2022 Saratoga New Year’s Fest
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2022 Saratoga New Year’s Fest
December 31, 2022 @ 12:00 pm – 11:15 pm EST
DanceFlurry Takeover at the Saratoga Music Hall
474 Broadway, 3rd Floor
Saratoga Springs, NY 12866
Spend New Year’s Eve dancing the (day and) night away, as we take over the Music Hall to present a full schedule of events at Saratoga’s 2022 New Year’s Fest!
- Full-Fest Tickets: $25 after Dec 25
*** When purchasing full-fest tickets, please use this affiliate link so $10 of your ticket price goes to us!***
- DanceFlurry Events-Only Tickets: $10 online here or at the door
- Or sign up to volunteer, and get free admission to all DFO events that day! Click below:
Share this event on Facebook – and invite your friends!
Schedule:
Events run from Noon through 11:15PM. Click event title for performer info.
| 12PM – 1:10 | International Folk Dancing with Tri-City Folk Dancers |
| 1:15 – 2:00 | Family Dance Paul Rosenberg with Tamarack |
| 2:00 – 2:45 | More Family Dance! Paul Rosenberg with Tamarack |
| 3:00 – 6:00 | Contra Dance Will Mentor calling to River Road (Jesse Ball, Kristen Planeaux, and Sarah-Hadley Yakir) Beginner’s lesson at 3:00 |
| 6:45 – 7:30 | Saratoga High School Fiddle Club Performance |
| 7:45 – 8:30 | Swing Lesson with David Wolf |
| 8:30 – 11:15 | Swing Dance Giacomo Smith Quartet |
For the full New Year’s Fest Schedule, visit SaratogaNewYearsFest.com
Questions about the event? Email newyearsfest@danceflurry.org
Covid Policy:
We ask that all attendees of DFO Events at the Music Hall wear surgical or higher grade masks while in the venue. We will have masks available at the door for those in need. If you have symptoms of a Covid-like illness, please defer and dance instead at one of our regular monthly events when you are well.
Tickets
- To purchase advance tickets ($20 through 12/25) for all of New Year’s Fest (including DFO events), click HERE for our affiliate ticket link, through which DFO will receive $10 of your purchase. You will pick up full-festival tickets at the City Center.
- To purchase DFO Events-Only Tickets, use the form below. Your $10 admission gets you a wristband allowing entry to all the DFO events listed above and held at the Music Hall, but will NOT give you access to any other New Year’s Fest events.
- On the day of the event, if you decide you want to attend other New Year’s Fest activities, you may show your DFO wristband at the City Center and upgrade to a full-festival pass for an additional $15.
- As a reminder, masks will be both required and available for events at the Music Hall.
Saratoga Arts made this program possible through the Community Arts Regrant Program, funded by the New York State Council on the Arts with the support of the office of the Governor and the New York State Legislature.
Performer Information
12:00-1:10 International Folk Dancing with the Tri-City Folk Dancers
International Folk Dancing includes the traditional dances of many countries and cultures done to authentic music in a variety of formations (long and short lines, circles, broken circles, duos and trios). Our group is particularly fond of dances from the Balkan countries (Bulgaria, Macedonia, former Yugoslav countries), Romania, Greece Turkey, Armenia, Israel and many other countries. We mostly dance to recorded music, but have live music events a few times a year. We welcome all ages and genders, and no partner is necessary, as most dances do not involve couples.
1:15-2:00 / 2:00-2:45 Family Dance with Paul Rosenberg and Tamarack
Enjoy a tradition of community dancing and music handed down from generation to generation! Circle dances, squares, line dances, international folk dances, and play-party singing games from around the world.
The toe-tapping music consists of reels, jigs, polkas, hornpipes, and waltzes. While participation in the dancing is encouraged — and it’s hard to sit still — it’s fun to just listen to the music and watch too!
3:00 – 6:00 Contra Dance, with Will Mentor calling to River Road
There will be instruction for beginners at the start of the dance, as well as a welcoming atmosphere to learn-as-you-go!
