North Berkshire Community Dance
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North Berkshire Community Dance
January 14, 2023 @ 7:30 pm – 10:00 pm EST
Good news: our Jan 14th dance is ON!
We’ve been keeping an anxious eye on Covid community transmission levels, which were worrisomely high in neighboring counties last week. Luckily, the map released yesterday shows Berkshire County, AND also our north-county neighbors, all at medium transmission levels.
Please come if you can! Remember, we dancers share responsiblity for one another’s health. Use your discretion; stay home if you’re not feeling well, test before you come out. You can review registration terms here: https://tinyurl.com/NorthBerkshireDancePreReg
More dance information here: https://northberkshiredance.org/
Dances are held on the second Saturdays of the month and include contras and squares all done to great live music. The sessions are open to beginners, families, and life-long dancers! All dances are taught and no partner is required. Come alone or bring a friend or two.
Andy Davis will call, starting with a brief introductory lesson at 7:30 p.m. The early part of the evening will be particularly welcoming to beginning dancers and families with children; at the end, we’ll have Chorus Jig. (What’s Chorus Jig? Read on to the end!)
New in 2023
New location: the community hall of the First Congregational Church, which is at 906 Main Street, Williamstown, MA.
Vaccination & Mask Requirement: unfortunately, some elements that make our dances wonderful community events are also great for spreading respiratory disease. Luckily, it’s possible to have most of the fun, and minimize the misery, with suitable precautions. To this end we’ll be requiring everyone in the hall to wear masks and show proof of Covid-19 vacination. We’ll follow the rules outlined by the Friends of the Greenfield Dance: http://www.friendsofgreenfielddance.org/covid-19-policy/ , and we’ll have an optional pre-registration system to help ease lines at the door.
New Admission Fee Schedule — Pay What You Can: Pre-pandemic, we put a lot of effort into setting admission fees to both cover expenses and also let as many people as possible join us. Charging different amounts by category got complicated, and still didn’t work for everyone, so we’ve decided to let you decide for yourself how much to contribute. You may choose to contribute by helping with practical matters, like checking people in at the door, or sweeping the floor at the break. However, we do use money to pay our performers (though never quite enough for their specialized skills) and to pay rent for the hall, so contributions from $5 to $15 per person are most welcome.
New Dance of the Year — Chorus Jig! Admittedly, Chorus Jig is old, not new, but dancing it every month here in Williamstown is new for us. Chorus Jig is a dance with a name, and a history, and a reputation for boisterous fun.
UPCOMING DANCES
February 11, 2023: Caller and band soon to be announced. This year we will dance the old chestnut, “Chorus Jig”, every month.
March 11, 2023: Quena Crain calling, band soon to be announced. Quena has special facility with family dances, so this is a particularly good month to bring the whole family for the first half of the evening. We’ll still dance “Chorus Jig” near the end of the evning, as every month.
April 8, 2023: Caller and band soon to be announced. This year we will dance the old chestnut, “Chorus Jig”, every month.
May 13, 2023: Caller soon to be announced. Musicians Mary Cay Brass on piano with Laurie Indenbaum on fiddle. This year we will dance the old chestnut, “Chorus Jig”, every month.
June 10, 2023: Caller and band soon to be announced. This year we will dance the old chestnut, “Chorus Jig”, every month.
We send a quick email reminder once a month before each dance. If you would like to be included, you can subscribe here.
For more information, visit www.northberkshiredance.org, see the Facebook page at www.facebook.com/northberkshiredance/, or contact doonemackay@gmail.com.
