From the Mic

Hey From the Mic Listeners - happy October. It's just about the end of the month and you might be wondering if a new episode is coming out. And the answer is yes...soon! In fact, several episodes are in the works that I'm really looking forward to sharing. These interviews will spotlight callers and organizers who are part of the new African American Dance Caller Pathways Program.

This exciting project trains African American and/or Black-identifying aspiring dance callers in calling technique, traditional dances, history, and culture rooted in the legacy of blackness at its core. It grew out of an event called "FWAAM Fest!" That's the Fort Worth African American Roots Music Festival...FWAAM Fest, started in Texas by musician, organizer, and activist Brandi-Waller Pace. The first cohort of 3 callers began learning in 2025 and this March, in 2026 they all took to the mic for the first community dance at FWAAM Fest. This fall the SECOND cohort has just begun learning with 5 brand new callers from around the country.

I was super lucky to be in Fort Worth, on the dance floor for that first dance this March. From the Mic is a podcast about North American social dance calling and I really hoped to find a way to bring a glimpse into this amazing work to From the Mic listeners. Brandi and the callers have been wonderful about staying in touch and helping me to make this happen and SOON! So soon...you'll get to hear what we've been chatting about.

Sorry to make you wait a bit longer but this little passion project sometimes happens at the pace of life, if you know what I mean… As a little teaser I’ll leave you with this soundbite of Audra Scott calling at FWAAM Fest this March, and I’ll see you back here with full episodes next month!

See the From the Mic website for great bonus content, including pictures and audio, transcripts, and more. And the Country Dance and Song Society for information about Contra and English country dance across the continent

Click here to download a transcript of the episode.

Sound bites featured in this episode (in order of appearance):

• Emily leads a Rushfest dance during a late night session at Youth Dance Weekend 2016.
• Emily Rush calling with Buddy System at the first ever Catalina Dance Weekend!
• Emily Rush calls the Readbeard Reel by Bob Isaacs at a Rushfest dance at Butterfly Whirl dance weekend on Saturday, 23 May 2026 at Decatur Recreation Center, Decatur, GA.

Other things!

• The Rushfest website! Great videos, workouts, samples of Emily's music mixes, and the amazing Code of Excellence! Make sure to check it out!
• Want to learn how to mix music like Emily does for Rushfest? Guess what!? She just did an online workshop for CDSS about this and you can watch the workshop recording right here: Mixing It Up: Making Recorded Music Work for Contra Dance with Emily Rush

See the From the Mic website for great bonus content, including pictures and audio, transcripts, and more. And the Country Dance and Song Society for information about Contra and English country dance across the continent

Download the full transcript here.

Sound bites featured in this episode (in order of appearance):

See the From the Mic website for great bonus content, including pictures and audio, transcripts, and more. And the Country Dance and Song Society for information about Contra and English country dance across the continent

Download the full transcript here.

Sound bites featured in this episode (in order of appearance):

Other things!

See the From the Mic website for great bonus content, including pictures and audio, transcripts, and more. And the Country Dance and Song Society for information about Contra and English country dance across the continent

Click to view a full transcript of the episode

Sound bites featured in this episode (in order of appearance):

• Bill calling his contra dance Weeks on the Road at the Ralph Page Dance Legacy Weekend in Durham, NH in 2020
• Bill calling the singing square dance On the Trail of the Lonesome Pine at the Ralph Page Dance Legacy Weekend in Durham, NH in 2020

See the From the Mic website for great bonus content, including pictures and audio, transcripts, and more. And the Country Dance and Song Society for information about Contra and English country dance across the continent

Click here for the episode transcript

Sound bites featured in this episode (in order of appearance):

• Lindsey calling the dance “Susie's Send-Off" by Scott Higgs with music by Audrey Jaber and Alex Cumming at the Lake City Contra Dance in Seattle on April 17, 2025.
   
• Lindsey calling the dance "Labor of Love" by Kathy Anderson with music by Pachelbel's Bazooka (Claude Ginsburg, Dave Bartley, and Anita Anderson] at the Emerald City Contra Dance at Phinney Neighborhood Center, in Seattle, Washington on February 3, 2023

Other things!

• Lindsey's very own website. Make sure to check out:
  • Dance choreography!
  • Hear more wisdom from Lindsey and others in this great online workshop from CDSS: The Caller’s Toolbox: Gender-free Calling for Contra Callers
  • Check out a recent story from KNKX Public Radio featuring Lindsey and others from the Seattle dance community.

