PHYLLA MAE FALL FEST 2009

David Millstone, from Lebanon, NH, started contra dancing in the early 1970s and has been calling dances for thirty years. A leader and model in the dance community for years, he is known for his clear and supportive teaching style, the breadth of his repertoire, his sense of humor, and his ability to pick dances that offer the right level of challenge for all audiences. With a repertoire ranging from traditional New England chestnuts to high-energy recent compositions, David calls contras, squares, and interesting dances in odd formations. He also leads English country dances, family dances and a variety of engaging workshops about traditional dance.

David has performed widely at many dances, dance camps and weekends throughout the US as well as in Canada and Europe. He is also a dance historian and a videographer, who has created numerous popular documentaries and articles about New England contra dancing. (Click on David's photo above for a taste of his calling the classic New England contra, Money Musk.)

The Great Bear Trio, is a vibrant family band from upstate New York. Brothers Andrew and Noah VanNorstrand compose and arrange the majority of Great Bear's material, drawing heavily on Celtic and Appalachian fiddling traditions for their melodies, but they have multiple other influences as well, including Swedish fiddle harmonies, rhythms that suggest an alt-rock or world beat groove, all blended with their own playful and unique improvisations. Their mother, Kim Yerton on piano, provides the steady underpinnings that allows Andrew and Noah's creativity to flourish. Great Bear has created numerous popular recordings of their extraordinary music. Their distinctive sound has won them fans all over the continent and they are continuing to shape the face of contra dance music in the 21st century. (If you have not yet danced with the Great Bear Trio, click on their photo on the right to see a recent video that will give you a sense of their energy and creativity.)

Andrew and Noah have also generously agreed to raffle off an original tune to support the weekend. They will compose to order! The raffle winner can request any key, rhythm, style, mood or title, and the VanNorstrand brothers will do the rest.

Riverbend is familiar to New York upstate dancers, but have not had much opportunity to listen to them since Rebecca's move to Connecticut. The Phylla Mae Fall Fest will be a rare opportunity to see them in action! The band combines the talents of Rebecca McCallum on fiddle, Tom Santarsiero on mandolin, guitar, tenor banjo, and foot percussion, and Jane Knoeck on piano and accordion. Seasoned musicians from a number of great bands (including the Groovemongers and Montage), these three create music with both balance and swing that will lift your feet and your spirit at the same time.

Riverbend is a versatile band, that can deliver the perfect tunes for a zesty contra, a singing call, a contra chestnut, an English country dance, any number of couple dances, and more. (We couldn't find any Riverbend video on the Internet, but if you'd like to see Rebecca and Jane's other band, the Groovemongers, in concert, click on the their photo above.)

You may be wondering, "What exactly is Giant Robot Dance?" So are we.... But we understand that there is a perfectly plausible non-paranormal explanation that, reportedly, has nothing to do with a highly infectious strain of contra dancing or the outlandishly-rocking music and bizarre fashion experiments recently reported from the vicinity of our contra dances. (Curious? To check out the music of Giant Robot Dance at last February's Dance Flurry, click on their photo on the left.)

Giant Robot Dance brings together five talented young musicians from New York, Vermont and Maryland for a high-energy, alter-ego, super- psychedelic contra dance experience. Two sets of musical brothers (Andrew and Noah VanNorstrand of The Great Bear Trio and Andrew and Aaron Marcus of The Gift Of The Marci and Jiggermeister) have teamed up with this other guy (the one and only Michael Ferguson) for a wild night of blaring accordion, shredding electric guitar, bludgeoning drums and honking trombone solos, plus a sprinkling of very tasteful piano melodies and delicate violin accents. If you've ever longed to balance and swing with ELO, hey for four with Carlos Santana or execute a Petronella spin to the music of Queen, this may very well be as close as you'll ever get!

• Trombot (Michael Ferguson): trombone
• Arobot (Aaron Marcus): piano, concertina
• The Big Squeeze (Andrew Marcus): accordion
• The Vortex (aka Shredder von Nostrum, aka Andrew VanNorstrand): electric guitar, fiddle
• Thumper (Noah VanNorstrand): drums, percussion