources to run their own virtual dance to help produce a local conversation and a collaborative dance experience, at no expense and with only minimal volunteer time.
Participating communities will have social rooms to gather before the dance, and then we will all come together to dance to fabulous tunes and calling!
If you are hungry for contact with your fellow local dancers, talk it over with your community leaders or local dance friends and let us know if you want to participate.
Whether or not your local group is participating, all dancers are welcome at the dance. Our virtual dance is suitable for solo dancers, and couples as well.
In virtual (on-line) contra dancing, dancers interact with imaginary people ("ghosts") in the majority of dances, so we presume that everyone in attendance has contra dancing experience. Walkthroughs are brief and we do not provide a beginners' lesson. That said, when you dance alone in your living room, the contra line is exactly where you imagine it, and unexpected moves become glorious new choreography! So, everyone is always welcome to join.
---------(as of Sep 19, 2020)
All Hands In! Saturday Night Virtual Contra Dance
Toronto is joining forces with communities across North America to produce All Hands In, a twice-monthly virtual contra dance event open to dancers world-wide.
September 26th: Music by Ian & Charley Roberts, with Bev Bernbaum & Kris Rosar calling
Ian and Charley Roberts are best known as one half of Vertical Expression, one of the UK's most popular contra dance bands. As Vertical Expression they are well known for performing at dance series and festivals all over the UK, and have also played in Paris, Denmark and the east coast of the USA. As a duo they play melodeon and one-row accordion (Ian), piano (Charley) and occasionally feet (also Ian). Their approach to playing for dancing is energetic and rhythm-led: It's all about making your feet want to move!
Toronto's own Bev Bernbaum has called all over North America as well as Europe and New Zealand! Her clear voice, calm manner and straightforward teaching style make contra dancing a pleasure in person or on line!
Based in Guelph, Ontario, Kris Rosar's clear, enthusiastic calling style helps with her goal to "share the fun." She has actively participated in contra dance since the early 1990s, helping develop and support the Owen Sound and Fergus dance communities.
To attend the dance, click on the following link:
http://contradance.link/allhandsin
Join the event any time between 7:00PM and 7:30PM Eastern on Saturday. There will be a brief introduction to virtual dancing at 7:30PM, and dancing will begin promptly thereafter.
At in-person dances, an entry fee is collected; for All Hands In, we work on the honor system, asking dancers to make a donation to the band. Recommended donation is $10 (more if you can; less if you can't). Note: our PayPal link defaults to U.S. dollars but you can change that setting underneath the donation amount. Our callers and helpers are volunteering, to help our musicians during a difficult time. Please make your donation to our musicians at this link: https://contradance.link/donation
The band has prepared this music specifically for our dance, so please give generously.
All Hands In is scheduled every 2nd and 4th Saturday evening until we can dance in person again. You can keep track of scheduled dances here https://www.cdss.org/community/covid19/online-events or on the Toronto Contra Dance Facebook page.
We have a generous limit of 500 participants, so tell your contra dancing friends, and feel free to reshare this announcement to your local contra dance websites!
Toronto volunteers provide the infrastructure and funding to produce All Hands In, with further volunteer assistance from our participating communities. Communities who want to participate and have not signed up yet can email Becky <president *at* tcdance.org> for further information.
See you at the dance!
About All Hands In
All Hands In provides an opportunity for communities who do not have the resources to run their own virtual dance to help produce a local conversation and a collaborative dance experience, at no expense and with only minimal volunteer time.
Participating communities will have social rooms to gather before the dance, and then we will all come together to dance to fabulous tunes and calling!
If you are hungry for contact with your fellow local dancers, talk it over with your community leaders or local dance friends and let us know if you want to participate.
Whether or not your local group is participating, all dancers are welcome at the dance. Our virtual dance is suitable for solo dancers, and couples as well.
In virtual (on-line) contra dancing, dancers interact with imaginary people ("ghosts") in the majority of dances, so we presume that everyone in attendance has contra dancing experience. Walkthroughs are brief and we do not provide a beginners' lesson. That said, when you dance alone in your living room, the contra line is exactly where you imagine it, and unexpected moves become glorious new choreography! So, everyone is always welcome to join.
