NEWSFLASH! Charleston Folk presents a Zoom Contra with ContraForce and Emily Abel!
Saturday, November 21, 2020 at 7 pm (Stay tuned for link)
Charleston-based quartet ContraForce (Joey, Jimi, Andrae and Karin) is rooted in traditional folk music and contra dance and their energized psychedelic sound is a hurricane of wild, energetic, kicking contra music that will leave you out of breath with a smile on your face.
Emily “Rainbowface” Abel has called all over the eastern and midwestern United States for dance weekends and regular dances, often attended by inexperienced dancers. She toured for three years with ContraForce and knows the band well. Emily's calling style is brightened by eager enthusiasm and interesting programs. Stylistically, she is known for singing her calls while matching the tone and rhythm of the tunes.
Virtual contra dances require knowledge of contra positions and choreography. Dancers will be interacting with imaginary people or their partners in their homes. We are assuming everyone is a reasonably experienced contra dancer.
The good news is that when you dance alone, the contra line is exactly where you imagine it, and unexpected moves become glorious new choreography! And if you don’t feel like dancing, you can sit back and enjoy the beautiful sounds of ContraForce from the comfort of your living room.
Join the event any time between 7:00 and 7:30 pm Eastern on Saturday. There will be a beginner lesson with Kelly Macklin at 7:10 in a breakout room, and regular dancing will start at 7:30. We’ll have a waltz at the break, and some social time, wrapping up the dance at 9 pm. Becca and Russ and Paul from Charleston Folk will be our Zoom hosts and emcees.
For our virtual contra dance, we rely on the honor system, asking dancers to make a donation to the band and caller. Recommended donation is $10 (more if you can; less if you can’t). Links will be provided in the chat.
For those new to Zoom, we recommend watching a Zoom tutorial before the dance. Basically you just need to click on the dance link at your computer (a computer screen works much better than a phone) and you will be in the dance meeting. Your microphone will be muted most of the time so we can hear the caller. You can switch back and forth from Speaker view to Gallery view to see who else is there.
We look forward to seeing you at the dance!
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Have you tried ZOOM CONTRA?? Since we can't physically get together to dance, this may be the next closest thing...
On Zoom, there is a band, and a caller, and lots of other dancers. You dance alone (or with your home partner) in your living room. It feels funny at first, but as you go through the steps, you have the muscle memory of the moves, you enjoy the music, and you can almost feel that you are at a dance. Give it a try!
The nice part is that you can dance anywhere in the country from the comfort of your home ; )
Here are some groups that office Zoom contra and also English County dance:
Atlanta DistDance https://www.facebook.com/AtlantaDistDance
Gainesville Oldtime Dance Society https://www.facebook.com/groups/godsdance
Toronto Contra Dance https://www.facebook.com/TorontoContraDance
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Greetings, Charleston Folk Dancers!
We so miss all of our Charleston Folk dance community members! We really hope that everyone is navigating this difficult time as well as possible, and that all are safe and well. As you might imagine, your Charleston Folk Board has had to seriously re-group. We have continued to meet remotely--at first to come to terms with our cancelled dances and Bug Stomp, but then also to look to the future. Unfortunately, we have no current way of knowing when we might be able to safely dance together again. But, very fortunately, the organization is currently stable (no dances also means minimal expenses), so we are trying to look ahead and to brainstorm:
1) First and foremost: How do we MAINTAIN OUR CONNECTIONS during this down time? As we all know, Contra Dancing is not just about the dancing, but the strong sense of community and personal connection. What are some ways we can bridge this gap as a Community? We will need your ideas and initiative!
2) In line with this, we will be posting some questions and ideas on Facebook and through email. We definitely need the whole dance community's involvement. Please share your ideas and feedback either via our Facebook page, or you can email us at charlestonfolkcontraclub@gmail.com
Let's keep the Contra Dance Community spirit and connection going! Share your thoughts!