See the From the Mic website for great bonus content, including pictures and audio, transcripts, and more. And the Country Dance and Song Society for information about Contra and English country dance across the continent

Click here for the episode transcript

Sound bites featured in this episode (in order of appearance):

• Ang calls the dance The Magpie and the Seal by David Zinkin with music from Sycamore (Cedar Stanistreet, Samuel Foucher, Michael Sokolovsky) at the Mt. Airy Contra Dance
• Ang calls their dance Golden Girl with music by Gus La Casse on fiddle, and Pepin Mittelhauser on guitar and mandolin at the BIDA dance in July 2024

Other things!

• Ang's very own website. Make sure to check out:
  • Dance compositions, including the dream dance "Golden Girl"
  • Dance Safety Illustrations

See the From the Mic website for great bonus content, including pictures and audio, transcripts, and more. And the Country Dance and Song Society for information about Contra and English country dance across the continent

Click here to download the transcript

Sound bites featured in this episode (in order of appearance):

• Jeremy calling the dance 16 for Gregg by Luke Donforth with music by The Syncopaths (Ryan McKasson, Ashley Hoyer, Christa Burch, and Jeff Spero) at the 2025 Fiddling Frog Dance Weekend in Pasadena, CA.
• Jeremy calling a square dance with music from the band Big Fun (Marty Somberg, Rob Nuhn, Myron Grant, and Lance Wagner) at the 2012 Ann Arbor Dawn Dance.

See the From the Mic website for great bonus content, including pictures and audio, transcripts, and more. And the Country Dance and Song Society for information about Contra and English country dance across the continent

See the From the Mic website for great bonus content, including pictures and audio, transcripts, and more. Click here to download the transcript directly

And the Country Dance and Song Society for information about Contra and English country dance across the continent

Sound bites featured in this episode (in order of appearance):

• Peter leads his class of 8-10 year olds in the traditional playparty game "The Noble Duke of York" to the New England Dancing Masters recording from their Rise Sally Rise CD at the July 2022 Country Dance & Song Society Ogontz Family Camp.
• Peter teaches "La Bastringue", a traditional French Canadian circle dance to some fourth graders in a clip from the New England Dancing Masters DVD Chimes of Dunkirk - Teaching Dance to Children.
• Peter and Mary Alice dance and sing the Lorraine Hammond singing game The Tree Song, which can be found in New England Dancing Masters' book and companion CD Down in the Valley - More Great Singing Games for Children.

Other links

• Peter and Mary Alice's website - Amidon Community Music
• The New England Dancing Masters website
• Bow Tie Music - many examples of NEDM dances here in this wonderful collection!
• Pourparler - Gathering of music and dance teachers hosted by the National Folk Organization

See the From the Mic website for great bonus content, including pictures and audio, transcripts, and more. And the Country Dance and Song Society for information about Contra and English country dance across the continent

See the From the Mic website for great bonus content, including pictures and audio, transcripts, and more. Click here to download the transcript directly

And the Country Dance and Song Society for information about Contra and English country dance across the continent

• The Montague Grange is no longer active as a Grange, but the Grange Hall, now know as the Montague Common Hall, is still an active community hub now lovingly maintained by the Friends of the Montague Common Hall, a 501(c)(3) nonprofit organization. They host social dances and music in the space along with many other events. The organization is currently fundraising for future improvements to the building.
• The Guiding Star Grange in Greenfield, MA celebrated 150 years in 2023! The Grange membership, which still includes many dancers and musicians connected to the contra dance community, has worked to broaden the mission of the Grange to encompass many facets of community enrichment (including dance!)
• The Capitol City Grange in Montpelier, VT is also still active as a Grange and still hosts regular contra dances on first, third, and fifth Saturdays of each month, along with many other community events and activities.

• David's obituary, June 1, 2021
• Before David's passing in 2021 The Country Dance and Song Society (CDSS) presented him with a Lifetime Achievement Award. The presentation happened over zoom and the recording is still available.
• With help from many, many contributors, Sue Songer has assembled a wonderful book about David called "David Kaynor: Living Music and Dance," which also includes many of his musical compositions as well as writings about dance and dance calling.
• Midnight in Montague - Betsy Branch and David recorded a wonderful album INSIDE the Montague Grange Hall called "Midnight in Montague." Betsy is working on getting the album up on Bandcamp and also having it reprinted for purchase on CD. Stay tuned here for more info.

We extend a special thanks to Vermont Folklife, a statewide cultural research and education nonprofit that loaned Mary the equipment to make this recording with David and then placed a copy of the recording in their Archive so the file wouldn't become lost in the ether of Mary's personal, digital files. (Fun fact: Mary now serves as the Director of Education and Media at Vermont Folklife!)

See the From the Mic website for great bonus content, including pictures and audio, transcripts, and more. And the Country Dance and Song Society for information about Contra and English country dance across the continent