---------(as of Sep 05, 2020)
All Hands In! Saturday Night Virtual Contra Dance
Toronto is joining forces with communities across North America to produce All Hands In, a twice-monthly virtual contra dance event open to dancers world-wide.
About All Hands In
All Hands In provides an opportunity for communities who do not have the resources to run their own virtual dance to help produce a local conversation and a collaborative dance experience, at no expense and with only minimal volunteer time.
Participating communities will have social rooms to gather before the dance, and then we will all come together to dance to fabulous tunes and calling!
If you are hungry for contact with your fellow local dancers, talk it over with your community leaders or local dance friends and let us know if you want to participate.
Whether or not your local group is participating, all dancers are welcome at the dance. Our virtual dance is suitable for solo dancers, and couples as well.
September 12th : Audrey & Max, with Claire Takemori
For our All Hands In kickoff on September 12th, we are excited to feature two musicians who are like "rock stars" in the contra world. Audrey Knuth is a world-renowned fiddler who plays in many bands (Wake Up Robin, Gaslight Tinkers, Free Raisins, Root System, Audacious) and Max Newman is the incredible genius behind the guitar (The Stringrays, Nor'Easter, etc.)
We are delighted to feature Claire Takemori as our caller. Claire has been a driving force for virtual contra dances and connection through the past several months, and embodies the spirit of All Hands In. Her passion is to share the joy of music, dance & community. She has called dances for festivals and communities from coast to coast and beyond, and many virtual dances this year.
In virtual (on-line) contra dancing, dancers interact with imaginary people ("ghosts") in the majority of dances, so we presume that everyone in attendance has contra dancing experience. Walkthroughs are brief and we do not provide a beginners' lesson. That said, when you dance alone in your living room, the contra line is exactly where you imagine it, and unexpected moves become glorious new choreography! So, everyone is always welcome to join.
To attend the dance, click on the following link:
http://contradance.link/allhandsin
Join the event any time between 7:00PM and 7:30PM Eastern on Saturday. There will be a brief introduction to virtual dancing at 7:30PM, and dancing will begin promptly thereafter.
At in-person dances, an entry fee is collected; for All Hands In, we work on the honor system, asking dancers to make a donation to the band. Recommended donation is $10 (more if you can; less if you can't).
Our callers and helpers are volunteering, to help our musicians during a difficult time. You can make your donation to our musicians at this link: https://contradance.link/donation
The band has prepared this music specifically for our dance, so please give generously.
All Hands In is scheduled every 2nd and 4th Saturday evening until we can dance in person again. You can keep track of scheduled dances here https://www.cdss.org/community/covid19/online-events or on the Toronto Contra Dance Facebook page.
We have a generous limit of 500 participants, so tell your contra dancing friends, and feel free to reshare this announcement to your local contra dance websites!
Toronto volunteers provide the infrastructure and funding to produce All Hands In, with further volunteer assistance from our participating communities. Communities who want to participate and have not signed up yet can email Becky <president *at* tcdance.org> for further information.
See you at the dance!
--------------------------(as of Aug 26, 2020)
All Hands In!: a new on-line initiative to keep local contra dance communities connected with their local dance friends
Toronto has been holding a vibrant online virtual contra dance every 2nd and 4th Saturday evening since May. It has been a lovely way for dancers to connect and keep contra dance, and music, in their lives. While it isn't for everyone, it has certainly brought much joy to many homes over the past several months. And it has been a wonderful way for us to provide financial support to musicians during a challenging time.
We know other communities have considered launching online dances of their own, but don't have the resources to do so. Others have done so but found it to be a lot of work on a few shoulders. And so, we are transforming our Toronto Virtual dance into a new project we are calling "All Hands In" - and we'd like to invite other contra dance communities to join us.
