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Storysmith® Susan Marie Frontczak brings literature
to life, 
creates
stories from thin air, and hones personal experience into tales worth telling
again and again. Her stories and living history presentations have taken her to schools, libraries, corporations, and theaters across 42 of the United States as well as Europe.
Susan's original stories have been heard on Colorado Public Radio (Morning Edition), at the Colorado Music Festival Young People's Concert, through Story Gleaner productions, and on her CD "The
Three Fishes & Other Stories." Susan Marie’s motto is: "Give
me a place to stand, and I will take you somewhere else." More at www.storysmith.org.
The Maroon Bells Morris Dancers
Maroon Bells is the oldest of the morris teams now dancing in Colorado. We’ve been kicking up our heels, and jingling a few bells, since 1982 – long enough for some of our offspring to grow up and join the team. Our dancers come from towns along the Front Range and many walks of life. All are welcome to join us, particularly for our new dancers class each fall. We perform locally, at festivals and for special events, as well as a few more distant spots, e.g., Red Lodge, MT, the U.S. Midwest, and, every decade or so, in England. If you’d like to join us, please contact Squire Rowan Sauer for more information, or visit us on the web at: maroonbellsmorris.org
Gaitani is a bulgarian dance group located in Denver Colorado under the direction of Stoyan Getsov. Stoyan graduated from the Bulgarian National School of Dance Art and the Bulgarian National Institute of Choreography.
For more information, contact Stoyan Getsov.
Susan Marie Frontczak, Storyteller / Maroon Bells Morris Dancers / The Solstice Sword Dancers / Gaitani / Chris Kermiet, Dance Caller & M.C. / Patricia Danscen, Guest Caller / Tina Fields, Guest Caller / Rodney Sauer / Top of Page
The Solstice Sword Dancers are five members of the Bennett School of Irish
Dance: Beckee Laurie, Bill MacAllister, Katie Harty, Hanna Condor, and Molly Bennett, . As exciting as Irish
dancing can be, the intricate interlacings
of rapper swords adds a whole new dimension to their dancing experience.
Their practices have become one of the premier spectator events at the
Friendship Irish Dance Center, since nobody can believe that anyone
could extricate themselves from the complex tangles of steel that are
the heart of rapper sword figures. They always do, however, like so
many armed Houdinis, ready to go into the next impossible tangle and
amaze everyone by emerging unscathed.
See them on YouTube.
With Deb Carstensen on fiddle. Specializing in Celtic music, Deb is known throughout the Colorado Front Range for her passionate, fiery fiddling. She played classical violin up until college and, after taking a long break from the instrument, took it up as a "fiddle" and has been playing and performing folk music ever since. She has studied Irish and Scottish intensively and is expert in playing both for dancing and performance. More about Deb at debcarstensen.com
Rodney Sauer & the Buffleheads (including Joel Hayes, and Ed Secor)
Rodney Sauer has been playing piano and accordion for square and contra dances since the mid-1980’s, almost exclusively along the Front Range of Colorado. He has contributed powerful rhythmic accompaniment to such bands as Deb and the Pariahs, The Buffleheads, Falcon Flight, and Prairie Dog Picnic, as well as popular duets with fiddlers Eric Levine, Sandra Wong, and Elizabeth Wood. He has also been the long-time accordionist for the Maroon Bells Morris Dancers.
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His interest in dance music led him to create the Mont Alto Ragtime and Tango Orchestra in 1989, which has developed into one of the world’s pre-eminent silent film orchestras. His most recent endeavor is the Coffee People! (And who doesn’t love Coffee!) Visit his web-site at www.mont-alto.com.
Joel Hayes’ life as a fiddler began when he took up the violin in grade school, but then it stalled in the seventh grade. Years later, while attending the 1989 Walnut Valley Festival in Winfield, Kansas, he was inspired by the music of Doc Watson and the bands Hot Rize and New Grass Revival.
The next year of his life was pivotal musically. While living in Lawrence, Kansas, he picked up the fiddle and also discovered contra dancing! When he moved to Greeley, Colorado, in 1991, he began taking fiddle lessons from violinist and fiddler Eric Levine. He attended the “Berea Christmas Dance Week” in Kentucky where Gib Gilbert, the host at the time, nudged him into playing for the late night contra dance (his first!). Not long after that, Joel joined an open mike night at a Denver Contra Dance hosted by fiddler Anita Dolan. On stage with him were musicians Deb Carstensen, Tina Gugeler, Denise Berg and John and Susan Reading. Several of those musicians, including Joel, formed the great band Contrafusion.
His mentors include Eric Levine and Old-Time fiddler Dave Brown. Joel has become one of our “crossover musicians,” able to play both New England and Old-Time musical styles. In his day job, Joel is a lawyer for people with disabilities.
Ed Secor learned to play the clarinet in fifth grade band, which proved fortunate years later when he found himself on the stage instead of the dance floor at a contra dance; having a clarinet in his hand at least made him look like he belonged there. Apparently the dancers were okay with his defection, as he has for the last five years been on stage with several Front Range contra dance bands more than he has been dancing. His career recently went international with a command performance at Istanbul’s Attaturk airport at 2 am. Not content with being a starving musician, Ed makes his living as a carpenter and construction project manager.
Chris
Kermiet has been calling and teaching traditional American
community
dances for over forty years and is recognized as one of the finest callers
in the United States. In 2000, he received the Heritage Award/2000 Artist
Fellowship from the Colorado Council on the Arts for calling and teaching
traditional American dance, as well as the Westword Best of Denver Award
for Best Dance Caller. In 2009 he was honored as a "Living Legend of Dance"
by the Carson-Brierly-Giffin Dance Library at the University of Denver. His video interview can be
viewed here. During the last ten years, as well as being in
demand as a caller and teacher of traditional dance, he has created choreographies
for a number of performing groups and theater companies.
Chris grew up with traditional dance. His father, Paul Kermiet, was one of Colorado's premier old
time callers, and ran a summer dance camp on Lookout Mountain where Chris heard the
best callers from around the country. He learned from all of them, and
it shows in his teaching and calling, his broad repertoire and familiarity
with traditional dance, and the way he puts new dancers at ease.
He calls at numerous events across the Front Range.
Visit his web-site.
He has also been posting his poems on-line at poemofthemonth.us for the past seven years.
The January, 2021, poem-of-the-month is:
Patricia Danscen’s contagious smile and energetic whimsical calling spread the passion of dance wherever she goes. Her clear and concise teaching and welcoming smile will engage both new and experienced dancers and keep them dancing all night long! Patricia’s repertoire includes contras, squares, circles, and traditional reels. She has called dances throughout Colorado and in several other states.
In addition to calling, Patricia plays double bass and guitar, and performed with a clogging troupe for 12 years. Her passion for dance and music is evident as she hosts jams, co-organizes community dances, and leads dance workshops.
"I absolutely love seeing people smile and having a great time on the dance floor!"
Tina Fields calls contra and other traditional American "barn" dances,
with the goal of creating maximum joy. She is known for her effervescent sparkle, great sense of timing, clear projection, singing style, patience with new dancers, collaborative way of working with bands, and comfortable humor. Tina brings day job skills as a college professor to her dance teaching. She is also a singer, myth-loving storyteller, and ceremonial facilitator. She has been on staff for various dance camps as both contra caller and songleader. More at Tina’s website.
Tina recently published an article chronicling some of her family elders’ involvement with square dancing in the 1950’s rural west. Read it here: http://www.cdss.org/programs/cdss-news-publications/cds-online/square-dance