The Four O'Clocks, Penelope Weinberger and Investing in Our Future!

Same great band with a new name! The Four O’Clocks are Max Godfrey (fiddle, banjo), Maggie Hall (guitar) and Jenna Mobley (fiddle, bass)!

Caller Penelope Weinberger hails from the DC area!

Investing in our Future: Supporting the Growth of Contra Dance Talent in Atlanta!

By Kimbi Hagen

Contra Dances don’t just require contra dancers. Making the magic happens also requires the presence of a deep pool of contra dance Callers, Musicians, and Sound Wizards. So when post-pandemic contra dance in Atlanta grew to include TWO weekly dances—the Trolley Barn Dance on Tuesdays and the Atlanta Contra Dance (ACD) on Fridays—members of the ACD leadership looked into the future and recognized a need to begin widening the base of talent on which the success of our dances rest.

In April of this year, their efforts began to bear fruit with the development of “Contra Dance Sound College,” an initiative led by Ed Howe and Bill Porter that is focusing on identifying and training the next generation of Trolley Barn and ACD sound wizards. (Are you interested in Sound College? Contact Bill Porter ([email protected]) for details.)

Concurrently, ACD reached out to the Country Dance and Song Society of North America (CDSS), the John C Campbell Folk School (JCCFS), and members of our local dance community with a request that they collaborate to invest in our future by helping to fund the training of an enlarged pool of Callers and Musicians.

That collaboration is proving to be spectacularly successful!

This coming July 13-19, nine members of our Atlanta dance community will use a combination of CDSS Community Grant support ($2,500), ACD scholarship funds ($3,600), an organizational donation from @GaGa dance ($1,000), individual dancer donations ($2,000), and program participant payments ($2,100) to attend JCCFS’s combined Dance Musicians and Dance Callers Week.

The JCCFS Atlanta Dance Talent Pool class of 2025 will include Matt Brandenburgh, Logan Duys, and T J Odom, (Dance Musicians Week) and Jeremy Peterson, Amanda Setili, Rob Setili, Sam Whited, Christin Whittington, and Corinne Wilkinson (Dance Callers Week).

Watch this space for future developments!

Hands Four, y’all!!

What’s the buzz? The TROLLEY BARN is happening on Tuesdays!

Enjoy contra on Tuesday evenings at the Trolley Barn, 963 Edgewood Ave NE, Atlanta 30307 (click here for info and future schedule, and HERE for more about Reframed, the driving force behind this dance group)!

• $10 Venmo or cash at the door - or pay in advance with this link

• Most Tuesdays from 7-9 pm

• Next Tuesday (June 17): Janet Shepherd with recorded music

Ever wanted to try calling a dance in a safe, supportive place?

Wednesday evening caller practice at Quimin Lam’s! Text Quimin at 404-429-9164 for more info and directions.

• Learn how to fit a dance to the perfect piece of music (consult the house band wizards!)

• Practice calling with friendly feedback

• Have a midweek dance to look forward to …

Hope to see you there!

Weekly gentle reminder: please check in and pay at the Decatur Rec staff desk before entering the dance hall. Regular admission is $15; people with limited income can pay $7. 

Endless gratitude to all the VOLUNTEERS who keep our dance running smoothly! Here’s how you can help:

• Come early to help with heavy lifting for Sound setup

• Sweep the dance floor before the dance

• Set out chairs and fans 

• Assemble the caller stand

• Keep the info desk supplied with name tags and markers

• Sweep the dance floor after the dance

• Help put away chairs, tables, sound equipment, fans, and caller stand - we must be out of the building by 11 pm!

• Enjoy a “bit and a bite” at a local eatery after the dance - to celebrate a job well done!

And as always, thank YOU for your support of Atlanta Contra Dance!

Christin Whittington