CANCELLED DUE TO SNOW
Alas, the really big snowstorm has brought to naught all of our planning efforts and the willingness of hundreds of volunteers to participate. We'll leave up the information below, so you can see what Mother Nature is forcing all to miss.
The annual mid-winter shindig known as the FSGW Mini-Fest will be held at the Takoma Park Middle School, 7611 Piney Branch Road, on Saturday, February 6, 2010 from noon until 10:30 pm. Once again this year FSGW features two simultaneous all-day dance tracks and seven workshop and performance sites, so find that calendar and save the date! Ticket prices are listed above. They may be purchased through the website in advance, or at the door.
Click here to see the less-tentative-than-it-was-yesterday schedule, in black and white. A not-to-scale (SUCH an understatement) schematic of the school is here.
And here is the schedule in color. With, of course, a matching color schematic here.
The date and time the schedules were most recently updated is in the lower left-hand corner. It will be updated as additional details become available -- the folk process at work -- but we anticipate that changes will be minor. For additional detail, including live links (where available), scroll down.
Hallways and Lobby.
Perhaps we should warn you.... ahem. Perhaps we should mention that Morris Dancers and Rappersword groups infest.... ahem...appear unexpectedly. They dance in the hallways 2008 Photo here. And here. And here. 2009 Photo here. And they dance outside, weather permitting. 2009 photo here. And here. And here. They often wear bells, so sometimes you can hear them coming. You can run, but you cannot hide.
FSGW encourages those who play instruments to bring them along. One of the real delights every year is hearing music being made in stairwells and at the end of corridors. In fact, we encourage these ad hoc jams by putting extra chairs in appropriate spots. 2008 Photo here.2009 Photo here. And here.
Retail therapy will be available. CDs and musical instruments will be available for sale in the Cafetorium, and craftspeople will have tables in the corridor near the main lobby. Click here. And here. And here.
This year the corridors will resound with participatory change-ringing with handbells, taught by Jenny Foster from 3-5 pm. No experience necessary.
All 2008 and 2009 photos are courtesy of Steve Tuttle (thanks, Steve!), of Tuttle and Tuttle Photography.
Daytime Dance Tracks
Noon to 6 pm
Main Gym: The day begins with an hour of English Country Dance (Jane Austen fans take note!), with caller Michael Barraclough. Starting at 1, Lisa Brooks will teach Swedish Hambo (frequently played at the top of the second half at contra dances) for an hour, and then Linda Brooks and Ross Schipper will unlock the mysteries of Norwegian Telespringar (dance like a Viking!!). Both of these fascinating Scandinavian specialties feature seriously cool music on seriously weird fiddles. For the Hambo workshop, we anticipate three Swedish nyckelharpas (nyckelharpii?) played by Bruce Sagan, Melissa Running, and Sonia White. The Telespringar workshop will feature Vilde Aaslid on the Hardanger fiddle, or Hardingfele, which has a set of bowed strings atop another set of strings which provide a hauntingly beautiful echoic sound. At 3, local favorite Ann Fallon will call a Barn Dance to rollicking music by AP & The Banty Roosters. No partner needed, just show up and join in. At 4, Kim Forry and Jan Scopel will take over and show you how to scoot, shuffle, chug, and brush -- Clogging 101, also with AP & The Banty Roosters. At 5, Jamie Platt aka The Sound Guy will teach wonderful Macedonian dances to mesmerizing music by Luk na Glavata.
Aux Gym: Contras and squares all day long, beginning with an introductory workshop at noon, and continuing until 6 pm. Scheduled callers include Dave Colestock, Perry Shafran, Janine Smith, and Ron Buchanan. If you'd like to call a dance, please note that this year FSGW will include a one-hour open mike from 5-6.2009 Photo here
Evening Contra Dance
7:30 to 10:30 pm
Main Gym:
A fabulous evening of dancing to the Capital Quickstep Quadrille Orchestra. The Quicksteps played at Glen Echo for many years, featuring sets that mixed ragtime, TV tunes, traditional folk, hot swing, and classical music. They have reunited, and are cooking up new arrangements. This fourteen-piece band has flute, clarinet, sax, trumpets, trombone, cello, bass, guitar, fiddles, keyboard, and drums. To call this ensemble a Wall of Sound is no exaggeration. They will rock the roof off the gym! Our caller for the evening is the ebullient Ron Buchanan, whose intricate and delightfully quirky dances are cherished by dancers all over the country.
