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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 43 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
The Solstice Sword Dancers are five members of the Bennett School of Irish
Dance: Beckee Laurie, Bill MacAlister, Katie Harty, Krystal Thompson, 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.
The Heritage Step Dancers were started by Molly Bennett in 1983. We perform more than fifty times throughout the year, at venues ranging from schools and nursing homes to two annual all-school events. For students interested in competing, we attend six local competitions every year and offer the opportunity to compete in out-of-state events. However, shows and competitions are not required, since we know that some students just like to dance for fun. We want every student to have a great experience.
We’re pleased to have the Heritage Irish Stepdancers at this year’s Winter Solabration. Visit their website here, or email them at HeritageIrish@gmail.com
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:
Susan Marie Frontczak, Storyteller / Maroon Bells Morris Dancers / The Solstice Sword Dancers / The Heritage Irish Stepancers / Chris Kermiet, Dance Caller & M.C. / Tina Fields, Guest Caller / This year’s band: Rodney Sauer / Julia Hays / Ed Secor / Top of Page
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.
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 The Buffleheads, Falcon Flight, The Coffee People and Trio Zorillo, 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.
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. Visit his web-site at mont-alto.com.
Julia Hays is from a family of musicians in the Boston area. She first came to Colorado to play in a festival, liked the place, and decided to stay. Her professional playing has included everything from symphony and opera orchestras to western trios, a few Celtic bands, her own jazz combos, and recording. Between one thing and another, she has played from Carnegie Hall to the Autry Museum in Griffith Park, Los Angeles, the Old Town School in Chicago, and in Kerrville, Texas. She spends most of her time teaching these days and loves it, but still keeps her hand in playing with a number of contra dance bands that perform in Denver and along the Front Range. She currently teaches at Swallow Hill.
A clarinetist since fifth grade, Ed Secor escaped the confines of classical music when a friend suggested he bring his clarinet to a contra tunes jam. While still playing in a classical chamber group and occasionally participating in the Denver-based Ambler Clarinet Choir, he has now been playing for Front Range contra dances, waltz nights, and other community dances for nearly fifteen years. Further expanding his musical horizons he also plays in a klezmer band. When not playing music, Ed amuses himself with carpentry and woodworking.