Jan
11
7:00 PM19:00

San Rafael Contra Dance

With Shira Kammen, Jim Oakden, and Charlie Hancock playing live music for us! Community dances offer a beginners’ lesson 30 minutes before the start of the dance; if you’re new to Contra Dance, come at 6:30. Please check dance websites for COVID-related requirements. LOCATION: Unitarian Universalist Church, 240 Channing Way in San Rafael, CA. Bring your feet (and comfortable shoes)!

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Jan
25
2:00 PM14:00

BACDS Family Dance

Join us for a dance party for the whole family—all ages welcome! Caller Celia Ramsay will teach easy-to-learn dances from American and British Isles folks traditions, accompanied by live music by Craig Johnson (piano), Erik Hoffman (guitar), and Anne Goess (violin). This event is co-sponsored by North Bay Country Dance Society, and BACDS Family Week. Includes a sing-alone, juggling, snacks, an “instrument petting zoo,” and stilts!

Suggested donation $10/adult or $20/family.

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Mar
1
10:00 AM10:00

Beginning Harmony Workshop

No previous harmony singing required—bring your voice! Learn how to sing something different than the person sitting next to you by singing simple rounds.

This is the first in a series of three Saturday workshops that will be at The Hillside Club in Berkeley; there will be an intermediate, and an advanced level workshop on each of the following two Saturdays.

Hosted by HOOT! Cost: $50/person…or attend all three workshops in the series for $125. TICKETS ON SALE STARTING IN OCTOBER AT HOOTEXCLAMATIONPOINT.COM

WORKSHOP QUESTIONS? EMAIL CELIA TO FIND OUT MORE DETAILS, OR TO CONFIRM WHAT IS THE RIGHT WORKSHOP LEVEL FOR YOU!

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Mar
8
10:00 AM10:00

Intermediate Harmony Workshop

You joined us for our beginning workshop, so now it’s time to sing some more complicated harmonies. What? You didn’t attend the beginning workshop? NO PROBLEM! If you have a little experience, just join us anyway at The Hillside Club in Berkeley!

Hosted by HOOT! Cost: $50/person…or attend all three workshops in the series for $125. TICKETS ON SALE STARTING IN OCTOBER AT HOOTEXCLAMATIONPOINT.COM

This is the second in a series of three vocal harmony workshops.

WORKSHOP QUESTIONS? EMAIL CELIA TO FIND OUT MORE DETAILS, OR TO CONFIRM WHAT IS THE RIGHT WORKSHOP LEVEL FOR YOU!

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Mar
15
10:00 AM10:00

Advanced Harmony Workshop

Would you like to create your own harmonies to sing? This workshop is for folks who feel comfortable singing established harmony parts, but who want to learn how create their own harmonies to fit their vocal range.

BTW, this workshop is great for folks who want to understand how to work out vocal harmony parts for their bands, and several instrumentalists have told us they use our approach in this workshop (which corresponds to our YouTube Lesson #5) for their instrument playing—harmony is harmony whether your instrument is your voice, or some other instrument! So come for the singing, but leave with a skill you can use for all your music endeavors!

Hosted by HOOT! Cost: $50/person…or attend all three workshops in the series for $125. TICKETS ON SALE STARTING IN OCTOBER AT HOOTEXCLAMATIONPOINT.COM

This is the third (and last) in a series of three vocal harmony workshops at The Hillside Club in Berkeley.

WORKSHOP QUESTIONS? EMAIL CELIA TO FIND OUT MORE DETAILS, OR TO CONFIRM WHAT IS THE RIGHT WORKSHOP LEVEL FOR YOU!

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Dec
13
7:30 PM19:30

TRISKAIDEKAPHOBIA: a celebration of caller Kirston Koths

I will be among the Cavalcade of Callers for this event. In appreciation and in celebration of Kirston Koths’ contribution to this community we present this special evening.

Doors open at 6:45, time for socializing and sharing stories from 7:00–7:30, Dancing 7:30–10:00pm, $10–$20 sliding scale or pay what you can

The year was 1980 when Kirston Koths (1948–2024) moved to the Bay Area. A new caller from Boston, he started a 2nd Friday contradance in Berkeley. Contradance was new to the area—the only regular dance was in Palo Alto. BACDS did not yet exist, and when it formed Kirston became member #2. Kirston organized, managed, and called his Berkeley dance for 25 years, eventually asking BACDS to take it on.

By then contradancing was flourishing in the Bay Area, with dances in Palo Alto, San Francisco, Mill Valley, Santa Cruz, and many nearby cities. Contradancing took hold in the Bay Area, as in much of the country, due to the efforts of the early organizers, and Kirston was one of them.

