Category Archives: Uncategorized

Contra Dance, Fourth Saturday!

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The Sacramento Country Dance Society, building community through lively dances, live music, and friendly people, proudly presents:

Caller: Sarah Trop
Music: Paddy on the Binge (Obin Sturm, Emma Ware, Margaret Graham, Vince Wolfe)
Sound: Esper Schmidt
Date: Saturday, January 24th, 2026 (Fourth Saturday)
Time: 7:00–10:00 pm, with newcomer’s orientation at 6:30 pm
Location: Coloma Community Center, 4623 T St, Sacramento, CA
Cost: $15 for adults; $10 for college students with ID; $5 for dancers under 18; $30 maximum for families (cash or check); If cost is the only thing preventing you from being there, please talk to the greeters at the door.

Back by popular demand: The clothing exchange! Bring one item and then take one for free, or buy one item for $5 donation. Many skirts and dresses available!

Sarah Trop is a lifelong contra dancer and energetic caller based in San Francisco. She is a strong proponent of a safe and inclusive dance floor, and her steady calling will guide everyone through her varied programs with ease.

A Davis-based band with a non-traditional repertoire, Paddy on the Binge brings a new energy to Contra, and has been well received wherever they’ve played. Their Contra configuration is usually Vince Wolfe, Margaret Graham, Emma Ware, and Obin Sturm. Prepare to be delighted!

Paddy on the Binge

Newcomer’s orientation is offered at 6:40 pm, perfect for people who have not contra danced before, or who could use a refresher. Experienced dancers are invited to partner with newcomers during the orientation and early dances to help integrate them into the community. No partners are needed, so come by yourself or with friends or with family. Events are accessible to people with disabilities. Potluck snacks are available at the break, and we encourage you to bring something to share.

Food and Drink

Hydration is important while dancing. Dancers are encouraged to bring their own water bottles.

Please bring snacks to share with the community. Dancers may eat in the area near the food table or outside. Please don’t spill food or water on the dance floor.

Contact: For more information, and lost and found, contact Laura Leonelli, 916-549-7093, or email sactocds@gmail.com. Our schedule of future dances is always available at https://sactocds.org/calendar/. You may join our email list on groups.io at https://groups.io/g/SactoCDS/. Please enter your name when joining.

Note: The location of the SCDS dance calendar has changed. If you subscribed to the calendar before January 1, 2023, please unsubscribe from that one and re-subscribe to the new one. On the Calendar page at https://sactocds.org/calendar/, you can subscribe to the calendar so the events show up in your personal Google calendar. Click the plus sign in the lower right hand corner. For iCal users, the link is https://calendar.google.com/calendar/ical/sactocds%40gmail.com/public/basic.ics. 

English Country Dance in Sacramento!

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The Sacramento Country Dance Society, building community through lively dances, live music, and friendly people, proudly presents:

Caller: Lise Dyckman
Music: Quite Carried Away
Sound: Sue Jones and David Wright
Date: Sunday, January 18th, 2026 (3rd Sunday, in Sacramento)
Time: 2:00-5:00 pm
Location: Young Ladies Institute (YLI), 1400 27th St, Sacramento, CA 95816
Cost: $15 for adults; $10 for college students with ID; $5 for dancers under 18; $30 maximum for families (cash or check)

Lise M. Dyckman has been teaching and calling English Country Dance (and Contra Dance) for decades, in Philadelphia, New York City, California’s Bay Area region and beyond, and is known for her clear and concise calling, musicality, humor, interest in dance history and attention to welcoming community.

Six musicians and friends under the direction of David Wright and Sue Jones. Just give them English Country Dance music to play, and they’re Quite Carried Away!

The members of QCA are (clockwise from upper right): Martin Lodahl (viola da gamba), Susan Jones (English concertina), Jane Kostka (whistle), David Wright (violin and mandolin), Arlene Jamar (piano), and Dick Holdstock (octave mandolin and tenor banjo).

Quite Carried Away is the home band for the English Country Dances.

As usual, beginners are welcome. If you are bringing, or know of any, first-timers, please urge them to come at 1:30 for the introductory workshop that precedes the dance. No partners are needed, so come by yourself or with friends or with family. While events at the Masonic Lodge are fully handicapped-accessible, events at the YLI are somewhat accessible to people with disabilities, but not perfectly. Ask for help within.

