Recent News

Doubleheader Contra Dance including the “FOOT BALL” on Super Bowl Sunday!

The Historic Jonesborough Dance Society will hold a doubleheader contra dance on Saturday and Sunday, February 4-5, 2012 at the Jonesborough Visitors Center, 117 Boone Street. Admission to the dances is $7, $5 for HJDS members and $5 for full time students. All dances are smoke, alcohol and fragrance free. No partner is necessary. Families and children are welcome.

Performing for the Saturday event will be The Inexplicabilies from Greenville, South Carolina. The caller will be Terry Doyle. A class for beginners will be held at 7:00pm where the caller will invite everyone to the dance floor to review calls, steps, flow and other helpful ideas to get everyone started on the right foot. The dance will run from 7:30-10:30pm with a waltz and Klondike Bar break at 9:00pm. The Inexplicabilies are David White on fiddle and banjo, Wes Maluk on tenor banjo, guitar, percussion and Joel McConnell on mandolin.

Super Bowl Sunday brings the second event of the doubleheader. It’s the 4th Annual “FOOT BALL”. While the fans of the sport of NFL Football are gearing up for the championship game of the season, contra dancers will gather at the Jonesborough Visitors Center to share potluck lunch starting at noon, waltzing from 2:00 to 2:30pm and contra dance from 2:30-5:30pm. “We did this event last year and surprisingly had over 130 dancers come for the afternoon dance” states event organizer David Wiley, President of the Historic Jonesborough Dance Society. The waltz music will be provided by the featured band of the day “Land of Sky”. The caller will be Beth Molaro.
A special treat at this year’s FOOT BALL will be the Half Time viewing of Super Bowl best and worst TV commercials from the last decade. In addition, a group of local dancers will present their own commercial for contra dance.

The dance will conclude at 5:30pm in plenty of time for dancers to change back over to football fans as the Super Bowl Game kicks off at 6:25pm or attend a post-dance meal and social at the Vega’s Fiesta Restaurant at 1976 11-E Highway in Jonesborough.
Contra dancing is a traditional form of American folk dance that evolved from the long ways country dances popular in English society centuries ago. Contra dance communities now thrive all over the country. There are websites that can direct you to contra dances in most states. The modern contra dances provide dancers of all ages and experience levels with the opportunity to smile, move, connect, flirt and create an evening of dance nirvana with each other. No previous dance experience is necessary. No fancy footwork is required. If you can walk and count to eight, you can contra dance!

Contra dances are community events. At almost any contra you will find people of all ages and all dance skill levels, from young to old, beginner to expert. Contra dancers form a very open and welcoming group of people. You can come alone or with others since it is a tradition to dance with a variety of partners throughout the night. It is perfectly acceptable for either a man or a woman to ask someone to dance. It’s a great way to make friends with someone they haven’t met before. You will find contra dancing a great way to make new friends.

For more information, contact event organizer, David Wiley, at 423-534-8879 or visit www.historicjonesboroughdancesociety.org an the Historic Jonesborough Dance Society on FACEBOOK.

“Contra, Family Dance & Shoe Drive in Jonesborough”

The Historic Jonesborough Dance Society continues the shoe drive for Soles4Souls with a contra and family dance on Saturday January 21, 2012. The event will be held at the Jonesborough Visitors Center at 7:00pm featuring the Asheville band “Boom Chuck” with Mark Langner calling the dance. Admission is $7, $5 for HJDS members and $5 for full time students. A class for newcomer contra dances will run from 7:00-7:30pm. The dance will go from 7:30-10:30pm with a Klondike Bar break at 9:00pm. Slides from a recent Soles4Soles trip to Africa will be shown during the break.

The evening will begin with a family dance from 5:30-7:00pm led by caller/teacher Noah Grunzweig. The family dance is truly a family event where parents or grandparents and children ages four and up learn traditional dances. The dance will consist of easy steps for participants of all ages. The goal is to teach the fundamentals of dancing with a focus on having fun and placing less of an emphasis on dance techniques. Types of dances include circles, long-ways sets, squares, and odd number sets. All dances will be taught and called with high-energy recorded tunes. Family dances promote community, inter-generational interaction, and bring traditional dance to a new generation, making the dance community stronger and enduring. This is the fourth event in the family dance series. Admission to the family dance is $5 for adults and $3 for children. Family package costs $15 for parents and all their children. Neighbors and friends cannot be part of the family package. If the participants wish to stay for the regular dance, their Family Dance admission can be applied to the regular admission costs.


