Please join us on the beautiful wooden dance floor at First UU!
Homebaked snacks, free childcare , and warm, welcoming dancers.
No partner needed!
[A suggested donation of $7 ($4 for those under age 25) will be asked to fairly compensate our talented bands and callers.]

This is an intergenerational, beginner-friendly, welcoming dance community. Please join us!

Winter/Spring 2009 Dance Dates

• Friday, Jan. 30 – Josh Moses of Cincinnati will call with Golden Griffon Stringtet of Southeast Michigan.  Inspired by music from Irish, French-Canadian, New England and Southern/Old Time sources, the band features hammered dulcimer, fiddle, guitar and bass.
• Friday, Feb. 13 – Celebrate Valentine’s Day on the dance floor at the All Soles premiere of The Great Mad Hoax, an exciting young Columbus-area band playing an eclectic mix of swing, gypsy, funky old-time, jazz, and more!  You'll hear 16-year old virtuoso fiddler Chase Potter, joined by bandmates Keenan Wade on mandolin and Brian Suzch on dobro.  Kate Power will call.
• Friday, March 20 – Canadian caller Bev Bernbaum returns to thrill us with her creative dances and cool style.  She’ll be joined on stage by the irrepressible Scalar Scalawags of Ann Arbor, featuring Neil Epstein on piano, Elizabeth Epstein on flute and guitar, Mark Hillegonds on hammered dulcimer, and Dave Sebolt on whistles, bamboo sax, bodhran and bongos.  (Bev and the Scalawags will also appear the next night at Big Scioty – make it a weekend!!)
• Friday, May 29 – A special Fifth Friday Zesty Contra Dance!  “Zesty Contras” offer a higher level of challenge for dancers who’ve mastered the basics and are craving more zip in their contra dance experience.  Caller Kate Power will stretch your comfort zone to the outrageous old-time tunes of Athens band Stump Juice Trading Co., featuring Jeff Morris on fiddle, Nathan “White Fish” Harris on guitar, Jay Ryan on banjo, and Brad “Wookie” Strunk on bass. (There will not be a teaching session before the dance.)

Summer Saturday All Soles Dance Dates for your Calendar:

 June 27   º  July 25  º  August 15

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Golden Griffon Stringtet:  http://www.goldengriffonstringtet.com/

Kate Power:  www.powerkate.com

Bev Bernbaum:  http://www.mutopiaproject.org/~tcd/bands_callers/bevbernbaum.htm

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All Soles Contra Dances are sponsored by the Social Committee of First Unitarian Universalist Church, and attract from between 50 to 100 dancers, one evening a month (the evening varies, so check the dance schedule above). Contra dance is a highly social form of early American folk dance in which partners change frequently, no special dress is required, and almost all ages can learn. It is said about a contra dance that by the end of the evening, you will have danced with everyone in the room!

If you'd like to know more about contra dance, follow this wonderful link: http://www.childgrove.org/gregsarticle.htm

For a photo gallery of contra dancing, check this out: http://www.dougplummer.com/dance/index.html

No partner is required, and all dances will be taught -- no special dance skill or background needed. Dress in lightweight clothing because things will heat up! Please wear clean, non-marking shoes to protect the beautiful new wooden dance floor.

More opportunities to contra dance in Columbus! Big Scioty Barn Dance is a larger, established contra dance community, dancing on the first and third Saturdays from September through May in downtown Columbus. Visit their website to see the schedule of live bands and callers from all over the midwest: http://www.bigscioty.com

For a wealth of information on contra dancing, and a nice tribute to the First UU leadership for supporting the creation of All Soles, visit the new website of First UU's own Kate Power at http://www.powerkate.com

Children who are interested in and able to join in the dancing are welcome.

Childcare is provided for the very youngest at no charge.

Questions: call or email Kate Power -- 614-789-0652 (kate@powerkate.com)

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Last update: 2008-07-08 0025 EDT (kco)