This week, we hear from Washington-based caller Lindsey Dono, a mainstay on the national contra circuit, staffing camps, weeks, and festivals for over a decade. The discussion ranges from Lindsey's programming of narrative arcs in her calling to building inclusive, intergenerational folk communities. Enjoy!

Ang has been calling contras since 2012. Whether onstage at a dance or as a studio art instructor, they find a lot of joy in the process of clear and careful teaching. In our interview we hear about Ang’s full circle journey dancing with the GODS in Florida, discovering a wider community of contra dancers and callers in Philadelphia, serving on the board in the early days of BIDA, the Boston Intergenerational Dance Advocates, and their return to their lush, green homeland outside Gainesville. While nurturing their Florida roots and local dance communities, Ang is also keeping active ties with the larger dance community, traveling to tour and call at dance weekends. We’ll also hear about some of Ang’s dance compositions and take some fun side quests into embodied practices and urban line dancing! Enjoy!

Jeremy Korr is a bicoastal caller, a second-generation dancer and dance leader, and has been calling children's and family dances and international folk dances since 1993 and contras and squares since 2003. He has called at festivals, camps, dance weekends, and other events in 20 states and provinces from California to Alaska to Maine to Florida. He has choreographed a handful of contra dances, but in his calling he mostly draws on the rich bounty of modern dance compositions and venerable traditional dances. Since 2014, Jeremy has served on the national steering committee for Pourparler, the national conference for community dance leaders and school teachers. Get ready to dive in to this excellent discussion of calling passion!

This episode, Mary talks with Peter and Mary Alice Amidon, in their Brattleboro Vermont living room. They talk about their history becoming involved with the folk music and dance scene in New England and going on to become some of the most celebrated dance leaders and educators, especially for those teaching children and community dance.

We have a special episode for you this month, From the Mic listeners! Mary shares an interview she recorded with David Kaynor of Montague, MA in 2011, ten years before his passing. Rather than focusing on calling, this interview is about the relationship between contra dancers and the Grange, the social organization connected to some of the places David organized dances near his home in western Massachusetts. Dancers and Grangers represented two hugely important communities and touchstones in David’s life; he was deeply involved with making contra dancing happen at both the Guiding Star Grange and the Montague Grange in Massachusetts. When Montpelier contra dancers rallied to save the best dance floor in town (the grange hall), they relied on the help and encouragement of David. Mary, an enthusiastic 20-something with a new interest in oral history and a borrowed recorder, then asked him for an interview that you are about to listen to!

Check out this month’s interview with caller Diane Silver! Hailing from Asheville, NC, Diane has been a die-hard contra dancer, swing dancer, and flat-footer for nearly 30 years. With a penchant for hot modern contras and everyone-active squares, she loves sharing high-energy dancing that allows everyone to “play” with the band. Diane values calling for beginners and community dances, to share the joy of dancing and to help bring new dancers into the fold, and she also loves calling for dance camps, weekends and festivals, where the occasional advanced dance can challenge long-time experts.

This month, Mary interview the renowned George Marshall, known for his expertise in teaching and calling New England-style contra dances, which he has collected from across the country. He is praised for his ability to match music with dance and for his clear and engaging teaching style. As a talented musician, George plays the concertina and bodhrán, and has recorded on eight albums including the bands Swallowtail and Wild Asparagus. He also teaches a variety of couples dances, including Lindy/swing, Scandinavian, Cajun, and Zydeco.

Enjoy this month’s conversation with Maia McCormick, a contradance caller and choreographer based in New York City. Maia has called at festivals, weekends, and dance camps from coast to coast. As a choreographer, she strives to write dances that are fresh, yet idiomatic; as a caller, she is passionate about keeping the dance floor safe, comfortable, and connective.

Rick Mohr's calling and choreography have delighted dancers for decades, from local barn dances to dance weeks and weekends across North America. Many of Rick's contra dances are coast-to-coast favorites, which he attributes to persistence in reworking an idea (for days or years) until any imperfections are smoothed out. In the wider world of traditional music and dance Rick also plays fiddle for contra dances, leads an open band, chorus songs, writes songs and fiddle tunes, leads, plays, and choreographs for Morris and rapper, and programs dance weeks. Enjoy!

Cis Hinkle has delighted contra and square dancers since 1985 with her skilled teaching, welcoming manner, playful enthusiasm and masterful selection of dances. She is in great demand at music and dance festivals all over the U.S., England and Denmark. She’s also the current president of Atlanta’s Chattahoochee Contra Dancers. In this interview Cis takes us back to the first time she stumbled into a contra dance in her native Atlanta, shares how she overcame stage fright and began calling all over the world, and brings us right up to her most recent pursuit, learning to call modern western squares!