Daytime Cafetorium Performances
Noon to 6 pm -- six hours of wonderful music, thanks to Mini-Fest Co-Chair, Charlie Baum (thanks, Charlie B!).
*Influenced by bluegrass, country, blues, and gospel, Dead Men's Hollow draws its influences from bluegrass, country, blues and gospel, and features tight three-part female harmony vocals backed by fiddle, upright bass, and guitar.
* At 1, the Blue Moon Cowgirls --a trio of shimmering female voices (Anne Porcella, Karen Collins, and Lynn Healey) blend front-porch directness with neon-lit sophistication as they sing about home and highways, heaven and honkytonks, heartbreak and hope.
*Skiffle bands (also called washboard or jug bands), have a long and interesting history in American music. This year we feature TWO jug bands, back to back (or do we mean head to head?). First Razz'm Jazz'm -- aka "The New Sunshine Skiffle Band" or "Crazy Old Coots," will cook up an hour of familiar tunes with some unexpected instrumentation and orchestration. Then the ever popular All New Genetically Altered Jug Band will try to out-skiffle the competition. Dueling washboards at 40 paces from 2 to 4 pm!
*Marimba Peque?a Internacional is a family ensemble, founded in 2004 to share the beautiful traditional music of Guatemala, and featuring hand-built wooden marimba. The Saraceno family has performed at the embassies of Guatemala, El Salvador, and Israel.
*Closing out the daytime performance track in the Cafetorium are long-time favorites the Capitol Hillbillies, master musicians offering New Orleans jazz, blues, and more on piano, harmonica, horns, bass, and fiddle, along with some very fine vocals.
Evening Cafetorium Concert
7:30pm to 10:30 pm
Divas with Distinction-- four performing groups each featuring a woman whose vocal style is perfect for her genre--
*Sheryl Sears is a "blues chanteuse" who nails the essence of her songs in the tradition of great women blues singers. She sings with her trio, who back her up on guitar, bass and harmonica with a combination of jazz and blues influences.
*Linda Rice-Johnston is the voice of Fynesound, performing Celtic music, with special emphasis on Scottish culture. Fiddle, Celtic harp and cello weave rhythmic tunes, and their ornaments are often reflected in the singing tradition as well.
*Tzvety Weiner grew up in a musical family in Bulgaria, and sings with Lyuti Chushki, our local Balkan band that allows her to celebrate her native musical heritage and singing style.
*Martha Burns fell in love with "the high lonesome sound" of old-timey music and has recently teamed up with veteran performers Bruce Hutton and Chris Romaine to form Wheat Straw, an Old-Time concert troupe, where her unusual voice is just right for their traditional American repertoire.
Classroom Workshops and Performances
American Roots ? Room 104
FSGW is delighted to welcome Scott Prouty as programmer of this track (thanks, Scott!). Scott has won the West Virginia State Folk Festival fiddle contest and taught fiddle at the Augusta Heritage Center. He will kickstart this track with a performance by his group Greasy String, playing old-time music. Next up is Hibernian Cold Front, playing very hot Irish music; then Stripmall Ballads and the bluegrass group The Extension Agents. From 2 pm until 3:30 are discussions and demonstrations of technique for fiddle and banjo -- approximately 45 minutes each. Then at 3:30 Greg Adams will repeat his fascinating Roots of the Banjo. 2009 Photo here. And here. Old-time fans will want to stick around. The last three groups in this track are Wheatstraw -- also performing at the evening concert (see above); Paul Brown; and The Hoover Uprights.
Workshops/Performance ? Room 108
Linda Goodman, an FSGW Board member, is programmer of both Room 108 and Room 118 (thank you twice, Linda!).
