It’s Gpysy Moon Ball month! And we have four regular (fun) Tuesday evening contras. 

6th
Convolution, our house band, with caller Bob Duffy
This is the last dance before Gypsy Moon Ball early registration deadline, so to save $$ bring cash, check, or pay with PayPal tonight! It’s also t-shirt deadline.

10th
Register for Gypsy Moon Ball: early registration (save $10) and t-shirt orders end today! Send US mail postmarked 10/10/15, or register online & pay by credit card.

13th
LEDFoot and Rhonda Minnich

14th
Board meeting, 7:30 p.m. at Dianna’s. Last planning session before GMB.

20th
Caller Tavi Merrill stops in Indy on a cross country road trip! Tavi calls dances from stately to salacious to synchronously stomptastic – and takes seriously the opportunity to steward and interpret our tradition, with all its uncommon courtesy and kinematic vorticity.

Musicians will be our own Dianna Davis and Maggie Davis (no relation).  Maggie is the fiddle player for the Irish rock band Mother Grove and the Irish traditional band the Indy Ceili Band!

23-25th   Gypsy Moon Ball
Our annual weekend of contra dance featuring more than fifteen hours of contra, and several hours of waltz and couple dances.

Join 200 or more friends from around the midwest and at least one pair from Florida!

Music by Gallimaufry & Turnip the Beet, calling by Susan Kevra & Maggie Jo Saylor.

Gallimaufry are a high-energy contra dance band with a sound based in Irish, Quebecois, and Old Time tunes; recent graduates of Oberlin, scattered across the country and returning to the midwest to play for us.  Turnip the Beet play an organic mix of eclectic tunes from the American South, Ireland, Cape Breton, Quebec, and Scandinavia, as well as a half-bushel of grooving, homegrown originals

Saturday afternoon theme sessions include Maggie Jo’s silly contras, complex contras, and unusual formation contras with Susan.

27th
Emily Ann and Kelly Thompson with Jonathan Sivier

Emily Ann and Kelly will play traditional Irish, Scottish, and Canadian tunes with energy and passion.
Jonathan is a dance leader, dance history researcher, and researching dance and aging.

31st
5th Saturday contra in Bloomington, with Bob Green & Martha Edwards visiting from St. Louis!

This month Indy Contra has five Tuesday dances, and cooler fall weather means a cooler dance floor.

Registration is open for Gypsy Moon Ball, October 23 – 25! There’s a flier & form at the end of this email, and lots more on our website, with online registration coming soon.

Music by Gallimaufry & Turnip the Beet, calling by Susan Kevra & Maggie Jo Saylor.

September 1
Convolution with Steven Janowiecki
Our last chance to dance to Steven’s calling before he moves to Australia. Hopefully he’ll call his new backwards contra. No word yet on whether Convolution, Ben Smith and Dianna Davis, will play backward.

September 8
Deb Shebish and Johnandrew Bellner with Ken Gall
Come celebrate the release of Deb’s new CD, Kitchen Fiddle, fresh old-time and Irish fiddle from Indiana! Pretty sure they’ll autograph copies at the break, so you might want to buy several and get your holiday shopping done early.

Emily Ann and Kelly are back from touring around Montana and Michigan, and happy to be back home in Indiana playing for their home crowd!

September 22
No Jerry with caller tbd 
“No Jerry” is Tom Cunningham (fiddle) and Ben Andrews (guitar). If there were a Jerry, they would be Tom and Jerry or Ben and Jerry, but they’re not. Tom is a member of the nationally known contra dance band the Coffee Zombies and Ben is a member of the gypsy jazz band Swing 39 and organizer of the Django Jamboree. They’re both from Louisville and if there were no hybrid vehicles, there would be no “No Jerry.”

September 29
Troika
“Troika : a group of three people, things, countries, etc.”  Sarah, Dianna, and Adam bring wild rhythms of Balkan dance traditions to our American traditional dances.

This month Indy Contra has two special events on top of our weekly dances, and we get to dance with hundreds of our best friends at Bloomington’s annual “Sugar Hill” weekend.

Tuesday, August 4th
Convolution with Rhonda Minnich
Our “house band” of Ben and Dianna play music from many traditions beyond contra. We’ll dance gypsies to gypsy influenced tunes, and swing to swing tunes, and if there’s a musical style called “hey” they probably play it too.

Friday, August 7th
Bonus: State Fair contra!
Emily Ann and Kelly Thompson, with Frank Buschelmann
Join us at the Indiana State Fair
We’re on the Dance Stage, far west side of the fairgrounds, near the midway. Come early for fair food.
A few fair admission passes are available to members of Indy Contra and other contra groups. Email us ASAP or ask any board member at the dance.

Tuesday, August 11th
Deb Shebish and Johnandrew Bellner, with Bob Duffy
The last time Deb and Johnandrew played we had a dozen brand new dancers, and several non-dancing friends who came just to listen. Expect an enthusiastic crowd again this time!