David Millstone started contra dancing with Dudley Laufman in the early 1970s and has been calling dances for forty-five years: contras old and new, squares from different regional traditions, English country dances, and plenty of family friendly events. He’s been on staff at dance weekends, festivals and weeklong camps from Alaska and Hawaii, Maine to Florida, as well as in nine countries in Europe. As a dance historian, he's published, spoken, produced videos and created websites that celebrate different aspects of country dance and music. He also served for 12 years, including 6 as president, on the governing board of CDSS. Enjoy this fascinating conversation about all things calling!

Penn Fix began dancing in the 70s in the Boston and Monadnock Valley areas, becoming a caller when he returned to his home in Spokeane, WA and filling the void that existed at that time. He’s the founder of a long-standing weekly dance, as well as co-founder of the Lady of the Lake dance damp. Serving on a number of boards, he’s seeped in the questions of how to make dancing welcoming and accessible, both as an organizer and a caller. Listen to this month’s conversation about all of that and more!

Mary's guest this month is Susan Kevra, a dance caller, musician, and singer who makes her home in Nashville, Tennessee. Dancers on both sides of the Atlantic appreciate her diverse repertoire of singing squares, Western patter calls, contras, and English Country dances. She has also choreographed a number of well-loved contra and square dances. Susan has taught English Country dancing since the mid-1990s. Her experience as an English country dance clarinetist gives her a keen appreciation of the link between the music and the dance figures, something she brings to her teaching.

In this episode Mary is joined by contra dance caller and community organizer Ben Sachs-Hamilton - right in her own living room in Burlington, VT! Ben started contra dancing at 12 and started teaching dances at 15. Since then he has called and organized for dances across the northeast, with a focus on LGBTQ and gender-role-free dance communities. He fosters a welcoming and inclusive space for diverse groups of new and experienced dancers, adding tips on style and safety into his teaching. Ben currently lives in Western Massachusetts.

This episode we hear from the most excellent David Smukler. A dance caller, scholar, organizer, choreographer, teacher, champion of chestnuts…the list goes on. He grew up singing folk songs with his mom and began dancing contras in New Hampshire as a teen. In 1981 he was drafted to call for his local dance and has been calling ever since. David helped create an innovative Central New York gathering for callers, as well as the world’s first Contra Prom. David has recently returned for another term on the CDSS board and is next in line to serve as board president!

This episode we head to northern California for a conversation with the wonderful Susan Petrick. In their conversation, Mary and Susan chat about her beginnings in the New England contra dance scene in college and the ways in which dance and calling followed her through several moves across the country. They also discuss the echoes between Susan’s professional work as a cognitive psychologist and the realm of dance calling. In both worlds, clear communication is key.

Catherine Burns has been at the heart of the Ottawa contra dance scene for decades. Born in Switzerland to Canadian parents Catherine traveled the world in her youth then became the house caller for the Old Sod Folk Music Society when they started a dance in the late 90s. Since then, she’s been a steady presence in the Ottawa dance scene, helping to mentor new callers and shape a warm and welcoming community in her chosen home town.

This month Mary is joined by longtime friend, collaborator, and fellow Vermont caller and choreographer Luke Donforth. They revisit memories and stories from the Burlington area Mad Robin Callers Collective in 2009 and dive into Luke's cross-country calling career. As a prolific, you could even say compulsive dance choreographer they also spend some time in his dance writing brain. Enjoy!

This month we talk to the wonderful Steve Zakon-Anderson. Steve began dancing and calling in New Hampshire and has been influenced by and influential to the New England dancing tradition. He’s written over 30 contemporary contra dances, many of which are used by callers around the country. In this episode he shares stories about the people and places that have shaped him as a caller and as a person, as well as some pretty deep thoughts about what this calling thing is all about. Enjoy!

In this episode, Mary interviews Louise Siddons about her involvement with communities in Michigan and Oklahoma, and across the pond in the UK. We'll also learn about her work developing and teaching the practice of “positional calling” for social dance, which has recently culminated in a new book, published through CDSS, called Dancing the Whole Dance: Positional Calling for Contra. In the interview Louise shares what it’s been like to step into a leading role in the discussion about positional calling, and how her personal experiences on and off the dance floor have shaped her approach to dance leadership.