Staff
The Sage Thrashers
are Patrick Gunning (guitar), Hayden Stern (fiddle) and Jesse Partridge (fiddle). Patrick's a well known guitarist in the Seattle contra scene, also playing with Clever Hans and Soundspel. Hayden is known for their driving fiddle sound and keen sense of improvisation and harmony, bringing their love of Scottish and Cape Breton fiddle to Natterjack and Clever Hans as well. Jesse is known both in his hometown Olympia and across the Pacific Northwest for his welcoming ways and infectious smile as a dancer, organizer, caller, and multi-instrumentalist in other bands such as RiffRaff and Contra Quartet.
Starling
met at dance camp many years ago and have been jamming ever since. This long-distance trad folk duo consists of Mo Brachfeld (fiddle and feet) from Western Massachusetts and Jared Kirkpatrick (keys, mandolin and feet) from North Carolina. They deftly blend traditional styles from Appalachia, New England, Quebec, and Ireland and modern influences into contra classics and original tunes.They also have performed harmony singing, "queer tunes," and percussive dancing up and down the East coast.Angela DeCarlis
has been calling contras since 2012. Whether onstage at a dance or as a studio art instructor, Ang finds a lot of joy in the process of clear and careful teaching. Their often-melodic calling style always responds to and resonates with the music. A nature enthusiast, Ang lives in the swamps of North-Central Florida with their husband James and cat Albie.
Sue Rosen
has been actively calling for over 30 years in the Boston area, across the country, and overseas. A leading caller of contras, squares, English country dance and family dance programs, she has built a collection of great dances and has written contras that have become part of the standard repertoire of dance callers across the contradance world. Her speedy and encouraging walk-throughs will have you cruising through dance after wonderful dance.Nick Cuccia
has provided dancer- and musician-friendly sound at numerous events throughout northern California during the past twenty-five years, including BACDS Family Week, English Week, Fall Frolick, and Playford Balls and camps; NBCDS Mad Robin Balls, SCDS Echo Summit weekend, RSCDS-SF Valentines' Ball and Asilomar Scottish Country Dance Weekend & Workshop, and every Queer Contra Dance Camp. Nick also calls contras and English country dances throughout central and northern California.
Our staff provides a full weekend of contra dance, with a second track of dance and singing workshops led by the community during the day. Specifics will be announced as camp approaches, but workshop topics in the past have included waltz, consent conversations, English country dance, pop contra, traditional folk songs, playing music for contra, and much more. Sessions targeted to beginning and advanced dancers are also included.