Kirston wrote at least a dozen dances. “Nantucket Sleigh Ride,” with its distinctive dip-and-dive figure, was wildly popular in the ’70s in New England. His most memorable West Coast dance, and the namesake of tonight, is “Triskaidekaphobia”.

For more information: bacds.org/events/kkdance/, kirston-dance@bacds.org, rhonda@cayford.org, or (510) 982-1347.

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Nov
16
7:00 PM19:00

ALAMEDA CONTRA DANCE – HAPPY HEARTS

Community dances offer a beginners’ lesson 30 minutes before the start of the dance; if you’re new to Contra Dance, come at 6:30. LOCATION: The Cottage at 1707 Alameda Avenue near the corner with Grand Street (south of 'The Home of Truth' church, at the corner). Bring your feet (and comfortable shoes)! Please check dance sites for more information.

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Oct
25
7:00 PM19:00

SANTA CRUZ CONTRA DANCE

Community dances offer a beginners’ lesson 30 minutes before the start of the dance; if you’re new to Contra Dance, come at 6:30. Please check dance websites for COVID-related requirements. LOCATION: Live Oak Grange, 1900 17th Avenue, Santa Cruz, CA. Bring your feet (and comfortable shoes)!

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Oct
6
6:30 PM18:30

Petaluma Contra Dance

With Patti Cobb & Valerie Rose playing live for us! Community dances offer a beginners’ lesson 30 minutes before the start of the dance; if you’re new to Contra Dance, come at 6:00. LOCATION: St. John’s Episcopal Church – Petaluma 40 Fifth Street, Petaluma, 94952 United States. Bring your feet (and comfortable shoes)! Please check dance sites for more information.

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Sep
14
7:00 PM19:00

UKIAH CONTRA DANCE

With Rebecca King and Rodney Miller playing! Community dances offer a beginners’ lesson 30 minutes before the start of the dance; if you’re new to Contra Dance, come at 6:30. LOCATION: The Methodist Church at 270 N Pine St, Ukiah, CA 95482. Bring your feet (and comfortable shoes)! Please check dance sites for more information.

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Jul
20
7:00 PM19:00

ALAMEDA CONTRA DANCE – HAPPY HEARTS

Community dances offer a beginners’ lesson 30 minutes before the start of the dance; if you’re new to Contra Dance, come at 6:30. LOCATION: The Cottage at 1707 Alameda Avenue near the corner with Grand Street (south of 'The Home of Truth' church, at the corner). Bring your feet (and comfortable shoes)! Please check dance sites for more information.

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Jun
2
6:30 PM18:30

PETALUMA CONTRA DANCE

With Ensemble Fallopia: Patti Cobb, Shira Kammen & Michelle Levy, playing live for us! Community dances offer a beginners’ lesson 30 minutes before the start of the dance; if you’re new to Contra Dance, come at 6:00. LOCATION: St. John’s Episcopal Church – Petaluma 40 Fifth Street, Petaluma, 94952 United States. Bring your feet (and comfortable shoes)! Please check dance sites for more information.

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May
5
4:00 PM16:00

MONTEREY CONTRA DANCE

With The Corn Likkers (Ray Chen, Lael Sigal, Lauren Graves, Elijah & Eleanor Chen). Community dances offer a beginners’ lesson 30 minutes before the start of the dance; if you’re new to Contra Dance, come at 3:30. LOCATION: YMCA of the Monterey Peninsula, at 600 Camino El Estero in Monterey. Bring your feet (and comfortable shoes)! Please check dance sites for more information. NOTE: THIS IS AN EXPERIMENTAL TIME/DAY FOR THE DANCE.

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Apr
27
7:00 PM19:00

SAN RAFAEL CONTRA DANCE

With Roxanne Oliva, Beth Christian, and Janette Duncan playing for us! Community dances offer a beginners’ lesson 30 minutes before the start of the dance; if you’re new to Contra Dance, come at 6:30. Please check dance websites for COVID-related requirements. LOCATION: Unitarian Universalist Church, 240 Channing Way in San Rafael, CA. Bring your feet (and comfortable shoes)!

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Apr
20
7:00 PM19:00

Santa Rosa Contra Dance

With Rebecca King and Rodney Miller playing for us! Community dances offer a beginners’ lesson 30 minutes before the start of the dance; if you’re new to Contra Dance, come at 6:30. LOCATION: 1400 West College Avenue, Santa Rosa. Bring your feet (and comfortable shoes)! Please check dance sites for more information.