It’s always nice when folks bring snacks to share–please bring items that don’t require plates or utensils. Please bring your own water bottles.

For more information, and lost and found, contact Laura Leonelli, 916-549-7093, or email info@sactocds.org. Our schedule of future dances is always available at https://sactocds.org/calendar/. You may join our email list on groups.io at https://groups.io/g/SactoCDS/. Please enter your name when joining.

Food and Drink

Hydration is important while dancing. Dancers are encouraged to bring their own water bottles.

Please bring snacks to share with the community. Dancers may eat in the area near the food table or outside. Please don’t spill food or water on the dance floor.

Contra Dance, Second Saturday

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The Sacramento Country Dance Society, building community through lively dances, live music, and friendly people, proudly presents:

Caller: Mark Goodwin
Music: The Seeds (David Wright, Susan Jones, and Marilyn Cooper)
Sound: Esper Schmidt
Date: Saturday, January 10th, 2026 (Second Saturday)
Time: 7:00–10:00 pm, with newcomer’s orientation at 6:30 pm
Location: Coloma Community Center, 4623 T St, Sacramento, CA
Cost: $15 for adults; $10 for college students with ID; $5 for dancers under 18; $30 maximum for families (cash or check); If cost is the only thing preventing you from being there, please talk to the greeters at the door.

Mark Goodwin

Mark Goodwin began calling contra dance in Chico in 2001 and has called for local regional dances, including Nevada City and Newcastle. His aim is to call programs that bring everyone along for the ride, with dances that are memorable, have intuitive transitions, and weave familiar and interesting elements into a variety of dancer interactions.

Meet the Sacramento band called The Seeds! This one’s not the 60’s rock band best known for “You’re Pushing Too Hard,” but is formed from seasoned (rosemary and thyme, with a pinch of cayenne) contra players David Wright, Sue Jones, and Marilyn Cooper. Tasty!

Special event! – Contra Dance Clothing Exchange/Sale. Clean out your closet for the New Year! Bring any
contra dance skirts or shirts that you would like to pass on and see if you can find something
new. Donation of $5 requested for each item you take unless you are exchanging that new
item for something you brought.

Newcomer’s orientation is offered at 6:40 pm, perfect for people who have not contra danced before, or who could use a refresher. Experienced dancers are invited to partner with newcomers during the orientation and early dances to help integrate them into the community. No partners are needed, so come by yourself or with friends or with family. Events are accessible to people with disabilities. Potluck snacks are available at the break, and we encourage you to bring something to share.

Food and Drink

Hydration is important while dancing. Dancers are encouraged to bring their own water bottles.

Please bring snacks to share with the community. Dancers may eat in the area near the food table or outside. Please don’t spill food or water on the dance floor.

Contact: For more information, and lost and found, contact Laura Leonelli, 916-549-7093, or email sactocds@gmail.com. Our schedule of future dances is always available at https://sactocds.org/calendar/. You may join our email list on groups.io at https://groups.io/g/SactoCDS/. Please enter your name when joining.

Note: The location of the SCDS dance calendar has changed. If you subscribed to the calendar before January 1, 2023, please unsubscribe from that one and re-subscribe to the new one. On the Calendar page at https://sactocds.org/calendar/, you can subscribe to the calendar so the events show up in your personal Google calendar. Click the plus sign in the lower right hand corner. For iCal users, the link is https://calendar.google.com/calendar/ical/sactocds%40gmail.com/public/basic.ics. 

English Country Dance in Roseville!

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The Sacramento Country Dance Society, building community through lively dances, live music, and friendly people, proudly presents:

Caller: Alan Winston
Music: Quite Carried Away
Sound: Sue Jones and David Wright
Date: Sunday, January 4th, 2026
Time: 2:00-5:00 pm
Location: Masonic Lodge, 235 Vernon St., Roseville, CA
Cost: $15 for adults; $10 for college students with ID; $5 for dancers under 18; $30 maximum for families (cash or check)

Lise Dyckman

Caller, choreographer, and community leader, Alan Winston started with Regency dance in 1978 and has been dancing contra since 1985. He’s been calling Regency, English, Early American, and Victorian dance since 1985, and started calling contras in 2006. He’s called for balls, camps, and special events from Southern California to the Bay Area to Oregon, Washington, and Victoria BC. He co-founded the Bay Area English Regency Society and has been the house caller since 1985.

