From the Mic – Details, episodes & analysis

See the From the Mic website for great bonus content, including pictures and audio, transcripts, and more. Click here to download the transcript directly

And the Country Dance and Song Society for information about Contra and English country dance across the continent

Show Notes

Sound bites featured in this episode (in order of appearance):

• Clip of George calling the dance Worth the Wait by Dana Parkinson at the Glen Echo Contra Dance in 2012 with music by Swallowtail
• Clip of George calling the dance Salute to Larry Jennings by Ted Sannella and Russell Owen at the Greenfield, MA contra dance in 2011 with music by Wild Asparagus

See the From the Mic website for great bonus content, including pictures and audio, transcripts, and more. And the Country Dance and Song Society for information about Contra and English country dance across the continent

See the From the Mic website for great bonus content, including pictures and audio, transcripts, and more. Click here to download the transcript directly.

Sound bites featured in this episode (in order of appearance):

• Maia Calls the dance Playground Stomp by Julian Bee with music by Not Enough Fiddles at NEFFA 2017 in Mansfield, MA
• Maia Calls A Dance for Dan by Bill Olson with music by Callithump (David Knight (fiddle), Andrew Marcus (accordion), Paul Oorts (guitar)) at the Silver Spring, MD monthly contra dance in March, 2015.

Other links:

• Check out Maia's excellent website! Including:
  • Dance blog!
  • Dance compositions
  • She's even written a few dance tunes!

See the From the Mic website for great bonus content, including pictures and audio, transcripts, and more. And the Country Dance and Song Society for information about Contra and English country dance across the continent

See the From the Mic website for great bonus content, including pictures and audio, transcripts, and more. Click here to download the transcript directly.

And the Country Dance and Song Society for information about Contra and English country dance across the continent

• Catherine has deep ties with the Old Sod Society, the house band for the original Ottawa contra dance for many years. During the pandemic lockdown several community members collaborated to create an oral history of the Society, which you can listen to here.

Sound bites featured in this episode (in order of appearance):

• Catherine calling the dance Trip to Margaree by Sue Rosen at the Ottawa Contra Dance in 2012 with music by The Old Sod Band.
• Catherine calling the dance Feet in Flight by Dale Rempert at the Ottawa Contra Dance in 2015 with music by Genticorum.

See the From the Mic website for great bonus content, including pictures and audio, transcripts, and more. And the Country Dance and Song Society for information about Contra and English country dance across the continent

See the From the Mic website for great bonus content, including pictures and audio, transcripts, and more. Click here to download the transcript directly.

And the Country Dance and Song Society for information about Contra and English country dance across the continent

Sound bites featured in this episode (in order of appearance):

• Luke calling the dance Homeward Bound by Andrea Nettleton at the August, 2019 Portland (ME) Intown Contra Dance with music by Shandy (Eileen Kalfass, Rebecca McCallum, and Jane Knoeck)
• Luke calling his own dance, If You Can Walk, You Can Dance at the Feb. 2017 Mad Robin Contra Dance in Burlington, VT with music by Maivish

See the From the Mic website for great bonus content, including pictures and audio, transcripts, and more. And the Country Dance and Song Society for information about Contra and English country dance across the continent

See the From the Mic website for great bonus content, including pictures and audio, transcripts, and more. Click here to download the transcript directly.

And the Country Dance and Song Society for information about Contra and English country dance across the continent

Sound bites featured in this episode (in order of appearance):

• *Audio only* of Steve calling at the Concord Scout House - 2023 (recording provided by Steve)

Steve calling the dance Hillsboro Jig by Bill Thomas at the 2019 Memorial Day Dawn Dance in Brattleboro, VT with music by Polaris.

See the From the Mic website for great bonus content, including pictures and audio, transcripts, and more. And the Country Dance and Song Society for information about Contra and English country dance across the continent

See the From the Mic website for great bonus content, including pictures and audio, transcripts, and more. Click here to download the transcript directly.

And the Country Dance and Song Society for information about Contra and English country dance across the continent

Sound bites featured in this episode (in order of appearance):

Louise calling the dance The Reminder by Louise Siddons at the London Barndance in London, UK with music by Portland Drive.

Louise calling the square dance Square Line Special by Gary Roodman at the Brighton Gender-Free Contra+ dance in Brighton, UK with fiddling by Linda Game.

More about Louise

• You can buy Louise's book, Dancing the Whole Dance: Positional Calling for Contra here!
• Louise has offered a number of online workshops related to positional calling, which are accessible here on her website (along with lots of other goodies!)

