Calling
Merri Rudd will be calling both contras and English Country throughout the weekend. This quirky-Albuquerquean caller reigns in New Mexico with abundant wit and charm. Her dances are often replete with literary quotes, funny quips, and lots of fast swings, gypsy's, and medleys! Merri's gentle, relaxed style puts everyone at ease. Her contagiously energetic and enthusiastic manner of calling and high-energy dances leave you connected to the music, begging for more.
For more about Merri visit her website.
Music
Notorious is joining us again and has become the top contra dance duo in the country. Musicians Eden MacAdam-Somer and Larry Unger bring together traditional and contemporary acoustic music from around the world, creating a dynamic, swinging sound that is sure to get you on your feet. With Eden on fiddle and vocals and Larry on guitar and banjo, their music is full of rhythmic drive and melodic candor. Larry will share many of his original waltzes with us during the weekend.
See www.larryunger.net/bands/notorious.shtml
Hands Five, as both dancers and musicians, they thrive on the energy that flows from the band to the dancers on a good medley (and back to the band when it all comes together!). Not wed to a particular style, you'll hear everything from the lilt of Scottish fiddling to the syncopated percussion of the hammer dulcimer. Inspired by bands like Air Dance and mentored by the Albuquerque Megaband, Hands Five combines some old-time southern style, New England, Celtic, and "Newtime" music. With some of the band members from Santa Fe and others from Albuquerque, finding time to practice is always an interesting process. We all know "Hands Four" as the call to dancers to get organized at the start of a dance, so Hands Five seemed an appropriate name for a band of five in a perpetual state of reorganization.
Visit www.folkmads.org/hands_five.html for more information.
Workshops
Jim X. Borzym will be teaching social dance workshops. His swing roots range from the barrooms of Missoula to California style smooth swing, to vintage dance influences including foxtrot. Jim's waltz is also an improvised style blending contra dance bliss with flowing movement traveling the floor. In the Front Range of Colorado, Jim originated the Tea Dances, instigated tango, hosts Balls and special events, and has called many contra dances over twenty-five years.
More to come... Keep checking back as we add more workshops.
Food
We're thrilled to have Annie Johnston, from Bend, Oregon, joining us again. Annie has been cooking for dance camps since 1987. Her culinary talents have impressed dancers at events such as The Danceable Feast and the Tropical Dance Vacation. Her quality of caring is an ingredient everyone can taste.
Here's what George Marshall, member of Wild Asparagus and organizer of the Tropical Dance Vacations says about Annie:
" Annie Johnston is an absolute gem among dance camp cooks, hitting the right chord with imaginative, wholesome and inclusive gourmet meals served up with warmth and down-home friendliness."
Taking Care of You
Bonnie Wiesel has been a certified TRAGER practitioner since 1994 and an avid lover of any kind of movement since 1980. TRAGER is a gentle, dynamic form of body work that includes passive rhythmic movement, compression and stretching with the intention of helping the nervous system recognize more effective patterns of functioning. The TRAGER logo is a Chinese character that stands for a Dancing Cloud which is the feeling of lightness, freedom and well-being a person experiences after a TRAGER session.
Helena Leysar is a certified massage therapist, practicing in Loveland Colorado, for more than 10 years. In addition to her office based practice, she also provides massage to several businesses and retreats on a regular basis. An honors graduate from the Boulder School of Massage Therapy, she combines deep tissue work with Swedish and shiatsu modalities. Helena will be offering both table and chair massage sessions through the Stellar Days and Nights weekend.
Organizers
Eleanor & Andrew Fahrney started Stellar Days & Nights in 2005 when they were living at Adventure Unlimited and had too much free time on their hands in the winter months (when summer camp wasn't going on). OK, so that's not quite the story, but we do love sharing this place that has changed our lives with the people who have changed our lives -- dancers and musicians. When not calling or organizing dances, Eleanor helps run a youth mentoring program in Buena Vista and Salida (Website). Meanwhile, Andrew supports Eleanor (and lots of others, too) with loving, behind-the-scenes help.