His clear, cheerful, and witty instruction have served dancers well at a variety of venues including science fiction and romance writer conventions, Pie Ranch, weddings, a residential Victorian weekend, Playford Balls on both coasts, Williamsburg, VA, the San Francisco Free Folk Festival, the New England Folk Festival (NEFFA), and as a staff member at BACDS Family Week, the Heather and Rose gender-free English/Scottish weekend in Oregon, and the Queer Contra weekend in Aptos. It is Alan’s great joy to share the joy of community through country dance.

Six musicians and friends under the direction of David Wright and Sue Jones. Just give them English Country Dance music to play, and they’re Quite Carried Away!

The members of QCA are (clockwise from upper right): Martin Lodahl (viola da gamba), Susan Jones (English concertina), Jane Kostka (whistle), David Wright (violin and mandolin), Arlene Jamar (piano), and Dick Holdstock (octave mandolin and tenor banjo).

Quite Carried Away is the home band for the English Country Dances.

As usual, beginners are welcome. If you are bringing, or know of any, first-timers, please urge them to come at 1:30 for the introductory workshop that precedes the dance. No partners are needed, so come by yourself or with friends or with family. Events at the Masonic Lodge are handicapped-accessible, through the elevator right inside the front door. Events at the YLI are somewhat accessible to people with disabilities, but not perfectly. Ask for help within.

It’s always nice when folks bring snacks to share–please bring items that don’t require plates or utensils. Please bring your own water bottles.

For more information, and lost and found, contact Laura Leonelli, 916-549-7093, or email info@sactocds.org. Our schedule of future dances is always available at https://sactocds.org/calendar/. You may join our email list on groups.io at https://groups.io/g/SactoCDS/. Please enter your name when joining.

Food and Drink

Hydration is important while dancing. Dancers are encouraged to bring their own water bottles.

Please bring snacks to share with the community. Dancers may eat in the area near the food table or outside. Please don’t spill food or water on the dance floor.

Contra Dance, New Year’s Eve!!

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The Sacramento Country Dance Society, building community through lively dances, live music, and friendly people, proudly presents:

Caller: Dane Wallinga
Music: Will Wheeler, Lisa Miklos-Illés, and Peter Mellinger
Sound: Amanda Schmidt
Date: Wednesday, December 31st, 2025 (New Year’s EVE!)
Time: 8:00–12:00 pm, with newcomer’s orientation at 7:30 pm
Location: Coloma Community Center, 4623 T St, Sacramento, CA
Cost: $20 for adults (special dance); $10 for college students with ID; $5 for dancers under 18; $30 maximum for families (cash or check); If cost is the only thing preventing you from being there, please talk to the greeters at the door.

Dane Wallinga

Dane Wallinga has quickly become a Bay Area go-to caller, giving dancers a thoughtful program of interesting, fun dances, called with a relaxed style. He has choreographed a number of dances himself.

Will Wheeler, Lisa Miklos-Illés, and Peter Mellinger! Without a doubt, it’s going to be good!

Newcomer’s orientation is offered at 7:40 pm, perfect for people who have not contra danced before, or who could use a refresher. Experienced dancers are invited to partner with newcomers during the orientation and early dances to help integrate them into the community. No partners are needed, so come by yourself or with friends or with family. Events are accessible to people with disabilities. Potluck snacks are available at the break, and we encourage you to bring something to share.

Food and Drink

Hydration is important while dancing. Dancers are encouraged to bring their own water bottles.

Please bring snacks to share with the community. Dancers may eat in the area near the food table or outside. Please don’t spill food or water on the dance floor.

Contact: For more information, and lost and found, contact Laura Leonelli, 916-549-7093, or email sactocds@gmail.com. Our schedule of future dances is always available at https://sactocds.org/calendar/. You may join our email list on groups.io at https://groups.io/g/SactoCDS/. Please enter your name when joining.

Note: The location of the SCDS dance calendar has changed. If you subscribed to the calendar before January 1, 2023, please unsubscribe from that one and re-subscribe to the new one. On the Calendar page at https://sactocds.org/calendar/, you can subscribe to the calendar so the events show up in your personal Google calendar. Click the plus sign in the lower right hand corner. For iCal users, the link is https://calendar.google.com/calendar/ical/sactocds%40gmail.com/public/basic.ics. 