Your Charleston Folk Board
April 22, 2020
Saturday, November 21, 2020 at 7 pm (Stay tuned for link)
Charleston-based quartet ContraForce (Joey, Jimi, Andrae and Karin) is rooted in traditional folk music and contra dance and their energized psychedelic sound is a hurricane of wild, energetic, kicking contra music that will leave you out of breath with a smile on your face.
Emily “Rainbowface” Abel has called all over the eastern and midwestern United States for dance weekends and regular dances, often attended by inexperienced dancers. She toured for three years with ContraForce and knows the band well. Emily's calling style is brightened by eager enthusiasm and interesting programs. Stylistically, she is known for singing her calls while matching the tone and rhythm of the tunes.
Virtual contra dances require knowledge of contra positions and choreography. Dancers will be interacting with imaginary people or their partners in their homes. We are assuming everyone is a reasonably experienced contra dancer.
The good news is that when you dance alone, the contra line is exactly where you imagine it, and unexpected moves become glorious new choreography! And if you don’t feel like dancing, you can sit back and enjoy the beautiful sounds of ContraForce from the comfort of your living room.
Join the event any time between 7:00 and 7:30 pm Eastern on Saturday. There will be a beginner lesson with Kelly Macklin at 7:10 in a breakout room, and regular dancing will start at 7:30. We’ll have a waltz at the break, and some social time, wrapping up the dance at 9 pm. Becca and Russ and Paul from Charleston Folk will be our Zoom hosts and emcees.
For our virtual contra dance, we rely on the honor system, asking dancers to make a donation to the band and caller. Recommended donation is $10 (more if you can; less if you can’t). Links will be provided in the chat.
For those new to Zoom, we recommend watching a Zoom tutorial before the dance. Basically you just need to click on the dance link at your computer (a computer screen works much better than a phone) and you will be in the dance meeting. Your microphone will be muted most of the time so we can hear the caller. You can switch back and forth from Speaker view to Gallery view to see who else is there.
We look forward to seeing you at the dance!
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Have you tried ZOOM CONTRA?? Since we can't physically get together to dance, this may be the next closest thing...
On Zoom, there is a band, and a caller, and lots of other dancers. You dance alone (or with your home partner) in your living room. It feels funny at first, but as you go through the steps, you have the muscle memory of the moves, you enjoy the music, and you can almost feel that you are at a dance. Give it a try!
The nice part is that you can dance anywhere in the country from the comfort of your home ; )
Here are some groups that office Zoom contra and also English County dance:
Atlanta DistDance https://www.facebook.com/AtlantaDistDance
Gainesville Oldtime Dance Society https://www.facebook.com/groups/godsdance
Toronto Contra Dance https://www.facebook.com/TorontoContraDance
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Greetings, Charleston Folk Dancers!
We so miss all of our Charleston Folk dance community members! We really hope that everyone is navigating this difficult time as well as possible, and that all are safe and well. As you might imagine, your Charleston Folk Board has had to seriously re-group. We have continued to meet remotely--at first to come to terms with our cancelled dances and Bug Stomp, but then also to look to the future. Unfortunately, we have no current way of knowing when we might be able to safely dance together again. But, very fortunately, the organization is currently stable (no dances also means minimal expenses), so we are trying to look ahead and to brainstorm:
1) First and foremost: How do we MAINTAIN OUR CONNECTIONS during this down time? As we all know, Contra Dancing is not just about the dancing, but the strong sense of community and personal connection. What are some ways we can bridge this gap as a Community? We will need your ideas and initiative!
2) In line with this, we will be posting some questions and ideas on Facebook and through email. We definitely need the whole dance community's involvement. Please share your ideas and feedback either via our Facebook page, or you can email us at charlestonfolkcontraclub@gmail.com
Let's keep the Contra Dance Community spirit and connection going! Share your thoughts!
