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The Historic Jonesborough Dance Society will hold its next dance Saturday, Nov. 7, at the Historic Jonesborough Visitors Center, with a beginners' class at 7 p.m. and the dance starting at 7:30.
(Contributed / Historic Jonesborough Dance Society)

Contra Cowboys lead the way at Saturday's dance

By Contributed to the Press

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The Historic Jonesborough Dance Society will hold a contra dance on Saturday, Nov. 7, at the Historic Jonesborough Visitors Center, 117 Boone St. Performing for the dance will be the Contra Cowboys from the Tri-Cities area.

The caller will be Asheville’s Anne Marie Walter. There will be a class for beginners at 7 p.m. The dance will run from 7:30-10:30 with a waltz break at 9.

Admission to the dance is $7, $5 for HJDS Members and $4 for students. No partner is necessary. All dances are taught by the caller. The event is smoke- and alcohol-free and family-oriented. Klondike Bars are served at the break.

Contra dance is one of the best ways to interest and initiate people into folk dance. Interest in dance in general is widespread in the Tri-Cities region because of programs aired on public television and the very popular TV hit, “Dancing with the Stars.” For most everyone who tries, contra dance is simple and easy to learn.

If you have a good caller, they’ll start the evening with dances with simple but fundamental formations that emphasize a few basic rules which include listening to the music and following the steps that are taught. After a couple of walk throughs, you just dive into the dance.

“We have been drawing many beginners lately of all ages,” event organizer David Wiley said. “It’s a real challenge for the caller, but they manage to make the dance happen very quickly. This further illustrates how contra dance converts just about anyone to a folk dancer in short order.”

The Contra Cowbowys are in their second year of delighting dancers on the contra dance circuit. Each member of this group has years of experience playing for dancers and listeners alike in a wide variety of musical styles and venues.

Joel Keebler is featured on upright bass and melodica, and will be familiar to many as the bassist for the popular contra dance ensemble Dot Dot Dash. He has been an enthusiastic member of the dance community for a number of years now. He currently resides in Mendota, Virginia, where he helps count hawks during their migration, from the nearby fire tower, and thoroughly enjoys the country life. Virginia Highlands Community College in Abingdon is where he plies his profession, teaching horticulture.

Mike Knowles, of Johnson City, is featured on guitar, mandolin and the occasional vocal. You may recognize him from his participation in the local Jonesborough dance scene, for the last two years. He has spent much time pursuing different musical interests and paths, including a summer attending every old time festival and competition in the area. Currently performing with the New Orleans rhythm and blues outfit The Mudbugs on piano and vocal, Knowles also has been employed in a 10-piece band on a cruise ship. Several other bands have included his guitar and vocals, including Matrix, the Groovemasters and the Normaltones.

Sid Jackson rounds out the trio on banjo. He makes his home in Piney Flats and makes dance hall appearances with the Ransom McCoy Band. He also has many years and genres of musical experience, including rock ’n’ roll in the 1950s, folk music in the ’60s and bluegrass in the ’70s and ’80s. He and Knowles first got together to pick fiddle tunes nearly 30 years ago. Jackson also performed with the Rainbow Valley Boys, the Cherokee Mountain Boys and Snake and the Grass. Along the way, he found some time to play Dixieland, hot jazz and teach mathematics.

For more information, call Wiley at 913-3246 or visit www.historicjonesboroughdancesociety.org or HJDS on Facebook.