English Country Dance in Sacramento!

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The Sacramento Country Dance Society, building community through lively dances, live music, and friendly people, proudly presents:

Caller: Bruce Hamilton
Music: Quite Carried Away
Sound: Sue Jones and David Wright
Date: Sunday, December 21st (3rd Sunday, in Sacramento)
Time: 2:00-5:00 pm
Location: Young Ladies Institute (YLI), 1400 27th St, Sacramento, CA 95816
Cost: $15 for adults; $10 for college students with ID; $5 for dancers under 18; $30 maximum for families (cash or check)

Bruce Hamilton is a well-respected, thoughtful, and energetic teacher of English and Scottish dancing with 45 years’ experience. He has launched dance classes, trained teachers, coached performing groups, and adjudicated festivals.

A retired research scientist, Bruce is always looking for new ways to understand and present ideas for the dancer. Whenever he presents workshops, he weaves many conceptual threads besides dance technique and choreography into his lessons. Musicality, sociability, and physiology are his current favorites. People often say they come away with a different way to experience and think about dance. Occasionally he holds a weekend teachers’ class that also draws high praise. He continues to run a bi-weekly English dance class in the Bay Area. In the recent past, he was the president of the Country Dance and Song Society. With invitations to teach at many festivals and dance camps each year, he has taught workshops all around the United States and in the United Kingdom, Canada, Japan, and Australia.

Six musicians and friends under the direction of David Wright and Sue Jones. Just give them English Country Dance music to play, and they’re Quite Carried Away!

The members of QCA are (clockwise from upper right): Martin Lodahl (viola da gamba), Susan Jones (English concertina), Jane Kostka (whistle), David Wright (violin and mandolin), Arlene Jamar (piano), and Dick Holdstock (octave mandolin and tenor banjo).

Quite Carried Away is the home band for the English Country Dances.

As usual, beginners are welcome. If you are bringing, or know of any, first-timers, please urge them to come at 1:30 for the introductory workshop that precedes the dance. No partners are needed, so come by yourself or with friends or with family. While events at the Masonic Lodge are fully handicapped-accessible, events at the YLI are somewhat accessible to people with disabilities, but not perfectly. Ask for help within.

It’s always nice when folks bring snacks to share–please bring items that don’t require plates or utensils. Please bring your own water bottles.

For more information, and lost and found, contact Laura Leonelli, 916-549-7093, or email info@sactocds.org. Our schedule of future dances is always available at https://sactocds.org/calendar/. You may join our email list on groups.io at https://groups.io/g/SactoCDS/. Please enter your name when joining.

Food and Drink

Hydration is important while dancing. Dancers are encouraged to bring their own water bottles.

Please bring snacks to share with the community. Dancers may eat in the area near the food table or outside. Please don’t spill food or water on the dance floor.

Contra Dance, Second Saturday

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The Sacramento Country Dance Society, building community through lively dances, live music, and friendly people, proudly presents:

Caller: Mark Goodwin
Music: Clark Smith & Bob Wren
Sound: David Wright
Date: Saturday, December 13th, 2025 (Second Saturday)
Time: 7:00–10:00 pm, with newcomer’s orientation at 6:30 pm
Location: Coloma Community Center, 4623 T St, Sacramento, CA
Cost: $15 for adults; $10 for college students with ID; $5 for dancers under 18; $30 maximum for families (cash or check); If cost is the only thing preventing you from being there, please talk to the greeters at the door.

Mark Goodwin

Mark Goodwin began calling contra dance in Chico in 2001 and has called for local regional dances, including Nevada City and Newcastle. His aim is to call programs that bring everyone along for the ride, with dances that are memorable, have intuitive transitions, and weave familiar and interesting elements into a variety of dancer interactions.

Two string wizards, Clark Smith (guitar) and Bob Wren, always make for a great evening!

Newcomer’s orientation is offered at 6:40 pm, perfect for people who have not contra danced before, or who could use a refresher. Experienced dancers are invited to partner with newcomers during the orientation and early dances to help integrate them into the community. No partners are needed, so come by yourself or with friends or with family. Events are accessible to people with disabilities. Potluck snacks are available at the break, and we encourage you to bring something to share.

Food and Drink

Hydration is important while dancing. Dancers are encouraged to bring their own water bottles.

