At the Midwest Morris Ale

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Stupid trombone tricks

I have been calling traditional contra and square dances since the spring of 1990, and regularly call at dances, weekends, and festivals all over the United States (and occasionally abroad). I've been on the Board of Directors for Folklore Village, an internationally-known regional folk arts organization in Dodgeville, Wisconsin, and for the Country Dance and Song Society. I welcome discussion with all you dancers, callers, and musicians out there: what should CDSS be doing for you and your dance/music organization? Since I have so much free time, I am also learning to fiddle. And for those of you who've lost track (not hard to do), I now live in Madison, Wisconsin.

For a general overview of contradancing, read Greg Rohde's awesome description, or see this newsclip about contra dancing in Chicago. You may also enjoy the "work in progress" national database created by Ted Crane, the New England-centric "Dance Gypsy" page, or Kiran Wagle's multi-faceted (but hopelessly outdated) contradance webpage. And for entertainment value, I know of no better pages than Peter Barnes' page of gig tales and quotes.

Besides contra and square dancing, I enjoy dancing Morris, rapper sword, longsword, English country, and Scandinavian dances. For several years I was also a member of the Minnesota Wild Roses, a Modern Western Square Dance club. Their club caller is the stunningly talented Dan Sahlstrom, the best caller I've ever heard, of any style, anywhere. For those of you who are now wondering, no, I don't wear crinolines.