CD*NY Presents Memorial Day Weekend Contra and English Dancing Extravaganza

Country Dance*New York (CD*NY) is presenting a Contra & English Country Dance Extravaganza on Memorial Day Weekend (Friday, May 26 & Saturday, May 27, 2017) with live, high energy, unconventional, super psychedelic music by the six talented young musicians of Giant Robot Dance, considered among the best and most exciting contra dance bands in the U.S. No previous experience is required and it is not necessary to come with a partner. All dances will be taught. The event takes place at P.S. 3, The John Melser Charrette School, 470 Hudson Street, Hudson and Grove Streets, New York City, offering dancers from beginner to advanced opportunities to learn and enjoy English country dancing and American contra dancing the same weekend.

Dance Extravaganza Schedule:

Friday, May 26:

8:00pm - 11:00pm Challenging contra dances with caller Adina Gordon

Saturday, May 27:

2:30pm - 3:00pm Introductory English country dancing workshop

3:00pm - 6:00pm English country dancing for all with caller Tom Amessé

7:30pm - 8:00pm Introductory contra dance workshop

8:00pm - 11:00pm Contra dancing for all with caller Adina Gordon

Admission: Full Weekend Pass: $40 general public, $35 students with ID or CDNY members; All Day Saturday: $25 general public, $20 students and CDNY members; Afternoon English country dance (including beginners English dancing workshop): $12 general public, $10 students and CDNY members; Evening contra dance each (including contra beginner's workshop for Saturday night dance): $18 general public, $15 students and CDNY members.

Callers Adina Gordon and Tom Amessé will walk everyone through the patterns of each dance making the dancing a pleasure for all. Vermont-based Adina Gordon calls for contra dance weekends all over the U.S. She is known for her smooth calling, clear teaching, and entrancing style. Tom Amessé teaches and calls English country dances with clarity, wit, and panache that puts new and old dancers at ease on the dance floor.

Giant Robot Dance brings together three sets of musical brothers from New York, Vermont, and Washington, DC - Andrew and Noah VanNorstrand, Andrew and Aaron Marcus, Michael and Alex Ferguson - for wild nights of blaring accordion, shredding electric guitar, bludgeoning drums, and honking trombone solos, plus a sprinkling of very tasteful piano melodies and delicate violin accents. This is not your mother's contra or English dance band - think more of Carlos Santana or the music of Queen interspersed with many other music styles. Giant Robot Dance is: Andrew VanNorstrand, guitar and fiddle; Noah VanNorstrand, drums; Andrew Marcus, accordion; Aaron Marcus, piano, banjo, concertina; Michael Ferguson, trombone, and Alex Ferguson, trombone.

English country dancing is choreographed community dancing, with repertoire ranging from court dances of the 1600s and 1700s to dances composed in the 20th and 21st centuries. English country dance is a participatory art form, welcoming to novices and experienced dancers alike. At the start of each dance, dancers invite one another to be partners. After centuries of development, it is extremely diverse and can vary from elegant to energetic, from playful to solemn, and from stately to boisterous.

Contra dancing is having a renaissance around the country, thanks to a thriving youth scene; lively, uplifting acoustic music; and joyful, fast-paced, aerobic dancing. Contra dancing started in New England in the 1700s, but the modern version is a far cry from the Virginia Reel-type dancing done in schools years ago. The current dancing is done in lines of dancers facing their partners and moving briskly in patterns to live music, dancing with a partner, and also with others they meet in the course of a dance.

To Get There: P.S. 3, The John Melser Charrette School, can be reached by subway: A, C, and E trains to West 4th Street, and 1 train to Christopher Street station. Can also take PATH trains towards Journal Square, Christopher Street Station.

This event is supported in part by the Outreach Fund of the Country Dance and Song Society.

This event is not a NYC Board of Education event.

Further information can be found at www.cdny.org or by calling 212.459.4080.

Attendees are asked to bring a separate pair of clean, soft-bottomed shoes for dancing. Each first-timer will get a free pass to come to another CD*NY dance.