Soles4Soles® is a Nashville-based charity that collects shoes from the warehouses of footwear companies and the closets of people from all over the country. The charity distributes these shoes to people in need, regardless of race, religion, class, or any other criteria all over the world. They will accept any shoe in any condition including adult and child shoes. “As dancers, we depend on our shoes to enjoy dancing and other activities” offers event organizer David Wiley. “We take so much for granted here in our country when many people throughout the world go without shoes”. “We are asking people in the community to clean out the closet and bring us shoes that you don’t wear or can no longer wear.” Soles4Soles will get them to people who need them. Our goal is to collect 2012 pairs of shoes during the month of January. We collected over 1000 pairs of shoes at our dance on January 7th. We are well on our way to goal. Calls are coming in from all over the community” adds Wiley.

“Contra dance is a way for all citizens of the area to rededicate themselves to New Year’s higher ideas and ideals for diet and exercise changes. We know from the experts that most people start the year with ambitious goals for weight loss, smoking cessation or other behavioral changes during the first ten days of the New Year”, states organizer David Wiley. “The problem is that many of these commitments fade away in the short term” adds Wiley. “Our contra dance program, even though it is held only twice per month can jump start anyone toward their goals. We had 30 dances again 2011. In and of itself, 30 dances won’t make or break anyone’s fitness program, but for many, it made a difference. We have built the foundation for our own dance community in addition to starting a monthly family dance series.

Boom Chuck unites three friends who have played for contra dances in the area for the last two years. The band consists Laurie Fisher on fiddle, Nic Coker on guitar and banjo and Ricky Cooper on bass.

Mark Langer, from Asheville, is a very popular caller in the area. Mark will delight you with his fun instructional style and smooth flowing dances. Be prepared to be challenged as the night goes on. His pleasant style and graceful teaching put dancers at ease and set the stage for a great evening.

For more information on Saturday’s dance or any upcoming events, please call David Wiley at 423-534-8879 or visit www.historicjonesboroughdancesociety.org. or Historic Jonesborough Dance Society on FACEBOOK.

“7th Contra Dance Season Starts with Shoe Drive”

The Historic Jonesborough Dance Society will kick off the 2012 contra dance season on Saturday, January 7th with a dance and a shoe drive for Soles4Souls. The event will be held at the Jonesborough Visitors Center at 7:00pm featuring the Asheville band “Hot Sonata”. Calling the dance will be the ever popular Diane Silver. Admission is $7, $5 for HJDS members and $5 for full time students. A class for newcomer contra dances will run from 7:00-7:30pm. The dance will go from 7:30-10:30pm with a Klondike Bar break at 9:00pm. Slides from a recent Soles4Soles trip to Africa will be shown during the break.

Soles4Soles® is a Nashville-based charity that collects shoes from the warehouses of footwear companies and the closets of people from all over the country. The charity distributes these shoes to people in need, regardless of race, religion, class, or any other criteria all over the world. They will accept any shoe in any condition including adult and child shoes. “As dancers, we depend on our shoes to enjoy dancing and other activities” offers event organizer David Wiley. “We take so much for granted here in our country when many people throughout the world go without shoes”. “We are asking people in the community to clean out the closet and bring us shoes that you don’t wear or can no longer wear.” Soles4Soles will get them to people who need them. Our goal is to collect 2012 pairs of shoes during the month of January. Bring them to our dances on January 7th and 21st or call for pick up.”

“Contra dance is a way for all citizens of the area to rededicate themselves to New Year’s higher ideas and ideals for diet and exercise changes. We know from the experts that most people start the year with ambitious goals for weight loss, smoking cessation or other behavioral changes during the first ten days of the New Year”, states organizer David Wiley. “The problem is that many of these commitments fade away in the short term” adds Wiley. “Our contra dance program, even though it is held only twice per month can jump start anyone toward their goals. We had 30 dances again 2011. In and of itself, 30 dances won’t make or break anyone’s fitness program, but for many, it made a difference. We have built the foundation for our own dance community in addition to starting a monthly family dance series.

Hot Sonata unites three friends who have played for contra dances in the area for many years. The band consists Karen Gaughan on piano, Art Shuster on mandolin and Laura Lengnick on fiddle.

Caller Diane Silver has played a big part in the reintroduction of contra dance to this area. Diane participated in the very first workshops that were held in late 2005 before HJDS offered its first open dance on January 6, 2006. During the past 6 years HJDS has had the pleasure of having Diane call and teach many times to the delight of all who attended. Diane has called the Jonesborough Days “Day of Dance”, participated in Contrathons and some of our advanced dances. She has been a die-hard contra dancer, swing dancer, and kitchen-flat footer for over ten years. With a penchant for hot modern contras and a few active squares, she loves sharing high energy dancing that allows everyone to “play” with the band. Highly acclaimed for her clear, efficient teaching and calling, creative medleys, great positive energy, and spirit of community building, Diane provides a sizzling evening of dance in a friendly, welcoming tone. Diane’s motto: “I can’t believe this much fun is legal!”