Any community that becomes part of the "All Hands In" initiative will be able to welcome their dancers in a private room before the dance, so your community gets an opportunity to socialize and reconnect. Then all the communities will come together for one big dance, featuring fabulous bands and callers. We'll end the dance with an (optional) socializing opportunity in small groups, mixing across communities, so people have a chance to make new friends across the continent. Having the events in this predictable order allows people to come for whichever part or parts of the evening they are interested in: maybe just the pre-dance visit, maybe just the dance, maybe all three parts. We're also hoping that if you haven't tried on-line at-home dancing, you might come for the pre-dance chat, then stick around for a dance or two to see if dancing with imaginary people in your own living room (while 100 others dance in their homes on your computer screen) might be more fun than you expected it to be!
We will ask each community to provide one volunteer on a rotating basis once every 1-2 months, along with a moderator for their community room each dance.
Toronto will be participating as one of the local groups. If you are from the Toronto Contra Dance community and would be willing to either occasionally moderate the pre-dance chat or volunteer to help us admit folks to the dance and "sort" them into the appropriate Zoom breakout rooms so they can join their own local group chat, please please email Becky at president@tcdance.org.
If you are from another community and you'd like to encourage your own local community to participate, please email Becky at president@tcdance.org , let us know what community you represent, and we'll be happy to share further details.
While we'd all love to be on a dance floor taking real hands four, we hope that All Hands In helps to fill the gap in the meantime, and that it will be something that many will enjoy until we can dance in person again.
Drew Delaware & Becky Liddle, co-organizers
--------------------------(as of Aug 17, 2020)
Virtual Contra Dance - Hosted by Toronto; Open to All!
Join dancers across the continent for the next dance in our Virtual Dance series - suitable for solo dancers, and couples as well!
Charleston-based quartet ContraForce may be deeply rooted in traditional folk music and the contra dance scene, but when it comes to composing and recording their own tunes, they certainly don't shy away from musical experimentation. Their energized psychedelic sound is a hurricane of wild, energetic, kick-in-the-mouth contra music that will leave you gasping for breath and begging for more.
Emily Abel bio:
Emily 'Rainbowface' Abel has called all over the Eastern and Midwestern United States, for dance weekends and for regular weekly/monthly dances, often attended by large numbers of inexperienced dancers - including touring three years with ContraForce, so she knows the band well. Emily's calling style is brightened by eager enthusiasm, and she strives to put together varied and interesting programs. Stylistically, she is well known for 'singing' her calls, matching the tone and rhythm of the tunes.
In virtual (on-line) contra dancing, dancers will be interacting with imaginary people ("ghosts") in the majority of dances, so we are assuming everyone has contra dancing experience. There will be no beginners' lesson.
But the good news is that when you dance alone in your living room, the contra line is exactly where you imagine it, and unexpected moves become glorious new choreography! So, everyone is welcome to join!
To attend the dance, click on the following link:
Join the event any time between 7:15 and 7:30PM Eastern on Saturday. There will be a brief introduction to virtual dancing at 7:30PM, and dancing will begin promptly thereafter.
We are holding virtual contra dances every 2nd and 4th Saturday evening until we can dance in person again. You can keep track of scheduled dances here https://www.cdss.org/community/covid19/online-events or on the Toronto Contra Dance Facebook page.
We have a generous limit of 500 participants, so tell your contra dancing friends, and feel free to reshare this announcement to your local contra dance websites!
At our in person dances, an entry fee is collected; for our Virtual Contra Dance series, we work on the honour system, asking dancers to make a donation to the band. Recommended donation is $10 (more if you can; less if you can't).
Our callers and helpers are volunteering their time to help our musicians during a difficult time. You can make your donation to our musicians at this link: https://contradance.link/donation
The band has put in countless hours recording music specifically for our dance, so please give generously.
Toronto's Virtual Contra is organized by Becky Liddle and Drew Delaware, with help from other Toronto area folks.
See you at the dance!
-------------(as of Aug 07, 2020)
Virtual Contra Dance - Hosted by Toronto; Open to All!
Join dancers across the continent for the next dance in our Virtual Dance series - suitable for solo dancers, and couples as well!