Sunday, August 16th
2-5 p.m.
Mulberry Street with Josiah Roberts
Mulberry Street is a 3 piece trio out of southwest Ohio. With fiddle, accordion, piano, and percussion putting out an energetic mix of New England, Cape Breton, and French Canadian styles, they’ll tempt your toes to tap and feet to fly across the floor.

Tuesday, August 18th
Electro contra: DR Shadow with Adam Nichols
Time to get out your glow in the dark t-shirts.

Tuesday, August 25th
Guest caller Alex Deis-Lauby, and LEDFoot
Alexandra started contra dancing five years ago in Chicago and began calling a year ago. She loves dancing all over the country and travels widely and often to dance. Since Chicago, she has moved to her home town, New York City, and dances more on the east coast, so this may be your only chance to dance with her for a while!

Her enthusiasm for contra is evident when she invites everyone she meets to come dance with her, so perhaps you can think of someone you could invite to come try contra this week?

Friday – Sunday, August 28-30
Bloomington, IN
Sugar Hill dance & music weekend

Join hundreds of dancers at Camp Ransburg on Lake Monroe.
Dancing may go to dawn both nights; meals & tent camping included in registration.
More at bloomingtoncontra.org/sugar-hill/

Join Indy Contra every Tuesday night in July, and get ready for our State Fair contra in August!

July 7
Convolution and Kristen Planeaux, with Ken Gall
Kristen, a member of The Ripples and Mulberry Street, joins Dianna Davis & Ben Smith, and Ken returns from a trip calling in Maryland, New Jersey, North Carolina, Virginia, and West Virginia!

July 14
Deb Shebish and Johnandrew Bellner, with Rhonda Minnich
Check out Deb on Soundcloud!
After the dance, Ken & Carole Gall host their annual ice cream social, at their home near the canal. Directions available at the dance.

July 21
Emily Ann and Kelly Thompson, with Adam Nichols

July 28
Triple A, with Bradley Smith
We have a visiting band! Triple A is Andrew VanNorstrand of Great Bear Trio & Giant Robot dance (on guitar & fiddle), Audrey Knuth (on fiddle& eet), & Amy Englesberg (on keyboard & accordion – no, not fiddle or feet). They’re on a fifteen day tour & we’re lucky enough to be one of their ten stops! They’re also playing the next night, Wednesday the 29th, in Bloomington.

Coming in August:
Friday the 7th, contra at the Indiana State Fair

June 2
Emily Ann and Kelly Thompson with Rhonda Minnich
Emily Ann and Kelly play a mix of dance tunes, from Irish, Scottish, Canadian, and U.S. backgrounds. Rhonda, one of our newest callers, will bring clarity and enthusiasm!

June 9
Mulberry Street with Ryan Smith
Ben Hemmendinger, Perin Ellsworth-Heller, and Kristen Planeaux (of The Ripples) will bring Southern Ohio contra dance energy to us, playing fiddle, foot percussion, guitar, ivories, percussion, & squeezebox! Ryan is a favorite longtime Cincinnati caller, dancer, and community leader!

June 16
Contradiction with Josiah Roberts

Our newest band returns for more: Tobe Woodrough, Dianna Davis, and Mark Conway bring tunes with bluegrass, gypsy jazz, and other exotic influences. Josiah, a Louisville dancer, brings an analytical mind to his calling.

June 17
Board meeting. All welcome.

June 23
Johnandrew Bellner and Deb Shebish with Jonathan Sivier
Deb and Johnandrew bring clever, soulful old time music for dancing. Jonathan brings over twenty years of dancing, calling, and dance research.

June 30
LEDfoot with Bob Duffy
Leslie Selden, Dave Schroeder, Lisa Wagoner Schroeder, and Steve Kobe have played old time music together in many of Indy’s most popular bands. They’ll bring a mix of fiddle, guitar, acoustic bass, flute, mandolin, and more. Bob’s been an Indy Contra caller for years!

Our schedule this month includes a Sunday afternoon contra in addition dancing every Tuesday night:

Tuesday, May 5th
Electro contra: D.R. Shadow with Frank Buschelmann
Wear your flashy, glow in the dark, club attire! We’ll dim the lights and D.E. Shadow (aka Ben Smith) will turn up the bass!

httpv://youtu.be/HodhTOqhhlw

Tuesday, May 12th
Convolution with Bob Duffy
Ben’s back, this time with Dianna Davis, providing acoustic, traditional contra tunes with hints of gypsy, jazz, and swing.

Tuesday, May 19th
LEDfoot with Steven Janowiecki
Leslie Selden, Dave Schroeder, Lisa Wagoner Schroeder, and Steve Kobe have played old time music together in many of Indy’s most popular bands. They’ll bring a mix of fiddle, guitar, acoustic bass, flute, mandolin, and more.