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Apr
13
7:00 PM19:00

PALO ALTO CONTRA DANCE

With Valerie Rose and Jim Oakden playing live for us! Community dances offer a beginners’ lesson 30 minutes before the start of the dance; if you’re new to Contra Dance, come at 6:30. LOCATION: First United Methodist Church of Palo Alto, 625 Hamilton at Byron, Palo Alto. Bring your feet (and comfortable shoes)! Please check dance sites for more information.

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Mar
16
7:00 PM19:00

ALAMEDA CONTRA DANCE – HAPPY HEARTS

With Lee Anne Welch and Andy Imbrie playing live for us! Community dances offer a beginners’ lesson 30 minutes before the start of the dance; if you’re new to Contra Dance, come at 6:30. LOCATION: The Cottage at 1707 Alameda Avenue near the corner with Grand Street (south of 'The Home of Truth' church, at the corner). Bring your feet (and comfortable shoes)! Please check dance sites for more information.

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Mar
3
2:00 PM14:00

CELIA RAMSAY & FRIENDS AT THE HILLSIDE CLUB

Left to right: Celia Ramsay, Amelia Hogan, Leah Wollenberg, Félim Egan

Come hear Celia Ramsay and a cast of three other musicians in a Celtic-themed concert spiced up with original material from all five performers. Joining Celia will be Amelia Hogan, Leah Wollenberg and Felim Egan at the Hillside Club on Cedar Street in Berkeley.

Celia Ramsay & Friends concert tickets are available on Eventbrite. Advance purchase tickets will be $30, $35 if you buy on the day of the show, and $20 if you're a Hillside Club Member. NOTE: On February 17 & 18, you can buy two tickets for the price of one—the discounts will be automatic in Eventbrite when you buy on those dates.

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Feb
17
10:00 AM10:00

ADVANCED HARMONY WORKSHOP WITH CELIA RAMSAY & LIBBY MCLAREN

Would you like to create your own harmonies to sing? This workshop is for folks who feel comfortable singing established harmony parts, but who want to learn how create their own harmonies to fit their vocal range.

BTW, this workshop is great for folks who want to understand how to work out vocal harmony parts for their bands, and several instrumentalists have told us they use our approach in this workshop (which corresponds to our YouTube Lesson #5) for their instrument playing—harmony is harmony whether your instrument is your voice, or some other instrument! So come for the singing, but leave with a skill you can use for all your music endeavors!

Hosted by HOOT! Cost: $50/person…or attend all three workshops in the series for $125. TICKETS ON SALE STARTING IN OCTOBER AT HOOTEXCLAMATIONPOINT.COM

This is the third (and last) in a series of three vocal harmony workshops at The Hillside Club in Berkeley.

WORKSHOP QUESTIONS? EMAIL CELIA TO FIND OUT MORE DETAILS, OR TO CONFIRM WHAT IS THE RIGHT WORKSHOP LEVEL FOR YOU!

View Event →
Feb
10
10:00 AM10:00

INTERMEDIATE HARMONY WORKSHOP WITH CELIA RAMSAY & LIBBY MCLAREN

You joined us for our beginning workshop, so now it’s time to sing some more complicated harmonies. What? You didn’t attend the beginning workshop? NO PROBLEM! If you have a little experience, just join us anyway at The Hillside Club in Berkeley!

Hosted by HOOT! Cost: $50/person…or attend all three workshops in the series for $125. TICKETS ON SALE STARTING IN OCTOBER AT HOOTEXCLAMATIONPOINT.COM

This is the second in a series of three vocal harmony workshops.

WORKSHOP QUESTIONS? EMAIL CELIA TO FIND OUT MORE DETAILS, OR TO CONFIRM WHAT IS THE RIGHT WORKSHOP LEVEL FOR YOU!

View Event →
Feb
3
10:00 AM10:00

BEGINNING HARMONY WORKSHOP WITH CELIA RAMSAY & LIBBY MCLAREN

No previous harmony singing required—bring your voice! Learn how to sing something different than the person sitting next to you by singing simple rounds.

This is the first in a series of three Saturday workshops that will be at The Hillside Club in Berkeley; there will be an intermediate, and an advanced level workshop on each of the following two Saturdays.

Hosted by HOOT! Cost: $50/person…or attend all three workshops in the series for $125. TICKETS ON SALE STARTING IN OCTOBER AT HOOTEXCLAMATIONPOINT.COM

WORKSHOP QUESTIONS? EMAIL CELIA TO FIND OUT MORE DETAILS, OR TO CONFIRM WHAT IS THE RIGHT WORKSHOP LEVEL FOR YOU!

