Cabin Fever, Knoxville Dance Weekend	Knoxville Contra Dance	Knoxville Dance Gypsies
	knoxville country dancers

Check out our pamphlet: "Welcome to Knoxville Contra Dance"
for tips on technique and etiquette.  Join our Facebook Groups:
Knoxville Contra Dancers, Dance Gypsies or ContrAddiction

FREE! Contra Dance on Market Square with WDVX, Yazoo Brewing Co
and THE BEARDED, Fri, Sept. 3 at 6:00 pm.  FREE!

ContrAddiction ll
will be on Saturday, September 4, 2010
at Maryville College Chilhowee Club
featuring the Contrarians and calling by Diane Silver!
Registration and flyer

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Save the Date - Cabin Fever!!
February 18-20, 2011
Knoxville Dance Weekend
@ beautiful Maryville College
with the Syncopaths and Contrazz
and caller Carol Ormand

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We dance to live music every Monday night, 8-11 pm, at the Laurel Theater (16th St. and Laurel Ave. [directions]), $7 ($3 for students).

Beginners are welcome, no partner or experience required. It's easy and fun!
New dancers, click here for videos and tips!  Watch the videos at ContraUSA.com.

* The caller will teach a Beginner's Workshop at ~ 7:30 pm. (Nick Boulet's website)

June-August schedule: printable PDF. 

September-October schedule: printable PDF

The Contrarians -   Paul Epstein: fiddle; John Longwell: banjo, mandolin; Gary Reynolds: guitar, trumpet; Will Carter: bass.  A four-piece contradance band, the Contrarians of West Virginia play contradance and square dance music on fiddles, guitar, mandolin, piano, tenor banjo, upright bass, and a bluesy trumpet (and, beginning in 2009, sax!) They are comfortable in a variety of styles and traditions: Celtic, New England, swing, and of course, old-time (Appalachian). They also write original material. With rhythmic variety, occasional glimpses of ethnic music, and unique improvisations, dancers let loose and never lose interest in the music. Their self-titled CD, released in late 2007, shows "why the band is in great demand at Contradances from Washington DC to Cleveland...." More at: http://pages.suddenlink.net/contrarians/ Listen at: http://www.cdbaby.com/cd/contrarians
Cailen Campbell and David Brown combine to form Contraversial, a duo whose artful blend of  Appalachian, Eastern European and Celtic music has been enchanting listeners and exciting contra dancers since 2005.  Considered the hottest 2-piece band on the Asheville contra scene, David and Cailen are known as "fierce musicians" who "ignite the dancing."  (Washington Post) Cailen is described as one of the most virtuosic and high-energy fiddlers in the Southeast.  As both dancer and musician, he is known for his stunning ability to improvise, cross time signatures and musical genres with ease, and express himself with consistent genius and flair.  The Washington Post noted that he "sent dancers soaring by his mighty fiddling" at a Kennedy Center performance with the NC Dance Theater and Greasy Beans. David Brown, a gifted and accomplished musician himself, is also an avid dancer.  He is renowned and accoladed as a 5-string banjo player, and plays professionally on half a 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 powerful rhythmic and harmonic structure to the music.

The KCD Schedule is published quarterly (roughly).  It will be sent by email to our subscribers.  If you would like to receive the quarterly schedule along with other occasional announcements of KCD events, please sign up by sending an email to kcdwebmaster @ yahoo.com (omit spaces) saying you would like to join the local info list. There will also be paper copies of the schedule available at the dances.

Booking:

For Monday night scheduling and booking inquiries, contact 
Bill McGowan bbmcgowan @ fastmail.fm.

All other questions: kcdwebmaster  @  yahoo.com.

Newsletters:

Promenade, April 2009
Promenade, November 2008
Promenade, July 2008
Promenade, April 2008
Promenade, January 2008
Promenade, November 2007

Listen to Contra Music Radio

What is Contra Dancing?  Contra dancing is a uniquely American community event that has its roots in traditional European and American country dancing.  Each dance consists of a series of figures that are done using a smooth, easy walking step to the rhythm of the music.  The caller teaches each dance by walking the dancers through the moves before the music begins.  He/she continues to remind the dancers what figure is coming next until everyone has picked up the flow of the dance.  The dance music is provided by a live band made up of acoustic musicians, many of whom are also dancers.  Gary Shapiro puts it like this -- 
"A contra dance is like an amusement park ride we make for ourselves." 

Listen to the NPR story: Youth Flock to Contra Dancing

Check out our pamphlet: "Welcome to Knoxville Contra Dance"
for tips on technique and etiquette.

Here is a great reference for new dancers,
complete with videos (individually listed below):  
"What is Contra Dancing?"
by Chattahoochee Country Dancers (CCD) in Atlanta

Or get a crash-course with a 10-minute clip of
"Dancing Contras"

"Laurel dance night partners newbies, pros"
an article in the News Sentinel July 2009
by Greg "Not Into Dancing" Wood

"Devoted dancers practice tradition and
welcome even the most hesitant newcomers"
an article in the MetroPulse February 2004
by Paige M. Travis, a dance skeptic

another article in the MetroPulse
by Val Pendergrast, “Dance, Dance, Dance”,
Metro Pulse (vol. 6, no. 33), August 15–22, 1996

See our own Miss Vicki
featured in the Knoxville News Sentinel's: Picture This!

With very rare exceptions we dance every Monday night from 8-11 pm 
at the Laurel Theater at 16th Street and Laurel Avenue [directions].  
Beginners are welcome, 
(it helps to show up early), and no partner is required.  
All dances will be taught.  "If you can walk, you can contra dance."
Admission for all dances is $7 ($3 for students).

You can burn a lot of energy on the dance floor, so we recommend you 
wear loose fitting comfortable clothing with layers that you can remove. 
To preserve our dance space, we request that you wear or bring 
clean non-marking soft-soled shoes for dancing.

Contra Dances in our Sister Cities of Tennessee

Athens/Decatur Area:
1st Friday
http://www.templatehomestead.org/LocalEvents.html

Chattanooga:
2nd & 4th Saturdays
http://www.contranooga.org/ 

Jonesborough:
1st & 3rd Saturdays
http://www.historicjonesboroughdancesociety.com/ 

Memphis:
2nd, 4th & 5th Fridays
http://memphiscontra.webs.com/ 

Nashville:
every Friday
http://www.nashvillecountrydancers.org/ 

Sewanee:
once a month, check schedule
http://www.mistycontra.zoomshare.com/0.html 

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More Dancing Around Knoxville

English Country Dancing at the Laurel Theater

Scandinavian Couple Dancing at the Laurel Theater

Oak Ridge International Folk Dancers

Knoxville Swing Dance Association

and the Swing Facebook Group

Greater East Tennessee Dance

KCD Mailing Address - our new mailing address is:

Knoxville Country Dancers
P.O. Box 32817 
Knoxville, TN 37930-2817

We're proud to be an affiliate of

and

Last updated August 25, 2010.  Send corrections to kcdwebmaster  @  yahoo.com.