Teen brother fiddle/cello duo Dante and Eros Faulk, from Olympia, WA, combine their knowledge and deep love for traditional Celtic music with their creativity and awareness of a wide variety of music, which yields an inventive and contemporary sound that is still true to their traditional roots. They have recently released their second album, produced by renowned fiddle player Ryan McKasson, and across Pacific Northwest they extensively perform concerts, festivals, and contradances full of traditional and original tunes with exciting, innovative arrangements. .
JoLaine Jones-Pokorney, from Gainesville, Florida, has called from Maine to California. She was one of the "up and coming" callers at Catalpult Showcase in 2013, and one of the callers for the New England Folk Festival (NEFFA) in 2015 and 2019. She calls positionally (no role names used).
Dancers will be interacting with imaginary people ("ghosts") in the majority of dances, so we are assuming everyone has contra dancing experience. There will be no beginners' lesson.
But the good news is that when you dance alone in your living room, the contra line is exactly where you imagine it, and unexpected moves become glorious new choreography! So, everyone is welcome to join!
To attend the dance, click on the following link:
Join the event any time between 7:15 and 7:30PM Eastern on Saturday. There will be a brief introduction to virtual dancing at 7:30PM, and dancing will begin promptly thereafter.
We are holding virtual contra dances every 2nd and 4th Saturday evening until we can dance in person again. You can keep track of scheduled dances here https://www.cdss.org/community/covid19/online-events or on the Toronto Contra Dance Facebook page.
We have a generous limit of 500 participants, so tell your contra dancing friends, and feel free to reshare this announcement to your local contra dance websites!
At our in person dances, an entry fee is collected; for our Virtual Contra Dance series, we work on the honour system, asking dancers to make a donation to the band. Recommended donation is $10 (more if you can; less if you can't).
Our callers and helpers are volunteering their time to help our musicians during a difficult time. You can make your donation to our musicians at this link: https://contradance.link/donation
The band has put in countless hours recording music specifically for our dance, so please give generously.
Toronto's Virtual Contra is organized by Becky Liddle and Drew Delaware, with help from other Toronto area folks.
See you at the dance!
-------------(as of July 22, 2020)
Virtual Contra Dance - Hosted by Toronto; Open to All!
Join dancers across the continent for the next dance in our Virtual Dance series - suitable for solo dancers, and couples as well!
Our July 25th dance will be a techno contra, featuring the Bearded Dragons from the UK.
Expert dance musicians Benjamin Rowe (fiddle) and Vic Smith (keys, synthesizers) seamlessly blend contra music with electronic styles. Together, they created the UK's first homegrown Techno Contra band.
With influences ranging from traditional American, British, and Irish, to electronic genres such as Techno, House, Synthwave, Ambient, Dub, and Glitch, the Bearded Dragons weave a musical experience quite unlike any other.
Our callers will be Alexandra Deis-Lauby from NYC, and our very own Drew Delaware.
Alex is a well-loved contra dance caller from New York City who calls weekends and festivals all over the US and Canada, including many a techno contra. Alex will be calling the main set.
Drew will be hosting and calling the first two dances. He is a local caller who has been actively supporting the growing virtual contra phenomenon, helping communities across North America.
Our virtual contra dances require knowledge of contra positions and choreography. Dancers will be interacting with imaginary people ("ghosts") in the majority of dances. We are assuming everyone is a reasonably experienced contra dancer. There will be no beginners’ lesson.
But the good news is that when you dance alone in your living room, the contra line is exactly where you imagine it, and unexpected moves become glorious new choreography! So, everyone is welcome to join!
To attend the dance, click on the following link:
Join the event any time between 7:15 and 7:30PM Eastern on Saturday. There will be a brief introduction to virtual dancing at 7:30PM, and dancing will begin promptly thereafter.
We are holding virtual contra dances every 2nd and 4th Saturday evening until we can dance in person again. You can keep track of scheduled dances here https://www.cdss.org/community/covid19/online-events or on the Toronto Contra Dance Facebook page.
We have a generous limit of 500 participants, so tell your contra dancing friends, and feel free to reshare this announcement to your local contra dance websites!
At our in person dances, an entry fee is collected; for our Virtual Contra Dance series, we work on the honour system, asking dancers to make a donation to the band. Recommended donation is $10 (more if you can; less if you can't).