Please bring snacks to share with the community. Dancers may eat in the area near the food table or outside. Please don’t spill food or water on the dance floor.

Contact: For more information, and lost and found, contact Laura Leonelli, 916-549-7093, or email sactocds@gmail.com. Our schedule of future dances is always available at https://sactocds.org/calendar/. You may join our email list on groups.io at https://groups.io/g/SactoCDS/. Please enter your name when joining.

Note: The location of the SCDS dance calendar has changed. If you subscribed to the calendar before January 1, 2023, please unsubscribe from that one and re-subscribe to the new one. On the Calendar page at https://sactocds.org/calendar/, you can subscribe to the calendar so the events show up in your personal Google calendar. Click the plus sign in the lower right hand corner. For iCal users, the link is https://calendar.google.com/calendar/ical/sactocds%40gmail.com/public/basic.ics. 

English Country Dance in Roseville! Holiday Tea!

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The Sacramento Country Dance Society, building community through lively dances, live music, and friendly people, proudly presents:

Caller: David Newitt
Music: Quite Carried Away
Sound: Sue Jones and David Wright
Date: Sunday, December 7th, 2025
Time: 2:00-6:00 pm
Location: Masonic Lodge, 235 Vernon St., Roseville, CA
Cost: $15 for adults; $10 for college students with ID; $5 for dancers under 18; $30 maximum for families (cash or check)

Lise Dyckman

David Newitt arrived at Swarthmore College in the fall of 1976 and was shocked to discover that this pillar of higher education had a two year physical education requirement. Faced with the alternatives of being smashed to pieces on the football field and going to Folk and Square Dancing, the choice was clear. He’s been dancing ever since.

Starting with international folk dancing, he was soon dragged into the local Scottish Country Dance group, the college morris and rapper sword team, and, when it started in 1978, the Kingsessing Morris team of Philadelphia. He came to Berkeley in 1982 to work on a Ph.D.in physics and to do country and display dancing. Since the dissolution of the One Shot Morris Team due to MIBS (Morris Induced Baby Syndrome), he has concentrated on country dancing in the Bay Area, teaching and playing music for regular Scottish and English dances and calling contras and the occasional square dance.

When not dancing, David takes pictures of people’s insides, doing research in Magnetic Resonance Imaging at UCSF, specializing in body parts that start with B. David is one of the most accomplished country dance teachers in the Bay Area, known particularly for his mastery of dance geography and his ability to make complicated dances seem simple. David’s priorities can be guessed from the final acknowledgment in his dissertation, in which he thanks, “All my friends in various dance and music groups without whose continuing support I would undoubtedly have finished this dissertation several years earlier.”

Six musicians and friends under the direction of David Wright and Sue Jones. Just give them English Country Dance music to play, and they’re Quite Carried Away!

The members of QCA are (clockwise from upper right): Martin Lodahl (viola da gamba), Susan Jones (English concertina), Jane Kostka (whistle), David Wright (violin and mandolin), Arlene Jamar (piano), and Dick Holdstock (octave mandolin and tenor banjo).

Quite Carried Away is the home band for the English Country Dances.

This is our annual Holiday Tea! There will be a long break in the middle for us to sip tea (extended pinkie optional) and munch on the goodies we’ve all brought to share, and enjoy some brief presentations, while chatting with other dancers. How civilized!

As usual, beginners are welcome. If you are bringing, or know of any, first-timers, please urge them to come at 1:30 for the introductory workshop that precedes the dance. No partners are needed, so come by yourself or with friends or with family. Events at the Masonic Lodge are handicapped-accessible, through the elevator right inside the front door. Events at the YLI are somewhat accessible to people with disabilities, but not perfectly. Ask for help within.

It’s always nice when folks bring snacks to share–please bring items that don’t require plates or utensils. Please bring your own water bottles.

For more information, and lost and found, contact Laura Leonelli, 916-549-7093, or email info@sactocds.org. Our schedule of future dances is always available at https://sactocds.org/calendar/. You may join our email list on groups.io at https://groups.io/g/SactoCDS/. Please enter your name when joining.

Food and Drink

Hydration is important while dancing. Dancers are encouraged to bring their own water bottles.

Please bring snacks to share with the community. Dancers may eat in the area near the food table or outside. Please don’t spill food or water on the dance floor.