See the From the Mic website for great bonus content, including pictures and audio, transcripts, and more. And the Country Dance and Song Society for information about Contra and English country dance across the continent

See the From the Mic website for great bonus content, including pictures and audio, transcripts, and more. Click here to download the transcript directly.

And the Country Dance and Song Society for information about Contra and English country dance across the continent

Sound bites featured in this episode (in order of appearance):

• Wendy calling the dance Courtesy Promenade by Richard Wilson at the Glen Echo Spanish Ballroom in 2014 with music by The Fabulous Glen Echo Open Band.
• Wendy calling the dance Another Nice Combination by Tom Hinds at the 2017 Christmas Country Dance School in Berea, Kentucky with music by Nathan Wilson, Alice White, Mara Shea, Dave Crandall, and Sam Bartlett
• Wendy calling a square dance at the Albuquerque, NM  contra dance in 2014 with music by The Thrifters

More about Wendy

• Wendy talks about some simple exercises she does to help dancers stay alert late into an evening of dancing! See her demonstrate these moves and share other insights into her approach to calling English Country Dance in this web chat series: "Five Things Inside the Dancing Mind of Wendy Graham."

See the From the Mic website for great bonus content, including pictures and audio, transcripts, and more. And the Country Dance and Song Society for information about Contra and English country dance across the continent

See the From the Mic website for great bonus content, including pictures and audio, transcripts, and more. Click here to download the transcript directly.

And the Country Dance and Song Society for information about Contra and English country dance across the continent.

Sound bites featured in this episode (in order of appearance):

• Will calling the dance Mad Slice by Rick Mohr at the Atlanta Contra Dance Weekend in 2017 with music by Nova.
• Will calling the dance Gypsy Everyone by Seth Tepfer at Contrastock 2 in Glen Echo, MD in 2012 with music by Perpetual e-Motion.
• Will calling the square dance Willis’s Route at the Looking Glass Festival in Lansing, MI in 2017 with music by Pete’s Posse.

See the From the Mic website for great bonus content, including pictures and audio, transcripts, and more. And the Country Dance and Song Society for information about Contra and English country dance across the continent

See the From the Mic website for great bonus content, including pictures and audio, transcripts, and more. Click here to download the transcript directly.

And the Country Dance and Song Society for information about Contra and English country dance across the continent.

Sound bites featured in this episode (in order of appearance):

• Chrissy calling at the Belfast Flying Shoes Community Dance in 2015 with music by the All Comer's Band
• Chrissy calling the Sicilian circle dance ZOM Out by Zoey Phillips, Olivia Padovan-Merhar, and Molly McCracken (published in the New England Dancing Masters book Listen to the Mockingbird) at the Belfast Flying Shoes dance in Oct 2019 with music by Cedar Stanistreet, Jon Cannon and Ness Smith-Savedoff.
• Chrissy calling the dance The Baby Rose by David Kaynor at the Concord Scout House in 2010 with music by Crowfoot

More about Chrissy and the Belfast Flying Shoes community

• In 2018 Chrissy facilitated this panel discussion, "Teens Talk Contra" with a group of local, teen-aged dancers from her community
• Check out this fun video featuring scenes from the Belfast community!
• During the pandemic lockdown in 2022 the Belfast Flying Shoes All Comers Band made a group music video to mark the 15th anniversary of their dance series ♥️

See the From the Mic website for great bonus content, including pictures and audio, transcripts, and more. And the Country Dance and Song Society for information about Contra and English country dance across the continent

See the From the Mic website for great bonus content, including pictures and audio, transcripts, and more. Click here to download the transcript directly.

And the Country Dance and Song Society for information about Contra and English country dance across the continent.

Sound bites featured in this episode (in order of appearance):

• Sue calling the dance “Beneficial Tradition” by Dan Pearl at a 2011 dance at the Scout House in Concord, MA with music by the Free Raisins - Amy Englesberg, Audrey Knuth, Jeff Kaufman
• Sue calling the dance ​​"Ashley's Star" by Bob Dalsemer at the 2011 Fiddling Frog dance weekend in Pasadena, CA with music by the Figments - Anna Patton, Owen Morrison, and Ethan Hazzard-Watkins.
• Sue calling the dance “Handsome Young Maids” written by herself! At the 2011 Fiddling Frog dance weekend in Pasadena, CA with music by Nightingale - Jeremiah McLane, Keith Murphy, and Becky Tracy.

See the From the Mic website for great bonus content, including pictures and audio, transcripts, and more. And the Country Dance and Song Society for information about Contra and English country dance across the continent