SeattleDance.org

Home > Contra Dancing > Emerald City Contra Dance

Our hall has strict capacity limits. We occasionally need to limit entry due to high attendance.

Schedule of bands and callers:

• January 16 - Countercurrent is Alex Sturbaum (guitar, vocals) and Brian Lindsay (fiddle, feet, vocals). Brian grew up with contra dancing while Alex learned about it only recently, but both of them have played music since they were young. Brian’s fiddling draws on traditional influences and enthusiasm for new things. Alex Sturbaum adds Irish, Newfoundland, modern rock, and pop influences to create Countercurrent's unique sound. Expect lively tunes, lush harmonies, and driving grooves. Check them out here, here, or here. Lindsey Dono calls.
• January 23 - Tapsalteerie: Jon Singleton – fiddle, Jan Martindale - fiddle, Clare Woolgrove – concertina, Nick Leininger – guitar, Sam Good – bass. Gordy Euler, from Portland, calls.
• January 30 - Beauty and the Beats: Mark Danielson, concertina/whistle - Brigget LeClair, piano - Clyde Curley, mandolin - Steve Blum-Anderson, fiddle. Joe Micheals calls.
• February 6 - Red Crow: Susan Burke - fiddle, Howie Meltzer - fiddle, Chuck Pliske - concertina and piano, and Joe Micheals - guitar and bass. Mariah Pepper calls.
• February 13 - Kerplunk (Betsy Alexander - fiddle, Laurie Andres - accordion, Tony Mates - guitar). Ric Goldman visits from Portland to call.
• February 20 - Atlas String Band – Paul Tolo – fiddle, Morgan John – banjo, David Parker – mandolin, Tom Collicott - guitar, Carmen Ficarra - bass. High-powered old-time melodies flow and dance on fiddle and mandolin. Guitar, banjo, and bass provide rhythm and round out the rest of this curiously strong music. Suzanne Girardot calls.
• February 27 - Sassafrass Stomp is Johanna Davis on fiddle and Adam Nordell on guitar and foot percussion. Johanna plays both fluid and punctuated melodies. Sometimes Adam plays rhythm, sometimes he plays surprising chords, and sometimes he plays nearly nothing so that you can fully enjoy the fiddle. Still wondering what they sound like? Listen to some of their music here. Rachel Wallace calls.
• March 6 - Buddy System - Julie Vallimont and Noah VanNorstrand. Will Mentor calls.
• March 13- Contra Sutra: Marni Rachmiel – flute, saxophone, Brandon Vance – fiddle, Dave Bartley – mandolin, etc. and Russell S. - percussion. Laura Mé Smith calls.
• March 20 - Les Trois Capitanes. Eric et Clyde reviens ce soir pour... oops, they return with Devon Leger for an evening of French-Canadian tunes. They are Devon Leger on fiddle & feet; Eric Schlorff on harmonica, accordion, & feet; Clyde Curley on guitar, mandolin, & octave mandolin. They'll play an evening of Quebecois and Acadian music for your dancing delight. Carol Piening calls.
• March 27 - Eric Anderson and friends.
• April 3 - KGB. No, it's not the Soviet-era counterpart of the CIA. It's Julie King, Claude Ginsberg, and Dave Bartley in one of Seattle's finest contra dance bands. (Check out the dossier for the instruments they play. Need-to-know basis only, however). Kelsey Hartman calls.
• April 10 - Northern Contraband is Steve Blum-Anderson on fiddle, Mark Danielson on concertina and penny whistle, Greg Sherman on bass and/or bass ukelele, and Michael Hobart on guitar.
• April 17 - RiffRaff: Lindon Toney and Jesse Partridge on fiddles, Jay Finkelstein on guitar. Eric Curl and John Denlea call.
• April 24 - Brandon Vance - fiddle, Mark Minkler - piano, guitar, and maybe someone else.
• May 1 - Coffey Party - Cathie Whitesides - fiddle, Amy Carroll - piano, Melissa Coffey – whistles, etc. Kathy Anderson calls.
• May 22 - Northwest Folklife Festival. No dance at ECCD.

We have updated some of the information about the dance. Click here for details.

It's no longer summer. It hasn't been summer for a while. That means it's that time of the year when we have some really large crowds.