Will Mentor is a contra and square dance caller from Northern Vermont known for his clear teaching, upbeat wit, and relaxed stage presence. He loves to choreograph evenings with a variety of dances and tempos that at times surprise and always delight, all the while keeping intact his guiding principle as a caller: “It’s about the dancers!”
River Road delivers beauty, power, and groove to contra dances with a highly revered mixture of contemporary and traditional tunes with strong influences from Quebecois, New England, & Maritime traditions, featuring Sarah-Hadley Yakir on fiddle, Kristen Planeaux on piano, flute, and accordion, and Jesse Ball on mandolin, guitar, accordion, and foot percussion. While they are geographically divided by the Connecticut river, an aptly named River Road connects them to create an energy that is highly sought after in the contradance scene.
6:45 – 7:30 Performance by the Saratoga High School Fiddle Club
The Saratoga Springs Fiddle Club is a High School club that learns Irish, Scottish, and French-Canadian music by ear. All students are welcome to play, however the majority of them play string instruments. The club is lead by Mrs. Jessica LaBello, a talented string teacher at the High School.
The Fiddle Club has previously played at events like the Victorian Streetwalk and the Beekman Street Arts Fair, as well as the Flurry Festival! They are also planning to play at the McKrells Christmas Concert at The Egg in Albany and to travel abroad to Scotland next year!
7:45 – 8:30 Swing Lesson with David Wolf
David dances all types of Social Dancing, but mainly specializes in American Standard Ballroom and Argentine Tango. Dave has over 20 years of dance experience and has had training with some of the world’s best dancers. He is also no stranger to instruction, for he has experience as a high school teacher as well as an instructor of college level courses. He has also trained dance instructors for over tens years. No matter where you take a class with David you are sure to enjoy every minute! David is known for his incredible sense of humor and extraordinary teaching skills. He is also filled with tons of dance history knowledge as well as strange factoids that surprise most everyone.
Besides instruction and choreography, Dave is a DJ. He offers a one of the largest authentic collection of Argentine Tangos, Disco, Swing and Latin music. He has done several ballroom events and weddings as well.
8:30 – 11:15 Swing Dance with the Giacomo Smith Quartet
Giacomo Smith – clarinet and soprano
Graham Tichy – banjo
Bob Kendall – bass
Randy Reinhart – trombone
Since he moved to London a decade ago from Montreal Canada, Saratogian Giacomo Smith has earned a reputation as one of the most distinct and versatile performers in London’s vital jazz scene. Smith, along with cofounder Jack Abraham, founded Kansas Smitty’s in 2013 as London’s answer to the fertile communities fostered in other cities by the likes of Count Basie, Django Reinhardt and Duke Ellington. The idea was to grow a genre-blind philosophy that embraced all eras and geographies of jazz. Two years later, they opened their first bar on Broadway Market in London’s trendy Borough of Hackney and played host to countless world class musicians: Louis Cole, Cory Wong, Johnny O’Neal, Victor Goines, Leroy Jones, Shingai Shoniwa, Eliza Doolittle, Rhys Lewis, Reuben James, Ben Van Gelder, Chris Dave, and many others.
Smith is an active soloist, performer and educator outside his role in Kansas Smitty’s. Notable appearances include performing Artie Shaw’s Clarinet Concerto with Guy Barker as a soloist at the Royal Albert Hall, and with Wynton Marsalis at the Barbican Centre and in New York at Jazz at Lincoln Center. Smith has led Kansas Smitty’s in performances from London’s Alexandra Palace to international venues in Brussels, Paris, Baltimore, New York City and Rochester. He has been a member of Rob Brydon’s touring band for “Songs and Stories” since 2019 and I worked with Jamie Cullum as a producer and arranger on his most recent release “The Pianoman at Christmas Pt. 2”. In November 2022, Smith premiered Guy Barker’s clarinet concerto “The Art of the Hang” at the Cadogan Hall as part of the 2022 London Jazz Festival. Smiths also recently produced albums for actor, Damian Lewis and drummer Jas Kayser (Jorja Smith).
