Gang -- Alan Winston here. I'm forwarding an offer/request from Liz Donnelly ( lizdonnelly(a)gmail.com ), which might be interesting for the right person. The deal is that this is something like the fifth year of a pretty-rustic electronic music camp (actual camping, but with Really Big Speakers) over the July 4th weekend, in rural California maybe 90 miles from Sacramento. They do a live-music party during the event, and Liz had been to a contra dance and that would be a cool thing to introduce to their group. (I'm thinking barn dance/ONS material myself.) They have no budget, but would offer free admission to the whole campout (which is somewhere between $85 and $125, and has sold out, so you don't get in any other way) for somebody to do this one-evening gig. That's obviously a lot more interesting if you want to bring a tent and hang out in the woods and swimming hole with a bunch of artsy, communitarian, youngish, electronic music heads. (The sponsoring group runs a Tuesday night party at Burning Man, if that sets your expectations at all.) (I am not a big tent-camping fan and I have a limited tolerance for Really Loud, and I'm busy that weekend, so I'm really not the guy. But I kinda think anybody who took the gig and enjoyed being there would be doing god's work in bringing them some engaged-with-each-over community dancing, so I volunteered to put the opportunity in front of the biggest caller groups I could find.) If you want to do this or find out more about it, write to lizdonnelly(a)gmail.com, not to me. (But if you end up doing it, or find out some utter showstopper, report back!) Here's Liz's note: ======================================================================== Hi there, My name is liz and i've got a long shot request for you: I am helping to coordinate a camp out party in Beldon CA this summer. It is largely an electronic music party, but each year we have a smaller party within the party that often has live music. This year the theme for that party with in the party is county/southern themed. In brainstorming activities for that part of the event, there was lots of enthusiasm exposing our group to contra dancing or partner dancing style. *So, I am looking for someone who might be able to teach contra, or two step or some other partner/group dance that fits well with in a country style theme. * I've done some contra dance & loved it: I love the way it is truly a community dance and gives one an opportunity interact with so many other dancers through the dance, for this reason, I think it would be fun to bring to a community of dancers who mostly dance solo to electronic music. However, I think part of why I loved it so much was I was dancing with lots of people who knew what they were doing, so my missteps were easily corrected and I could still feel the flow of the dance. I don't know how well it would work in a group where just about no one will have ever done contra before. So, this is why I am reaching out to you all... is this something that is doable? or should we focus on finding a teacher for a more partnered style of dance? Lastly, and perhaps most awkwardly :-) this event is put on at low cost and most of the folks involved volunteer their time for the fun of it. We do pay the musicians & artist but all of the budget for the party within the party has already been allocated for the band. So, I'm looking for someone who might think this sounds like such a super fun event that they would want to go to, and in exchange for a ticket could teach some dance. Here is the link to the event. http://priceless.false-profit.com/. Please let me know if you or someone you know might be a good fit. Thanks! L. ------------------------------------------------------- Over to you. -- Alan Winston SF Bay Area, California -- =============================================================================== Alan Winston --- WINSTON(a)SSRL.SLAC.STANFORD.EDU Disclaimer: I speak only for myself, not SLAC or SSRL Phone: 650/926-3056 Paper mail to: SSRL -- SLAC BIN 99, 2575 Sand Hill Rd, Menlo Park CA 94025 ===============================================================================