Our callers and helpers are volunteering their time to help our musicians during a difficult time. You can make your donation to our musicians at this link: https://contradance.link/donation
The band has put in countless hours recording music specifically for our dance, so please give generously.
Toronto's Virtual Contra is organized by Becky Liddle and Drew Delaware, with help from other Toronto area folks.
See you at the dance!
-------------(as of July 07, 2020)
Virtual Contra Dance - Hosted by Toronto; Open to All!
Contra dance alone or with other dancers in your household, along with dancers across the continent!
The band will be the Weeds:
John and Tyler Weed are a Carmel California-based duo playing traditional Celtic, Nordic, and old-time American tunes on fiddle, banjo, guitar, and mandolin. Tyler Weed began his musical journey learning guitar and mandolin at fiddle camps his father teaches at each summer. He has been awarded scholarships at Big Sur Fiddle camp, Redwood Music Camp in the Santa Cruz mountains, and Wallowa Fiddle Tunes in Eastern Oregon. John is a full time performer and instructor, touring with West Coast bands New World String Project and Molly's Revenge.
Our caller will be Donna Hunt:
Donna has been calling for more than 20 years. She calls regularly at the Mt. Airy (Philadelphia), Bethlehem (PA) and Arden (DE) dances, and has called at numerous weekend events & festivals. We were excited to have hired Donna for our July 11 Island Dance this year which was of course cancelled, so we are delighted she is able to call for this virtual dance.
Our secondary caller this evening will be a local rising star: Becky Liddle.
General notes on our dances: Dancing with imaginary people ("ghosts") is challenging, so we are assuming everyone is a reasonably experienced contra dancer. There will be no beginners' lesson. But the good news is that when you dance alone in your living room, the contra line is exactly where you imagine it, and unexpected moves become glorious new choreography! So everyone is welcome to join!
Here is the link to attend the dance:
Join the event any time between 7:00 and 7:30PM Eastern on Saturday, but try to join by 7:20 if possible. There will be an introduction to the dance at 7:25 and dancing will begin promptly at 7:30 PM EDT.
We plan to have these dances every 2nd and 4th Saturday evening until we can dance in person again. You can keep track of scheduled dances here https://www.cdss.org/community/covid19/online-events or on the Toronto Contra Dance Facebook page. At our first dance we hit our 100 participant limit, but this time we can have up to 500 participants, so tell your contra dancing friends, and feel free to repost this announcement to your local contra dance websites!
Participation is free, but if you enjoy the dance, we ask that you make a donation (in an amount you are comfortable with) to benefit the band and caller here: https://www.paypal.com/cgi-bin/webscr?cmd=_s-xclick&hosted_button_id=V8T22VU5ZTHPN&source=url
You are giving in Canadian dollars. $1.35 Canadian = $1 US if that helps!
All donations will go to our talent. The band recorded these videos specifically for this Toronto dance, so please give generously!!
This dance is organized by Becky Liddle and Drew Delaware, with help from other Toronto area folks. Becky happens to be president of Toronto Contra Dance, but this dance is only loosely associated with TCD. So if you have any complaints, please blame Becky or Drew, not TCD! :-)
Hope to see you at the dance!!
---------------------------------
(as of June 17, 2020)
Virtual Contra Dance - Hosted by Toronto; Open to All!
Contra dance alone or with other dancers in your household, along with dancers across the continent!
The band is Reelplay, a New England-style contra dance band from Atlanta with Dave Marcus concertina, and Robbin Marcus on piano (and a bit of percussion), playing a mix of tunes including New England, Quebecois, bal folk and originals. Playing in bands such as Over the Moon, Renewable Energy and Holy Coyote, these musicians have lifted dancers' feet and spirits for several decades.
Our caller is Seth Tepfer, Dance Magician, who has led over 500 contra dances in North America as well as Central America, the Caribbean and Europe. He is known for his infectious energy, easy-to-follow teaching (and short walk-throughs), and his contagious enthusiasm. For a sample, check out https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=eCJVfYRCDr4.
