Port Angeles Contra Dance
At the Black Diamond Community Hall
2025 Contra Dance
Black Diamond Schedule
1/4/2025
The Contraband
Lindsey Dono calling
2/8/2025
Chicken Feathers
Joe Michaels calling
3/8/2025
Na Mara
Caller TBA
4/12/2025
The Contraband
Eric Curl calling
5/10/2025
The Canote Brothers
Laura Me Smith calling
6/14/2025
Band and Caller TBA
Dances held at
Black Diamond
Community Hall
1942 Black Diamond Rd.,
Port Angeles, WA 98363
2nd Saturday of every month
Free Lesson begins at 7pm,
Dance 7:30-10:30pm
Sliding Scale Admission
Adults $10-20
Under 18 1/2 price
Upcoming Events
Contra Dance, Saturday December 1st 2018
Laura Mé Smith
calling to
The Goldengems
Laura Mé Smith, has been calling since the 1980s (she emphasizes that she has not been calling since the beginning of time) Her succinct teaching and quick wit delight dancers near and far, young and old, brand new and experienced. Equally comfortable with contra dances, English Country dances, and squares, she’ll keep your toes tapping and your mouth grinning long after the band goes home.
find friendship through the music they share and a common love of beautiful, melodic, rhythmically interesting tunes. Their repertoire comes from a wide range of old and new music traditions including Old Time, Scandinavian, French Canadian, and the British Isles. They focus on harmony and twin fiddling (Channing Showalter and Annie Schermer) with rich and supportive rhythms on cello (Clea Taylor) and driving guitar (Sam Vogt). The 5 string banjo and melodica are also known to make appearances from time to time. The Goldengems are based in Northwest Washington and are named after a lovely golden apple.
Special Dance with George Marshall — Tuesday Nov. 13, 2018
Special Dance, Special Time 6:30 – 10:00 pm. The usual place: Black Diamond Community Hall
George Marshall is a full-time musician, caller and dance teacher from Massachusetts, touring nationally year-round. His specialty is teaching and calling the New England-style contra dances he has collected throughout the country. George is renowned for his knack of matching music to dance and for his smooth, concise teaching and presentation.
George always travels with a fantastic band. This year it is Buddy System — they play acoustic and electronic music for contra dances, techno contras, concerts, and festivals. Noah VanNorstrand (fiddle, mandolin, foot percussion) and Julie Vallimont (piano, accordion, jawharp) have taken the country by storm since they started performing together in 2014. They’ve played for dancers in more than twenty states, at some of the biggest dance festivals in the country.
Contra Dance Saturday, November 3rd 2018
Bob Boardman Memorial Dance and Potluck
Carol Piening
calling to
Possum Carvers
Carol Piening ventures forth from Olympia, Washington, to call dances around the Pacific Northwest. She’s been at it for twenty-some years, and likes to get dancers, both experienced and inexperienced, moving and having fun.
The Possum Carvers from Port Townsend have played for us many times. It’s always nice to dance to their music. They Scott Marckx on fiddle, Jeanie Murphy on banjo, and Chris Cooper on guitar. (Some instrument switching goes on, however.) They have all been playing old-time music for a combination of years that probably comes close to the century mark. They have been known to be hijacked by a certain bunch of contra and French tune-playing folks known as The Glutton-Free Loafers. They look amazingly like Scott, Jeanie, and Chris. They all live in Port Townsend. They enjoy themselves and we enjoy them.
Other Contra Dance Groups in the Region
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