Grand River Folk Arts Society Dancing

2012 Dance Schedule

First Friday Contra Dance

One caller, one band, one good time.

Live Music, (no partner necessary)
Upstairs at the Fifth Street Hall, 701 5th Street NW in Grand Rapids
7:00 basic instruction, 7:30 dancing.
Admission - members $6 non-members $8, student or senior $7

January 6: Fiddlefire & Karen Neils
February 3: Puddingstone & Laurie Petravalle
March 2: Band TBA & Glen Morningstar
April 7: Celery City Sodbusters & TBA
May 5: Saturday Hawks & Owls w/ local callers
The May 5 event will be held at Pinery Park in Wyoming this year. 2301 DeHoop Ave. Just north of 28th St. 5-10pm. Bring a dish to pass. Donation at the door.

Questions? Email Jeff at: dancebooker@grfolkarts.org

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International Folk Dance

Visit a dozen countries or more in a single evening !!!
We teach beginning-level dances from Israel, Bosnia, France, Mexico, Japan, South Africa, Bolivia, Germany, Ghana, Turkey, Sweden, China, and many other countries.
No partner necessary.
Venue: Wealthy Theatre Annex, 1130 Wealthy St.
Cost: $5
For more information email International@grfolkarts.org or call 616 949-8374.

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Contra Dance/Jam

Play music, call, or just dance.
Swirl, twirl and swing to this great forum. It is all about dancing but there is opportunity to learn new skills. There will be new callers, new dances, new musicians and fun for all.
Fourth Fridays of the month except December and May. Beginner instruction at 7; full contact dancing at 7:30. $6
Upstairs at Fifth Street Hall, 701 5th Street NW in Grand Rapids.
Questions? Please call ahead 616 307 0883 or fri.contra@grfolkarts.org.

What is Contra Dancing?

The Fiddle Fire band and Tom Van Deusen
both have excellent descriptions on their web pages
Also of course see it the Wikipedia

Or on Youtube

What is International Folk Dancing ?

Learn more about the musicians and callers on our
Musicians and Callers page.

Contra Dance Tunes Key Charts

Contacts



Dance Sites								Top

5th Street Hall Saint Adalbert's Aid Society 701 5th Street NW Grand Rapids NW corner of 5th St. and Davis. Near St. Adalbert Basilica	Wealthy Theatre Annex 1130 Wealthy St SE Grand Rapids A few doors west of the theater, the other side of the driveway to the parking lot out back
Price: $6 Map to St. Adalbert's	7:00 p.m. International Dancing Price: $5 Map to Wealthy Theatre Annex

Dance Contacts Top

Dance Style	Contact
Contra	Julie: 616-361-9219 dancechair@grfolkarts.org
International Israeli, Eastern European, many others	Donna: 616-949-8374 international@grfolkarts.org
General Dance Info or Saturday Dance Info	Jeff: 616 532 3787 dancebooker@grfolkarts.org

Musician Information
If you’re not a dancer but you’ve always wanted to learn to play old-timey string band music, come and jam with more experienced players on the fourth Friday contra dance night. You will learn old fiddle tunes and have fun playing with others. Tune titles and keys are published below so you can practice up. Bruce Ling of Hawks & Owls String Band will lead the group. You can bring your standup bass, fiddle, guitar, or mando and sit in. You don't have to be a star or a beginner. We want to see the number of "old time", and "contra dance" bands and musicians grow in Grand Rapids.

Dance tunes and key chart	Top

		Chord Charts More Contra Dance Tunes (in .pdf)
Common Tunes	Key
Flowers of Edinburgh	G
June Apple	A	Key of A
Liberty	D	Key of D
Over the Waterfall	D	Key of D
Ragtime Annie	D	Key of G
Soldier's Joy	D
Spotted Pony	D	Provided by by Bruce Ling of Hawks and Owls String Band

Last update: 8 January 2012
For updates or corrections, please email: Webmaster@grfolkarts.org