DanceFlurry Organization

President, Jen Brown - I like Lindy hop, Blues, East Coast Swing, Contra, and Salsa  dancing. Before becoming president in May 2010, I was Treasurer for 2 years and then a finance committee member. I regularly volunteer for the monthly swing dance and the annual Flurry Festival. I just finished my MBA at SUNY Albany and a grant-writing course. I work in a professional management capacity for the State of New York and will continue to bring business skills to the Board position. Balancing the professional and artistic sides of the Organization is important to me, because the business side of DFO needs to be supportive of the artistic side. I support the Board’s goal - increasing dance and music opportunities for the community of all ages and backgrounds. I will work to to improve Board processes and functions to support dance and music events and the organizers who run them. As I have a good working relationship with people in the organization, I am confident that I can be effective at keeping the artistic, community and educational goals of the organization in the forefront while conducting business to obtain those goals.

Vice-President, Don Bell - I have loved country dancing for many years and enjoy sharing the joys of traditional dance with others.  Since 1997, I have taught beginner workshops in English Country dance and run the Rensselaer English Country dance series. I have been on the Flurry Festival committee since 1992 and the DFO Board since 2004. In my professional life I have worked in educational broadcasting, special education, educational software marketing, distance learning and web site development.  I was born in Toronto, Ontario. I met my wife Diane at Pinewoods dance camp (near Plymouth, Mass.), and we now live on Pinewoods Ave., Troy, NY.

Secretary, John Guay - I worked 25 years as a service tech in the foodservice industry. I've enjoyed contra dancing for 30 years but could not commit to helping out.  Early retirement has given me the time to work with the DFO. Naturally I met my wife at a contra dance. While my wife and I dance less now, we play a lot more music.  She plays piano and I play the hammered dulcimer.  We jam a lot around Saratoga at the Parting Glass Celtic Sessions, farmers markets and the occasional contra or barn dance.  We do dress up and play for revolutionary war enactments.  Since my family roots are in Quebec (both English and French), we attend festivals and dances up there five or six times a year. The Quebecois tunes really appeal to us, so we've helped create more interest in them locally.

Treasurer: Rich Pisarri - My first dance experience, Zydeco, was seven years ago at a DanceFlurry sponsored event.  Since then I've enjoyed Swing, Contra, Tango, and Cajun. I love the DanceFlurry organization for the wide variety of  dancing and live music it sponsors. I began volunteering as a member of the Flurry Festival cash crew and now look forward to serving the organization as Treasurer. Professionally, I have been an auditor for 32 years. 

Board Members at Large:

Bill Schwarz - I live in Glens Falls, semi-retired, enjoy bicycle touring and crosscountry skiing. I got started dancing at Duane Hall in NYC, and frequent Pinewoods Dance Camp in Massachusetts. I coordinate the Glens Falls contra dance series and look forward to seeing you there.

Terry Kinal - I have been a college teacher for 45 years. My wife and I started contra dancing ten years ago, and now also do English country and some swing. We attend many festivals as well as local dances. My interest in introducing traditional dancing to a wider community prompted me to serve on the DFO board. Besides dancing, I enjoy bicycling, hiking and solving puzzles.  

Laura Perrault -Dancing saved my sanity.  I discovered contra dancing after leaving a long-term relationship. It was comforting to be touched by inspiring music, physical rhythm & movement and human touch and laughter. There are so many great musicians, dancing styles and music festivals to enjoy. I'm enjoying giving back some time and energy to the Flurry Festival and DanceFlurry Org.  I'm now Director of the Adirondack Dance Weekend in Sept.on Lake George. In my other life, I'm a Registered Nurse and teach nursing in Albany. I was raised on Long Island but loved to hike, kayak, ski and enjoy nature upstate so it was easy moving here in 1980. We have a small pack of beagles, canoes and kayaks at our house.

Gabriel Holmes -  If you had told me seven years ago that I would ever make a halfway decent dancer, I wouldn't have believed you. It's a great honor to be part the DanceFlurry Organization, which pulls together so many kinds of types of dance, and in so doing helps build a stronger dance community and promotes cross fertilization between various types of dancing: swing, contra, ballroom, international folk dancing, you name it. My own preferences lie with contra as well as modern western square dancing (just made it through "plus"). Through all of life's up and downs, I hope that I'll always be able to come back to dancing. See you all on the dance floor!