“We have already scheduled another year of great contra dance bands and callers” adds Wiley. For more information on Saturday’s dance or any upcoming events, please call David Wiley at 423-534-8879 or visit www.historicjonesboroughdancesociety.org. or Historic Jonesborough Dance Society on FACEBOOK.

Contra Dancing!
&
Shoe Drive
Benefit for: Soles4Soles®
Soles4Soles® is a Nashville-based charity that collects shoes from the warehouses of footwear companies and the closets of people like you. The charity distributes these shoes to people in need, regardless of race, religion, class, or any other criteria all over the world. They will accept any shoe in any condition Please bring shoes to Jonesborough Visitors Center on
collection dates listed below. Person who brings most shoes in during month
of January will contra dance FREE for all of 2012! Please visit www.soles4soles.org


Dance & Collection Schedule:

January 7, 2012
Band: Hot Sonata
Caller: Diane Silver

January 21, 2012
Band: Boom Chuck
Caller: Mark Langner

For more information contact David Wiley
Call for shoe pick up:423-534-8879
david@historicjonesboroughdance society.org

OUR GOAL: 2012 Pairs in January 2012!

Six Year Celebration of Contra Dance in Jonesborough!

The Historic Jonesborough Dance Society will hold a potluck, family dance and contra dance on Saturday, December 17, 2011 at the Historic Jonesborough Visitors Center, 117 Boone Street. Performing for the contra dance will be “Contraversial” from Asheville. The dance will be called by HJDS Board member, Warren Doyle. There will be a class for beginners at 7:00pm following by contra dance from 7:30-10:30pm. A waltz and Klondike Bar break will take place at 9:00pm. Admission to the dance is $7, HJDS Members $5 and full time students $4. The entire family can are admitted for only $15. All dances are smoke and alcohol free. No partner is necessary. All dances are taught by the caller.

David Wiley, event organizer states “We are finishing our sixth year of community contra dances in Jonesborough. Thousands of people have come to Jonesborough to check out the contra dance scene. We have had families and children, high school and college students and all ages participate. This has become a real community dance”.

The evening will start with a potluck dinner at 5:30pm followed by the family dance sponsored by EARTH FARE of Johnson City. Earth Fare’s community relations coordinator, Kate Van Huss, is excited to be a sponsor of our family dance and promises to bring yummy treats, hot chocolate and cider for the dancers. The Family Dance series which occurs once a month is for folks of all ages to enjoy the traditional dances and music geared to beginners and children. Everyone from the very young to grandparents is welcome to our series of community contra dances. Rumor has it that SANTA will appear to lead the family dance. Admission to the family dance is $5 for adults and $3 for children.

Performing for the evening dance is the duo Contraversial made up of Cailen Campbell on fiddle and David Brown on guitar and banjo.

Cailen Campbell has been thrilling contra dancers all over the southeast and around the country for over a decade. His innovative, highly improvisational, lyrical fiddling has been heard in numerous acclaimed regional dance bands, including The Atomic City Rhythm Rascals, The String Beings, The Rocket Boys, The Gypsy Hicks, in addition to a dynamic duo with renowned Asheville area guitarist and banjo virtuoso David Brown. Campbell recently played with the Greasy Beans on behalf of the North Carolina Dance Theater at the Kennedy Center in Washington, DC.
Cailen Campbell and David Brown have a reputation for sparking the contra dances whenever they play. The temperature on the dance floor rises, the dancers' energy intensifies, and the listeners are swept away by their music craft, which infuses traditional Appalachian, Celtic and Roma melodies with exciting and original interpretation.

Cailen Campbell has been described as one of the most virtuosic and high-energy fiddlers in the Southeast. As both a dancer and musician he is known for his stunning ability to improvise, cross time signatures and musical genres with ease, and for his brilliant self-expression.

David Brown provides the pulse to the music. He is renowned and accolade as a 5-string banjo player, and plays professionally on a half dozen other instruments, including the baritone guitar. This unusual instrument is a hybrid between a regular guitar and a bass guitar, and in David's hands, it provides hypnotic rhythm and harmonic texture to the music...

These encantados met in 2005 while touring nationally with the Greasy Beans and NC Dance Theater. A rich musical relationship ensued as they explored their shared love of traditional acoustic music, as well as new grass and jazz. Their vast repertoire, as well as their tight 'mind meld,' creates a rich and expansive sound that captivates dancers and listeners. They defy expectations of how much sound, and how exciting of a sound, a dance duo can make. They're CONTRAVERSIAL!''

For more information, please contact event organizer, David Wiley, at 423-534-8879 or visit www.historicjonesboroughdancesociety.org or visit the Historic Jonesborough Dance Society on FACEBOOK.