GOTTA DANCE

The Moving Violations are: Ron Grosslein on fiddle and mandolin, Van Kaynor on fiddle, Chuck Corman on bass, guitar and dumbek and Marnen Laibow-Koser on piano, viola, flute and hand drum. Three years ago the Violations wore all the tread off the dancers at the Corvallis Contra Dance Weekend. All of them have such facility with the music that they frolic with the tune, throwing challenging licks back and forth like a couple of vaudeville hoofers. Combine that with their broad range and you may be dancing to an Irish reel one minute and a Bulgarian, Klezmer or Scandinavian tune the next. They make it all fit. Save up your bail money because you’re going to get run in on a Moving Violation. www.themovingviolations.com

The best thing to be said about Steve Zakon-Anderson is that this year he is really coming! Steve was scheduled for last year but had an injury that prevented his traveling. He is all healed and good as new for 2010. Steve is a master contra dance caller and has called in 36 states, so far. His dance compositions are popular with dancers and other callers. Steve's energetic calling and sense of humor place him at the top of many a Fantasy Dance Camp list. Even satiated New Englanders drive across state lines to go to a Steve Z-A dance. Rejoice, he is coming to you.

Lift Ticket is a band at the forefront of redefining what contra music is. The four strong players bring a wealth of creative styles to the mix. Rex Blazer plays a powerful and improvisational fiddle that shoots flames out at the dancers. T.J. Johnson on mandolin throws in an irreverent, bluegrassy, neotimey flavor. Seth Houston on piano and guitar lends a sophisticated sensibility, maybe coming from his current pursuit of a doctorate in choral music. “Dr. Houston will be performing your operation.” Russell Shumsky is a man of many beats. They might come out of the beat box he sits on or a conga drum or a djembe. Sometimes it’s “afro-celtic” sound from a marimba. Perfectly disruptive.

They all come together in a strong magnetic field that causes dance floors to rotate in the opposite direction. With Lift Ticket you’re assured a thrilling ride to the top of the mountain. It’s a full weekend pass so you can whiz down the slopes as many times as your legs can endure. www.liftticketband.com

Ron Buchanan is a jolly fellow. He seems to have so much fun calling that maybe we should be charging him to come call for us. It’s like he is making it up as he goes along and he’s just as excited as we are to see what comes next. But he has such a natural ease with the dances that it works out perfectly, and we can all have a big laugh. Three years ago, at Northwest Passage, he was directly responsible for the spontaneous combustion of three Smile-o-Meters.

More adaptations are being made at Norse Hall this year to improve the audio quality. Also our sound master, Alan Roberts, is bringing new equipment to even out the sound level throughout the hall.

As part of the 100th anniversary celebrations at Norse Hall, we will also be having Scandinavian dancing in the upstairs dance hall. We will again be offering an intensive Hambo workshop for those who want to finally get it.

Two big name bands, two star callers, yet the weekend will cost just $110, or $80 for students. These rates are for registrations postmarked by February 27th. After that the rates increase by $20. Registration opens on January 1st. There will be a lottery for registrations postmarked by February 27th and the weekend will be gender balanced. Registrations postmarked after February 27th will go on a waiting list.

To download the registration form click

If you have questions, contact Kim Appleberry at raindanceinfo@PortlandCountryDance.org or call him at 503-319-1717.

Get your spring plowing done early this year so you can come play.