Room 108 opens with Rick Franklin, who has been playing and singing Piedmont blues since 1981. Next is a one-hour workshop on fingerstyle acoustic guitar technique for the right hand, Barely Basically Right by Carl Zebooker, intended for musicians of all skill levels. Sedenka, a wonderful Balkan group, will perform at 2. Then there's a half-hour close-harmony workshop led by the fabulous musicians of Dead Men's Hollow. At 3, a Mini-Fest favorite -- the doo-wop workshop, led by Flawn Williams, long-time coordinator of Vocal Week at Augusta Heritage Center. 2009 Photo here. At 4 it's Boys Night Out, followed by Windy Run and Neil Harpe.
Traditional Song ? Room 114
Lisa Null, who programmed this track (thanks, Lisa!), starts the day off with songs to stir the heart and soul (and voice -- many have choruses). Next up is Julia Friend, a fine singer of traditional songs, occasionally with banjo accompaniment. George Stephens fills the next half-hour with his big and beautiful voice. Peter Brice, convener of Baltimore's Singer's Club, sings Irish songs with mastery. At 2, Jennifer Woods (long-time layout artist for the FSGW Newsletter) and Bob Clayton will present a participatory one-hour history song workshop, followed by Andy O'Brien, one of the area's most entertaining singers of Irish song. At 3:30 Dan Milner and Bonnie Milner (of The Johnson Girls) make a rare joint appearance. Dan's specialty is rare Irish-American songs, and Bonnie is a rollicking chantey singer. At 4, Kathy Westra sings old and new songs in a sweet and true voice. Charlie Baum (best known for producing FSGW events) takes time out to sing songs you've never heard before. The track ends with an hour-long participatory ballad workshop taught by the incomparable Judy Cook, whose knowledge of folk songs is legendary.
Workshops/Performance ? Room 118
The six-piece Ash Grove Players will begin with a one-hour concert of Scandinavian dances, swing, and old-time tunes. Then some acoustic blues in the "house party" tradition, courtesy of The Social Ramble. Next up is Ian Walters on piano. At 2 pm it's The Harley String Band in concert -- three good-humored singer/songwriters who play Irish Bouzouki, guitar, banjo, violin, harmonica, accordion and Native American flute. Two vocal groups will be featured next. First is Slaveya, the Bulgarian word for "nightingale" -- an enchanting women's vocal ensemble specializing in East European a capella folk music. The group will start with a half-hour concert and then lead participants in a workshop, making music as colorful as their costumes. 2009 Photo here. And here. Latvian song is next on the bill, provided by Sudrabavots. Their songs -- some are a thousand years old -- are steeped in an earth-friendly and feminine-centered spirituality -- the use of song to quell disharmony. Finally, a group devoted to 60s and 70s folk songs, Kensington Station, provides a final one-hour concert.
Storytelling -- Room 122
FSGW sponsors a monthly storyswap, and Mini-Fest is proud to offer a full 6-hour track of storytelling again this year. 2009 Photo here. Tim Livengood, this year's Storytelling Program Chair (thanks, Tim!) will bookend this track at noon and 5:30. Featured tellers include:
*The young but talented Twinbrook Tellers (in two sessions, at 12:30 and 2:30);
*Ralph Chatham (Tales from Togoland) at 1 and Margaret Chatham (The Boy and the Troll) at 3;
*Lauren Martino (Lauren Martino) at 1:30; Grace Min and Kat Cook (Kat with Grace) at 4:30; and
*Vera Oy? Yaa-Anna (Turn Around and Meet the King) at 2; Anne Sheldon (Up the Irish!) at 4, followed by Jane Dorfman (Sometimes a Story Finds You) at 4:30, and Linda Goodman(Scenes from a Dim, Smokey Past) at 5.
Ticket Prices:
Day PLUS Evening (noon to 10:30 pm)
FSGW Members: Adults $14, Children 6-12 $6, Family Maximum $43
Non-members: Adults $18, children 6-12 $8, Family Maximum $55
Day (noon to 6 ONLY) or Evening (6 to 10:30 ONLY)
FSGW Members: Adults $8, Children 6-12 $4, Family Maximum $25
Non-members: Adults $12, Children 6-12 $5, Family Maximum $37
What is Family Maximum? -- this rate allows parents and their children to attend for one affordably capped admission price. A family of four can attend for slightly less than four individual tickets would cost them, and there is no additional fee for any additional child.