Dancing with imaginary people ("ghosts") is challenging, so we are assuming everyone is a reasonably experienced contra dancer. There will be no beginners' lesson. But the good news is that when you dance alone in your living room, the contra line is exactly where you imagine it, and unexpected moves become glorious new choreography! So everyone is welcome to join!
Here is the link to attend the dance:
Note: If you get an error message, be sure you have the Zoom app downloaded on your device.
Join the Zoom meeting any time between 7:00 and 7:30PM Eastern on Saturday, but try to join by 7:20 if possible. There will be an introduction to the dance at 7:25 and dancing will begin promptly at 7:30 PM EDT.
We plan to have these dances every 2nd and 4th Saturday evening until we can dance in person again. You can keep track of scheduled dances here https://www.cdss.org/community/covid19/online-events or on the Toronto Contra Dance Facebook page. At our first dance we hit our 100 participant limit, but this time we can have up to 500 participants, so tell your contra dancing friends, and feel free to repost this announcement to your local contra dance websites!
Participation is free, but if you enjoy the dance, we ask that you make a donation (in an amount you are comfortable with) to benefit the band and caller here: www.paypal.me/DaveMarcusAtlanta
Please come, and afterwards decide what it was worth to you, and give generously to keep the music going until we can all meet in joy on the other side of this pandemic.
This dance is organized by Becky Liddle and Drew Delaware, with a great deal of help from other Toronto area folks. Becky happens to be president of Toronto Contra Dance, but this dance is only loosely associated with TCD. So if you have any complaints, please blame Becky or Drew, not TCD! :-)
Hope to see you at the dance!!
------------------------------(as of May 20, 2020)
Island Dance in July is officially cancelled now. However, there has been a new initiative launched successfully in May. Here are the details, and the next event:Dancing in Isolation - A Virtual Contra Dance by Zoom
Saturday May 23, 2020, at 7:30PM Eastern
Contra dance alone or with other dancers in your household, along with dancers across the continent! We'll be dancing to recorded music (due to tech limitations) and live calling. Dancing with imaginary people ("ghosts") is challenging, so we are assuming everyone is a reasonably experienced contra dancer. There will be no beginners' lesson. But the good news is that when you dance alone in your living room, the contra line is exactly where you imagine it, and unexpected moves become glorious new choreography! Everyone is welcome to join!
https://zoom.us/j/99530765467?pwd=YUEyZms5ZnlZbDlqa0tvREp1QkZyZz09
Meeting ID: 995 3076 5467
Password: 007
Join the Zoom meeting any time between 7:00 and 7:30PM Eastern on Saturday, but try to join by 7:20 if possible. There will be an introduction to the dance at 7:25 and dancing will begin promptly at 7:30 Eastern.
We hope to have these dances every 2nd and 4th Saturday evening until we can dance in person again. You can keep track of scheduled dances here or on the Toronto Contra Dance Facebook page: https://www.facebook.com/TorontoContraDance . At our first dance we hit our 100 participant limit, but this time we can have up to 500 participants, so tell your contra dancing friends, and feel free to repost this announcement to your local contra dance websites!
Participation is free, but if you enjoy the dance, we ask that you make a donation (in an amount you are comfortable with) to benefit freelance artists in our music & dance community who are struggling with the loss of income due to COVID-19 shutting down all our in-person events.
CDSS has a donation page here: https://www.cdss.org/community/covid19/send-love-to-freelancers where you can donate to a freelance musician or caller. You are welcome to choose an artist of your choice, but the list loads in random order, so you can also simply donate to whoever is top on the list when you load the page, knowing that others will be donating to someone else, and everybody ends up getting a little help in a difficult time. Or, if you like the specific music we play at the dance, we encourage you to donate to (or buy music from) the musicians whose music we use. We will post a list of those artists to the Toronto Contra Dance Facebook page after each dance. Please come to the dance, and afterwards decide what it was worth to you, and give generously to keep the music going until we can all meet in joy on the other side of this pandemic.
