Contra Dance Musicians Course

This intensive class with Countercurrent will focus on learning to play in a way that maximizes the incredible potential of a dance band to create a musical experience that is essentially a collaboration with the entire dance hall. By building and using a musical toolkit that dancers can connect with and respond to, we can shape and utilize the energy in the room in incredible ways, all while playing the tunes we love to play. Essential elements to this task include:

• Being able to lock into various rhythmic grooves
• Being responsive to what one hears from other musicians and the dancers themselves
• Techniques for introducing variety to an intrinsically repetitive musical experience
• Methods for using all the arrangement tools available to you in bands of different sizes
• Ways of thinking through the arc of a single dance, and the arc of a whole evening of dancing

We will focus specifically on playing for contra dancing, although some skills learned in this class will be transferable to other types of dance accompaniment.

Participation is limited to 20.

This course is intended for intermediate to advanced musicians; participants should already be able to play several tunes at contra dance tempo. Music will be provided in advance, both as sheet music and in recorded form. We will not spend time in class teaching tunes.

We’ll meet for two hour-long periods each day. The rest of the day and evening, you’ll have full access to Dance, Music & Spice Week.

To improve our mastery of each of these elements, we will do quite a lot of playing, both in small groups and as a large ensemble. There will be exercises that expand our understanding of what it means to play rhythmically, trial and error to explore how to mold our playing to the dancers’ choreography, discussion of different types of arranging, and experimentation with improvisation. Melodic and rhythm instrumentalists will have chances for break-away sessions with Alex and Brian to talk about the skills specific to those roles.

Come expecting to listen a lot—to each other, to your own playing, to live music during the week, and to recordings from a variety of contra dance bands. Don’t be surprised if you’re asked to dance every so often. It is our goal that through listening and experimenting with new skills and ideas, every participant will be able to approach the tunes they love with more confidence, breadth and joy.

The course is taught by Alex Sturbaum and Brian Lindsay of Countercurrent.

Countercurrent is a powerhouse acoustic folk duo based in Olympia, Washington, featuring driving guitar, lyrical fiddle, harmony vocals, and foot percussion.Bringing the deep drive of dance music to every performance, their arrangements blend both traditional and modern influences with astounding musicianship and fluency. They have achieved nationwide acclaim for their high-energy style, which draws on deep traditional roots from Ireland and North America while incorporating new influences to create a sound that is at once unique and timeless. A repertoire of songs that includes potent contemporary anthems, trad ballads, old-time hollers, and biting political content leaves no room for boredom. Alex’s driving guitar and gifted songwriting, Brian’s lyrical fiddle and rock-solid foot percussion, and the duo’s lively interplay, tight vocal harmonies, and unstoppable groove make a Countercurrent performance an event unlike any other. Wherever they go, the question remains the same: “How does that much sound come from just two people?”

Alex Sturbaum (they/them) is a one-of-a-kind performer. Steeped in musical traditions from both sides of the Atlantic, they are equally comfortable performing for dancers in a crowded grange hall, singing original songs at an intimate house concert, belting out sea shanties at a pub sing, or playing bluegrass music at a festival. Alex’s love for the music and joy in performing it is evident in every note they play. Alex grew up in Cincinnati OH, on the banks of the Ohio River. Born into a musical household, they soon fell in love with the jigs and reels of Irish and Scottish music, the sea songs of the Canadian maritimes, the fiddle tunes and ballads of Appalachia, and more. Alex studied at the Riley School of Irish Music in Cincinnati before attending Oberlin College, where they began playing music for contra dances and never looked back. When not performing music, Alex also organizes community music events, produces albums for other musicians, teaches lessons on many instruments, and enthusiastically educates friends about marine biology.

Brian Lindsay (he/him) has been dancing since he could walk, singing since he could speak, and holding a fiddle to his chin for most of his life. Surrounded by both contra dance and Irish music and dance throughout his childhood, Brian spent much of his youth going to sessions in the NY area and studying with respected Irish fiddle player Brian Conway. An accomplished performer and Mid-Atlantic Irish Fiddle champion by the age of 17, Brian has also finds the influences of many other musical styles and traditions make their way into his playing. The dynamic, living tradition of contra dance embraces the new and the old, and the creativity in Brian’s playing draws on both a wealth of traditional influence and an enthusiasm for new things. Brian is also an accomplished and sensitive sound engineer, both for recording and live sound applications, and provides live sound support for concerts and festivals across the Pacific Northwest. He lives in Pierce County Washington, and sometimes finds time outside of music to pursue his passions for farming, woodworking, and rock climbing.

Camp fees cover all accommodation, meals from dinner on the arrival day to breakfast on the departure day, and all of the various dance, music, and song events in the program. 

This year, all of our weeks have sliding scale pricing for adults to help make camp financially accessible to more people. The fee you choose will not affect your chance of getting into camp.

How it works:

• The standard camper fee covers program staff pay and travel costs, facility fees, and all of the other costs associated with running this camp week.
• The higher price options allow you to add an additional amount to your registration fee to help make camp more accessible to more people. Thanks for supporting this community!
• If the standard camper fee doesn’t work for you, no worries! Feel free to choose one of the lower price options.
• If the lower price tiers still leave camp out of reach for you, we encourage you to apply for a scholarship and/or work exchange. See our Scholarships page for more details

You can find more information about the registration process here.

If the course is oversubscribed on March 9, there will be a lottery for admission, with some preference given to CDSS Members and applicants supported by their local community through priority admission nominations and/or matching scholarships. A CDSS Affiliate can vouch for a participant by nominating them for priority admission and/or offering funds for a matching scholarship. This kind of community support lets us know that the applicant would benefit the local community by attending the course! Matching scholarship funds are reserved for those with financial need.

To register, please log into CDSS Commons, or visit our registration page for more information.