PORT ANGELES — Into the January cold come a band and dance caller who know how to warm the space: Gallimaufry, a group of Irish and old-time musicians, plus caller Lindsey Dono, together at the Black Diamond Community Hall this Saturday night.
This is an extra contra dance, added to the usual first-Saturday event that took place last weekend, but it has a similar pattern.
A half-hour workshop — for beginners and anyone who likes a little review — starts at 7:30 p.m. at the venue at 1942 Black Diamond Road.
Then the band steps up to play from 8 p.m. until 11 p.m., all for one admission price.
That’s $8 for adults and $4 for those 17 and younger, or dancers can bring finger-food snacks to share during the break.
The Gallimaufry band, featuring fiddler and singer Brian Lindsay and Alex Sturbaum on guitar, vocals and accordion, formed at Ohio’s Oberlin College in 2010 and has been bringing people onto dance floors across the country since.
While the group’s sound has its old-time flavors, Gallimaufry arrangements often incorporate elements of rock and funk, according to www.gallimaufrymusic.com.
“[This] will make you want to do nothing but dance,” the players promise.
Now a five-piece outfit, Gallimaufry includes drummer Ness Smith-Savedoff, pianist-trumpeter-banjo man Arthur Davis and cellist Donal Sheets.
The group is busy in the Northwest these days, having just played a New Year’s Eve dance in Bellingham; a New Year’s Day event for the Emerald City Contra Dance bunch in Seattle; a dance last Saturday in Portland, Ore.; a library concert in Bellingham on Tuesday; and the Lake City Contra Dance in Seattle on Thursday.
Dono, for her part, is a caller known for both her serene teaching and sunny demeanor, according to the Folklore Society of Corvallis, Ore., where she’s worked.
A transplant from Massachusetts where contra dancing is big, Dono is at home with beginners as well as advanced dancers, the society writes on its website.
For more about the Port Angeles contra dances, visit www.blackdiamonddance.org or phone co-organizer Tom Shindler at 360-457-5667.
The next first-Saturday dance, set for Feb. 6, will feature caller Michael Karcher and the Red Crow band.
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Features Editor Diane Urbani de la Paz can be reached at 360-452-2345, ext. 5062, or at diane.urbani@peninsuladailynews.com.
