Cooperstown Contra Dance: September 7th Contradance

Our fall season will begin with a contradance on Friday September 7th at the Presyterian Church in Cooperstown.
The music will be by the band Balter annd Robby Poulette willbe the caller.

Balter is a contradance band which brings together several talented area musicians with unique backgrounds.
It was formed by Oneonta musician Peter Blue who plays accordion, nyckelharpa, and percussion.
Other members are guitarist Carol Mandigo, Tom Wetmore on bass, and fiddler Tom White who also plays mandolin and whistle.
Peter says the band's name means "to dance without particular skill or grace but with extreme joy".

Robby, an active contradancer and dance organizer, started calling in 2014.
Since then, he has called dances throughout the Cooperstown area and beyond and is a regular caller at the Pine Lake dances in Oneonta.
His easy-going teaching ability helps new dancers feel comfortable and his friendly style makes the dance fun for everyone.

Enjoy the Labor Day weekend and join us on the 7th!

General Information about ODS dances

Dances are generally held on the first Friday of each month.

Dances begin at 7:30 PM and end about 10:30.

They are held at the First Presbyterian Church, on the corner of Pioneer and Church Streets in Cooperstown.

Singles and beginners are welcomed as no dance experience or partner is necessary. All dances are taught, with more instruction for beginners during the earlier dances.

Suggested donation is $8 for adults, $4 for teen-agers 18 and under and students and free for children 12 and under.

For information about specific dances or contradancing in general, call (607) 965-8232 or (607) 547-8164.

For questions about this site, call (607) 547-8164

What is Contradancing?

Contra Dancing is a form of American folk dance in which the dancers form a set of two parallel lines which run the length of the hall. Each dance consists of a sequence of moves that ends with couples having progressed one position up or down the set. As the sequence is repeated, a couple will eventually dance with every other couple in the set. (From a pamphlet called 'A Contra Dance Primer', promoting Hamilton Country Dancers' events, first published during their 1992-93 season.)

For more varied (and humorous) answers to this question, check out the website

http://www.sbcds.org/contradance/whatis/#Def1

and of course, wikipedia has some history and a good description of a typical contradance event.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Contra_dancing

Thanks So Much!

Again this year, we have been fortunate to be awarded a grant for our 2018 contradances. Thanks so much to the Chenango Arts Council.

These dances are made possible with public funds from the Chenango Arts Council's Decentralization Program, a re-grant program of the NYS Council on the Arts, with support from Governor Andrew Cuomo and the NYS Legislature.

Money from this grant is used solely for the musicians and it enables us to present the wonderful performers you are used to hearing at our dances.

As always, we are very grateful for the grant money and the opportunity it gives us when selecting our bands.

In addition, we say 'thank you' to our dancers for their generous donations of money and refreshments and for their continued support in attending our dances!

Cooperstown Contra Dance

WE HAVE A NEW WEBSITE!

September 7th Contradance

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2018-2019 SCHEDULE

General Information about ODS dances

What is Contradancing?

Contradance Video

Other Contradance Websites

Thanks So Much!