The dance is organized by Becky Liddle, ably assisted by Drew Delaware, with a great deal of help from other Toronto area folks. Becky happens to be president of Toronto Contra Dance, but this dance is only loosely associated with TCD. So if you have any complaints, please blame Becky or Drew, not TCD! :-)
---------------------------(as of Mar 15, 2020)
TCD has cancelled its entire spring dance season, including our Spring Thaw weekend due to the corona virus pandemic. Most of you likely know that CDSS has recommended that all dances be cancelled through the end of April in a preliminary effort to slow the spread of the corona virus. In the (unlikely, we fear) event that COVID-19 risk has passed by May or June, we will be delighted to reschedule those events if that is still feasible when the time comes. But for now we think the most likely eventuality is that our next dance will be the Island Dance in July.
The organizing committee has done a great deal of soul-searching and number-crunching over the last few days, working to balance our own financial stability with that of our beloved performers. Given our present financial circumstances we are offering partial payment to our talent booked for the cancelled events using a sliding scale based on financial hardship, and donations will help us do that. Please also consider supporting musicians through their own projects, such as livestreamed concerts, albums, Kickstarters, Patreon, and so on, so that they can weather this storm and continue making the music we love.
(as of Mar 12, 2020)Though Ontario's confirmed cases are still low, the COVID-19 situation is changing rapidly, and we all need to do our part to slow the spread. Accordingly, we're following the lead of many dance communities and have made the tough decision to cancel our upcoming dances. Decisions are still being made about dances farther in the future, including Spring Thaw, but we will keep you up to date.
This is a particularly difficult time for the talent that supports our dance community. Many of the callers and musicians we love are going to be heavily impacted by cancellations across the dance world. That's why we're doing our best to negotiate how to provide fair compensation to cancelled talent. If you want to help support that effort, consider donating (using either you own PayPal account or a credit card) through our Paypal account here or via the donation button at the bottom of our home page.
Alternatively, you can start the process by scanning this: 
We don't know how long this pandemic will last, but Toronto Contra Dance will still be here when it's over, and we look forward to dancing with you again soon. Take care of yourselves.
(as of Mar 10, 2020)With COVID-19 updates at the top of the daily news, we're certain it's on the minds of many in our dance community. We are closely following the situation, and will follow guidelines from public health authorities as the spread progresses. At our upcoming dances, you'll hear from us about new directives to keep our dance activity as safe as possible, but we need your help. If you have any symptoms, or believe you may have been exposed to the virus, please do not attend the dance. When at the dance, follow the guidelines for effective handwashing and sanitizing. We're relying on everyone's good judgment.
At present, we are not planning to cancel Toronto's Spring Thaw, but, with other dance weekends and conferences being cancelled all over North America, that possibility is on our minds, and we're guessing it has crossed your mind as well.
Registrations for Spring Thaw so far have been slower than usual at this time of year, and we imagine that many people have been thinking about coming to Spring Thaw but haven't registered yet because a) concern about the COVID-19 virus has made you wonder if it will be safe for you to attend (either for your own safety or others'), or b) you suspect that the event may be cancelled. For this reason, we have decided to revise our cancellation policy for this year, to make it less risky for those who want to attend but are afraid of losing money.
We will be offering full refunds of advanced registration fees for any COVID-19-related reason, including cancellation of the weekend, or if your own health or concerns about the virus at that time make you feel uncomfortable about attending.
We will, of course, cancel the entire weekend if risk of COVID-19 is high in Toronto at that time, but the date is still 6 weeks away, and we hope that by then there will be better news, that the virus will have been contained, and that fears of community spread are no longer an issue. If that happens, we will be happy to be able to go ahead with Spring Thaw with confidence that our vigilant hygiene measures will be sufficient to keep people safe. However, we are aware that different people have different risk factors they may need to consider, so we will trust your own judgment and will offer a full refund if you decide you cannot come.
We hope that this change in refund policy allows you to register without fear of financial loss. With that in mind, the early-bird registration deadline for Thaw has been extended to Sunday, March 15th.
Based on public health recommendations, we are also suspending the bake sale, at least for now, commencing Mar 14. We'll all miss our snacks, but we want to take every step we reasonably can in mitigating spread!
Location: St. Barnabas Church Hall, 175 Hampton Ave, Toronto ON. Near Chester subway station. (Directions)