Janice Joyce - I work with the First Friday Swing dance committee and volunteer at the Flurry Festival. I have attended the Flurry for years, and contra dances. I served on the board for 3-4 years at Stillpoint Interfaith Retreat Center and served as president of the board for one year. I have been on various committees with the American Marketing Assoc and the Ad Club to plan specific events and currently serve as a member of the Communications Committee for the Women’s Fund of the Capital Region, an offshoot of the Community Foundation and United Way. In addition, I have been a member of various professional organizations such as the PRSA (Public Relations Society of America). Dancing has so many wonderful attributes: it’s a form of expression, great exercise, good clean fun, safe way to meet new people, etc. I would like to explore ways to bring in new members and promote the DFO. One of the benefits of attending the Flurry Festival has been the opportunity to explore all kinds of dancing, from folk to belly to English Country to Dances of Universal Peace.

Esther Haskvitz - I became an avid contra dancer and traditional music enthusiast while living in Fairbanks, Alaska in the late 1980’s. I soon was hooked on other dances, including all forms of swing, Cajun, zydeco, blues, ballroom, salsa and most recently Argentine tango. Just before moving from Virginia to New England in January 1992, I was told by a “dance gypsy” friend that my first not to be missed festival was the Dance Flurry in February. I have been attending ever since. When I moved to the Capital Region in 2004, I wanted to become more involved with the organization and was recruited by Patti Melita to join the Flurry Festival cash crew. I look forward to further serving the organization as a member of the board.

DanceFlurry Board Emeritus

Paul Rosenberg - I have been leading dances throughout the northeastern United States since 1986. In recent years, I have been one of the busiest callers in North America, working over 200 dance engagements a year. I am known for my gentle but energetic, encouraging style, concise teaching, and offbeat sense of humor. My programs consist of community dances from the Hudson Valley, United Kingdom, Appalachia, and New England, as well as international folk dances and African-American singing and playparty games. I love teaching traditional dances to children (as a visiting arts educator) in elementary schools and leading novices in community dances at festivals, community celebrations, weddings, family reunions, birthday parties, family dances, Girl Scout dances, and other gatherings. I also call contra dances and perform at numerous major festivals and events around the Northeast. I play recorder and fiddle. I founded and organized the Flurry Festival in Saratoga Springs, NY for eighteen years; Fiddlers’ Tour, a weekly fiddle tune jam session in the Albany area; and have been organizing a monthly family dance in Albany since 1994. I also founded and served on the Board of Directors of the DanceFlurry Organization.

Bill Matthiesen - Dance and music have been such life-changers for me! So I've worked on the board for many years to help keep our wonderful event going. We have a really nice group of folks on the board and creating the festival, the Adirondack weekend and all the other local dances -- it's really a good community. My "day job" is creating videos for educational, industrial, non-profit and small business clients. And we travel most weekends to play for contras, vintage dance, tangos & couples dances. Any extra time goes to publishing music books (like The Waltz Book series) and historic dance music recordings. We also really enjoy hiking, cross country skiing and traveling to foreign places.

Patti Melita - I grew up in a family of church choir and barbershop harmony singers. Although I studied classical piano and voice for several years, my real love proved to be traditional jazz. After singing in jazz and dance bands for a while, I took a hiatus from performing.  Paul Rosenberg, helped me rediscover my talent by clandestinely putting me on Flurry Festival program in 1990, singing with a swing band. I found myself right at home at the microphone. Since then I've been singing at festivals, swing dances and jazz clubs throughout upstate New York and New England. I was a long-time co-director of the Flurry Festival and, with Teresa Broadwell, coordinated the DanceFlurry Organization's monthly swing dance events for 16 years. I am also an official dance consultant for the annual Falcon Ridge Festival in Hillsdale, N.Y.  With producer Peter Ecklund, I recorded "Swing It!", a collection of vintage tunes arranged for the most discriminating dancers and listeners. Presently can be seen performing in various venues with Peg Delaney on keyboard and Linda Brown on bass, a group known as The Gals Who Play Jazz.

Administrator - Lorraine Weiss -

Book Keeper - Chrissie Van Wormer - I was introduced to the DanceFlurry group through my son’s involvement when his second grade glass was chosen to receive a GE Advancement of the Arts grant that followed them through the eighth grade.  The grant allowed exposure to a myriad of arts but was particularly focused on dance.  The first time his class performed at the Flurry Festival, I was completely blown away by all the fun everyone was having all over Saratoga and more than that, how many people I recognized as we made our way around the festival.  I am by nature a workaholic so I didn’t get involved until I saw an ad for a Finance Director of the festival during the summer of 2007.  I jumped at the opportunity because I realized that it could be my chance to get involved on some level and maybe I’d even get the opportunity to learn how to dance!  I am a lifelong musician, singer and songwriter who has performed throughout the entire capital region area at festivals, farmers markets, cafes, libraries, old folks homes and out of the area at the Blue Bird Cafe in Nashville, TN and several establishments in and around Naples, Florida.  My next musical goal is to learn contra dance and swing and hopefully I won’t step on too many toes in the process!