We’re going to have an hour or two of open calling open band next Saturday afternoon, at Gypsy Moon Ball. Bring your cards & instruments. Other Saturday activities: Lindy Hop with Doug & Fiona, International with Barry & Vickie, beginner & intermediate waltz with (a different) Vickie, advanced squares & contra with Kathy, advanced contra with Susan, & spice it up music session with John & Twy!

httpv://www.youtube.com/watch?v=WFx5HWdHQ40

Earth House has community potlucks on the first Sunday of each month. They ask that contributions be made from scratch, and with (some) local ingredients. If you’re attending Gypsy Moon Ball and can stay to help us clean up, head on over and join in the community meal at 5 p.m.

November 1st we welcome Dugan Murphy back from Cincinnati, calling to Open Band, which means everyone who wants to play. If you have a Portland book (or know what that is) great! If not, don’t worry, because contra dancers and contra dance musicians share. Please come early, and/or email Dianna Davis at indycontra.schedule@gmail.com so we know roughly how many people and what instruments to expect. Or surprise us and just show up.

Good news (mostly) for GMB attendees! Food Truck Fest will be right across the street, in the Murat parking lot on Friday night. For $5 admission (OR 2 non-perishable items for the food bank) you get access to over a dozen food trucks, providing a great variety of dinner options just before Gypsy Moon Ball’s Friday night dance.

Food trucks include Some of this! Some of That!, Mabel on the Move,  West Coast Tacos, and dessert from Take-able cakes.

Contra dancing always welcomes new dancers. We’re glad to have the chance to share something we love! And while it can stay fun for decades, you’ll enjoy it & start catching on right away. Just listen to the caller, and watch & feel the other dancers. Probably 1/2 the people in this video had never done contra before:
httpv://www.youtube.com/watch?v=g6uRp6FYjPI

Ken Gall calls to music by Celtic Myst. In recent months Ken’s traveled to and called in Tennessee, Kentucky, North Carolina, Ireland, Oregon, Washington, and more!

Gypsy Moon Ball 2011 is almost entirely at Zion Evangelical United Church of Christ (site of 2010’s Friday night dance).

Susan Moffett and Kathy Anderson will call contra dancing there Friday night, Saturday afternoon & night, and Sunday afternoon, to music by Changeling and the Coffee Zombies.

We also have a large hall for snacking, jamming, and socializing, a beautiful wood floor classroom for Saturday afternoon workshops, multiple restrooms for changing and . . . and a balcony with space for a dress swap, vendors, and watching the dancers!

Saturday afternoon sessions include advanced/experienced contra, Lindy Hop, beginning & intermediate waltz, and a music leader session on open bands, jamming, and how to add special touches, like alternate chord progressions.

On Sunday morning, we’ll waltz at Earth House, site of our weekly contra dances, just a couple of blocks from Zion.

Zion is just across the street from the Murat Theatre (now officially Old National Theatre); we’ve rented the entire church parking lot (except for Sunday morning) so there’s no competition with theater-goers. Just tell the attendant that you’re there for Gypsy Moon Ball.

Registration, directions, and other info are on our GMB 2011 page.

Tuesday, October 11, we start the evening at 7 p.m. with music by Entwyned, for couple and other dancing. They might play a bunch of waltzes. They might play Hambo, swing, or everybody Polka! Then at 8 we contra dance with caller Bob Duffy.

Coffiee Zombies, along with Changeling, will play for Gypsy Moon Ball 2011.

What’s Gypsy Moon Ball?  Well, every fall Indy Contra hosts a dance weekend, with contra dancers from around the midwest (and farther) coming to dance with us, Friday night, all day Saturday & Saturday night, and Sunday to about 3 p.m. It’s mostly contra, but there are sessions for waltz and other dance styles, and several hours of waltzing & other couple dances. We’ll have at least 150 “dance gypsies,” who love to contra dance so much they’re driving from Wisconsin, Michigan, Missouri, Ohio, Kentucky, Illinois, and maybe even farther.

The complete schedule of workshops and special Saturday afternoon sessions will be released about October 11th.

We’re recruiting Indianapolis area dancers to help with planning and preparation, making buttons (for nametags) and signs, preparing homemade sweet & salty snacks, shopping for supplies, helping with registration, setup, and cleanup; and hosting dancers from out of town. Just thirty or sixty minutes of your time would help a lot!

httpv://www.youtube.com/watch?v=uCNQQ2G63vg