Tuesday, May 26th
Contradiction with Ken Gall
We feature a new band! Contradiction brings together some of Indy’s finest in the folk scene – Katie Burk, a fiddle player with the The Whipstitch Sallies and The Half Step Sisters will be bringing her bluegrass background to the stage with Dianna Davis on her accordion and clarinet.  Mark Conway will provide the rhythmic drive with his styles in bluegrass, gypsy jazz, and old time.  Ken Gall will be calling the dances – lots of local talent on the stage!

Sunday, May 31st
Sunday afternoon with The Ripples & Bradley Smith
They’ll get you groovin’ in no time at all!

2 – 5 pm.
The night before, there’s a contra in Bloomington, IN.

Tuesday, April 7th
Emily Ann and Kelly Thompson with Rhonda Minnich
Emily Ann and Kelly Thompson play Celtic & Old Time, fast, high-energy jigs and reels, captivating airs and songs, with perhaps classical or jazz influences. Rhonda Minnich calls. Rhonda, Indy Contra’s unofficial photographer, will be doing the calling tonight.  She’s been not only calling at Indy Contra, but hitting the open calling around the midwest, and is one of our new regular callers.

Tuesday, April 14th
Convolution with Ken Gall
Mean Lid Ben Smith and Coffee Zombie Dianna Davis draw from minimalism inspirations and such genres as Middle Eastern, Irish, swing, and free improvisation, while Ken Gall calls. “Really fast and efficient, delivering good dances with good humor. No BS, no ego,” says Sam Bartlett.

Tuesday, April 21st
Troika with Adam Nichols
Three quarters of Troika bring the rich and diverse landscape of Eastern European & other folk musics to American contra dancers.  Dianna Davis’ clarinet, driven forward by the punchy rhythms of Mario Joven’s guitar and Adam Riviere’s doumbek.  Adam Nichols calls.

Tuesday, April 28th
Deb Shebish and Johnandrew Bellner with Open calling
Deb Shebish and Johnandrew Bellner are one of Indy’s favorite pair of folk musicians, you can often find these two playing Saturday evenings with Hogeye Navvy or playing Irish trad music at one of the Irish pubs around town.

It’s Open Calling night, so novice and experienced callers are invited to lead a dance or two.  Please contact Adam Nichols if you’re interested, and/or arrive a few minutes early to get on the evening’s schedule.

May 31, 2 – 5 p.m., afternoon contra with music by The Ripples.

We have six contras this month:

March 3rd
Electro Contra!
D.R. Shadow is back to provide the electronic music to spin you across the floor, with Adam Nichols calling the dances.  Check out how much fun we had the last time!
httpv://www.youtube.com/watch?v=8k5_m-U3XQM

Tuesday, March 10th
Ledfoot and Ken Gall – Old time music by Leslie, Dave, Lisa, and Steve, with with Ken, calling back home in Indiana between dance and calling trips all around the country.

Tuesday, March 17th
Relative Harmony and Judy Greenhill – his Ontario-based band plays an energetic blend of traditional New England, Quebecois and Irish/Celtic, with some original tunes added to the mix.

Sunday, March 22nd
Beach Party! – Cincinnati caller Darlene Underwood joins Miriam Larson, Ben Smith, and Matt Turino for an afternoon full of dancing. The Mean Lids have been described as “mesmerizing,” “outstanding,” and “one of the top contra bands in the country,” but then most of you already knew that!

“Beach” attire prizes will be awarded. Snacks (beach themed or not) welcome.

Tuesday, March 24th
Not Tom and Jerry and Deborah Denenfeld – A caller from Louisville, KY, Deborah Denenfeld has a great passion for dancing and will be bringing that excitement to Indy Contra! She has over twenty years of experience leading dance at schools, weddings, retreats, and of course contra communities like ours. She also recently has started a contra dance program for veterans in Louisville!  Tom Cunningham (fiddle player from the Coffee Zombies!) and Ben Andrews (gypsy jazz guitarist) will provide all the swingin’ tunes.

Tuesday, March 31st
Convolution and Bob Duffy – Indy’s “house band” Convolution is back on the stage to provide all your music needs for the last contra of the month.  Local caller Bob Duffy calls.

Gypsy Moon Ball 2015 will be Friday – Sunday, October 23 – 25 at Zion Evangelical United Church of Christ in downtown Indianapolis.

Music by& Gallimaufry &  Turnip the Beet,  calling by Susan Kevra & Maggie Jo Saylor. Here’s Turnip the Beet with Susan Kevra:

httpv://youtu.be/OBu0X5bzQi0
Approximate schedule: contra 8 – midnight Friday, 10 am to midnight Saturday (with dinner & lunch breaks), and waltz then contra 10 – 3 Sunday. All welcome, pre-registration not required, not gender balanced. More details tba.