View Event →
Jan
27
7:00 PM19:00

UKIAH CONTRA DANCE

With Bob Daley & Friends playing for us! Community dances offer a beginners’ lesson 30 minutes before the start of the dance; if you’re new to Contra Dance, come at 6:30. LOCATION: The Methodist Church at 270 N Pine St, Ukiah, CA 95482. Bring your feet (and comfortable shoes)! Please check dance sites for more information.

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Dec
7
8:00 PM20:00

BERKELEY CONTRA DANCE

With The Whiskey Brothers, Dave Courchaine (guitar), John McFarlane (fiddle), & Jeff Ward (mandolin) playing live for us! Community dances offer a beginners’ lesson 30 minutes before the start of the dance; if you’re new to Contra Dance, come at 7:30. LOCATION: Christ Church Berkeley, formerly known as Grace North Church, 2138 Cedar Street near Oxford. Bring your feet (and comfortable shoes)! Please check dance sites for more information.

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Nov
25
7:00 PM19:00

SACRAMENTO CONTRA DANCE

With Wild Goose Chase (Margo Meredith, Ann Meigs, and Kate Dwyer) playing live for us! Community dances offer a beginners’ lesson 30 minutes before the start of the dance; if you’re new to Contra Dance, come at 6:30. LOCATION: Coloma Community Center, 4623 T St, Sacramento, CA 95819. Bring your feet (and comfortable shoes)! Please check dance sites for COVID-related requirements.

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Mar
4
7:00 PM19:00

Monterey Contra Dance

Monterey Contra Dance with Persons in Black at YMCA of the Monterey Peninsula, 600 Camino El Estero, Monterey, CA 93940. Community dances offer a beginners’ lesson 20 minutes before the start of the dance; if you’re new to Contra Dance, come at 6:40. Please check dance websites for COVID-related requirements. Bring your feet (and comfortable shoes)!

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Jan
28
10:00 AM10:00

Advanced Harmony Workshop with Celia Ramsay & Libby McLaren

Coming to North Berkeley’s Hillside Club! Would you like to create your own harmonies to sing? This workshop is for folks who feel comfortable singing established harmony parts, but who want to learn how create their own harmonies to fit their vocal range.

BTW, this workshop is great for folks who want to understand how to work out vocal harmony parts for their bands, and several instrumentalists have told us they use our approach in this workshop (which corresponds to our YouTube Lesson #5) for their instrument playing—harmony is harmony whether your instrument is your voice, or some other instrument! So come for the singing, but leave with a skill you can use for all your music endeavors!

Hosted by HOOT! Cost: $40/person…or attend all three workshops in the series for $100. TICKETS ON SALE STARTING DECEMBER 10 AT HOOTEXCLAMATIONPOINT.COM

This is the third (and last) in a series of three vocal harmony workshops.

NOTE: Masks and vaccination are required by the Hillside Club at this time; there is enough space to maintain distance during the workshop.

WORKSHOP QUESTIONS? EMAIL CELIA TO FIND OUT MORE DETAILS, OR TO CONFIRM WHAT IS THE RIGHT WORKSHOP LEVEL FOR YOU!

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Jan
22
4:00 PM16:00

HAYWARD CONTRA DANCE

LIVE MUSIC with Larry Unger and Caroline McCaskey. REGISTER HERE. Community dances offer a beginners’ lesson 20 minutes before the start of the dance; if you’re new to Contra Dance, come at 3:40. Please check dance websites for COVID-related requirements. LOCATION: Hill and Valley Club, 1808 ‘B’ Street, Hayward, CA. Bring your feet (and comfortable shoes)!

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Jan
21
10:00 AM10:00

Intermediate Harmony Workshop with Celia Ramsay & Libby McLaren

Coming to North Berkeley’s Hillside Club! You joined us for our beginning workshop, so now it’s time to sing some more complicated harmonies. What? You didn’t attend the beginning workshop? NO PROBLEM! If you have a little experience, just join us anyway!

Hosted by HOOT! Cost: $40/person…or attend all three workshops in the series for $100. TICKETS ON SALE STARTING DECEMBER 10 AT HOOTEXCLAMATIONPOINT.COM

This is the second in a series of three vocal harmony workshops.

NOTE: Masks and vaccinations are required at the Hillside Club at this time; there is plenty of space for us to maintain distance.

WORKSHOP QUESTIONS? EMAIL CELIA TO FIND OUT MORE DETAILS, OR TO CONFIRM WHAT IS THE RIGHT WORKSHOP LEVEL FOR YOU!

View Event →