Your Charleston Folk Board
April 22, 2020
|
 Charleston Folk flash-mob contra dance on King Street |
FRIDAY NIGHT DANCE INFO AND PRICES:
We generally dance the 1st and 3rd Fridays of the month. Admission is $8 (cash or check) and the dancing begins at 7:30 pm with a beginners' walk-through. Children aged 6 to 12 accompanied by a paying adult dance for half price ($4). Children 5 and under are free. Children must be supervised by an adult at all times. Children who are not able to participate in the dance must stay off the dance floor. Teens 13 and over pay full price, still a deal at $8. Family rate: $25 for up to 2 adults and all your children under 18.
A TIP FOR NEWCOMERS: Don't dance with another newbie. Ask an experienced dancer to show you around. Anyone can ask anyone to dance. It is customary to ask a different person for each dance. By the end of the evening, you will have danced with everyone in the room, and you will see why contra dance is so much fun. : )
More advanced dances will be called as the evening progresses!
SNACKS! Our dance community takes turns bringing finger-food snacks to each dance. Please consider bringing something to contribute to the snack table at the back of the hall.
Please note: Due to our concern for the environment, Charleston Folk will not provide glowsticks at our dances. In lieu of glowsticks, we suggest the use of neon body paint (if desired) for techno contras, and festive clothing. Thank you, and our planet thanks you!
Charleston Folk is a non-profit, CDSS (Country Dance and Song Society) affiliate organization with a mission to promote, sponsor, and encourage participation in American folk dancing and music traditions among people of all ages in the South Carolina Lowcountry.
We generally dance the 1st and 3rd Fridays of the month. Admission is $8 (cash or check) and the dancing begins at 7:30 pm with a beginners' walk-through. Children aged 6 to 12 accompanied by a paying adult dance for half price ($4). Children 5 and under are free. Children must be supervised by an adult at all times. Children who are not able to participate in the dance must stay off the dance floor. Teens 13 and over pay full price, still a deal at $8. Family rate: $25 for up to 2 adults and all your children under 18.
A TIP FOR NEWCOMERS: Don't dance with another newbie. Ask an experienced dancer to show you around. Anyone can ask anyone to dance. It is customary to ask a different person for each dance. By the end of the evening, you will have danced with everyone in the room, and you will see why contra dance is so much fun. : )
More advanced dances will be called as the evening progresses!
SNACKS! Our dance community takes turns bringing finger-food snacks to each dance. Please consider bringing something to contribute to the snack table at the back of the hall.
Please note: Due to our concern for the environment, Charleston Folk will not provide glowsticks at our dances. In lieu of glowsticks, we suggest the use of neon body paint (if desired) for techno contras, and festive clothing. Thank you, and our planet thanks you!
Charleston Folk is a non-profit, CDSS (Country Dance and Song Society) affiliate organization with a mission to promote, sponsor, and encourage participation in American folk dancing and music traditions among people of all ages in the South Carolina Lowcountry.
To get on our email list, send an email to contra-charleston+subscribe@googlegroups.com (no message needed) and then click on the link in the email confirmation you receive.
Learn more about contra at ABOUT CONTRA DANCING or LOTS OF TIPS
Join our Facebook group to receive updates and event invitations!
If you are interested in playing or calling at a Charleston Folk dance, here is more information for Bands and Callers.
If you want to nominate yourself, or someone else, for the Meet Your Fellow Dancer series, please send an email to Russ Leckie at rleck46@gmail.com.
To suggest a theme for a future dance, please contact Paul Mount at charlestonfolkcontraclub@gmail.com.
Learn more about contra at ABOUT CONTRA DANCING or LOTS OF TIPS
Join our Facebook group to receive updates and event invitations!
If you are interested in playing or calling at a Charleston Folk dance, here is more information for Bands and Callers.
If you want to nominate yourself, or someone else, for the Meet Your Fellow Dancer series, please send an email to Russ Leckie at rleck46@gmail.com.
To suggest a theme for a future dance, please contact Paul Mount at charlestonfolkcontraclub@gmail.com.
Love dancing and want to dance some more? Look here for a list of other nearby dances.
