September 4 is on the horizon when we can get "back in the swing" of in-person square dancing. Meanwhile, you can join Catskills Folk Connection's in-depth talk by Jim Kimball revealing his intimate knowledge of traditional music and dance from Geneseo to the Catskills. It will take place on Wednesday, July 28 at 7 pm, presented by Catskills Folk Connection's series "Catskills Folk Lyceum."
The talk is free and the link is https://us02web.zoom.us/j/4140851861
The meeting ID is 414 085 1861, in case you need it and the link is also on our FaceBook page.
"Old time Music and Dance in Rural New York" is the second in a series of free on-line talks about traditional music and dance presented by our Catskills Folk Lyceum series. The talk will be given by Jim Kimball who teaches at SUNY Geneseo and has made a study of historical and current music and dance traditions in central and western New York State, and as far east as the Catskills. His presentations are spiced with entertaining and informative quotes from newspapers and other publications; from diaries, tune books and dance cards in his collections; and from interviews with living tradition bearers who play and call for traditional dances in western New York. Here's a newspaper article about young people enjoying riding to a dance in the 1870s:
DANSVILLE ADVERTSER FEB.1 1877
On Friday evening last, a party of 24 young ladies and gentlemen seated themselves in a huge sleigh box on a pair of bobs and started for Mt. Morris in merriest mood. Arriving at Mt. Morris at 8:30, they stopped at the Eagle Hotel, and half an hour afterwards were enjoying one of [Mr.] Scoville's best suppers. . . .and at 10, commenced keeping time with dancing feet to the good music of Sedgwick's fiddle, assisted by McArthur and Chilson of Mt. Morris. They were assisited in this delightful amusement by another sleighing party from Geneseo. The dancers were not ready to start for home until 4 a.m. Saturday and looked somewhat weary when they rode into Dansville at 7 a.m.
Jim Kimball teaches music history, world music and folklore, and directs the Geneseo String Band in the Music Department at SUNY Geneseo. He plays several traditional instruments, including fiddle, button accordion and concertina, calls square dances and frequently lectures on many musical subjects. Jim has collected tunes and stories from several old time musicians and callers, written articles and performed in museum venues where he specializes in 19th century popular and folk music traditions. The Geneseo String Band is made up of SUNY Geneseo students, alumni and local residents and plays a variety of old-time American popular and folk music, especially music that is characteristic of central and western New York.
Join us on Wednesday, July 28, at 7 p.m. to learn more about the history of traditional music and dance in upstate New York and to see and hear Jim Kimball’s collection of traditional music recordings, publications and diaries from the rich heritage of traditional music and dance in rural New York. The free talk will be presented live on Zoom, Meeting ID 414 085 1861. The link is https://us02web.zoom.us/j/4140851861 For more information contact Ginny Scheer, folklorist, at 607-326-4206 or gscheer.mcs@gmail.com.
If you also receive Catskills Folk Connection's e-blast, your e-mail provider may be marking it as "spam." So check there if you think you've missed an e-mail and if possible notify Catskills Folk Connection about the problem at gscheer.mcs@gmail.com. Thank you.
Coming Up from Catskills Folk Connection:
- The third talk in this Catskills Folk Lyceum series will take place on August 25 at 7 p.m. In "Diversity in Square Dancing" Tony Parkes will talk about African and African- American influence on square dancing and square dance calling, and he will share his research about past and present participation in square dancing by communities of color in North America and from the Caribbean to the Arctic Circle!
- On September 4 at Dirty Girl Farm in Andes, we are presenting our first in-person square dance with the Tremperskill Boys, John Jacobson and Dane Scudder calling. Buffet dinner at 6 pm or earlier and dancing at 7 p.m. On a wooden dance floor under a tent. Watch here for exact times, location and Covid precautions.
- Catskills Folk Connection is planning several in-person square dances this fall, Covid permitting. These may be as often as every two weeks! If Covid restrictions return, we may be able to present a socially-distanced concert by the square dance band.
- If you attend Andes Community Day on August 14 you may find members of the Tremperskill Boys playing pop-up sets of tunes. Still tentative.
Catskills Folk Connection is sponsored by the Roxbury Arts Group and is funded in part by the New York State Council on the Arts, by Action and Vision Grants from HumanitiesNY, by Gov. Cuomo and the NYS Legislature, and by the O'Connor Foundation.
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