October Dance 2025

Dereck Kalish, Craig Edwards, Cathy Mason, and Henry Yoshimura after the October 11 Worcester Contra Dance.

The second Worcester contra dance of the 2025-26 series at the Wesley United Methodist Church was held October 11.  Dereck Kalish called the dances to the music of the Dead Sea Squirrels, consisting of Cathy Mason, Craig Edwards, and Henry Yoshimura.

The October dance had a smaller group of 44 dancers, representing a wide range of ages.  It was a particular joy to see children participating, demonstrating the wide range of ages that dancing can appeal to.  

The next Worcester Contra Dance will be November 8, 2025 at Wesley Methodist Church, 114 Main St.  Joy Factor will play the music, and Paul Wilde will call the dances.  As a reminder, our times have changed.  Beginners’ lessons will be at 6:45pm, and the dance will be from 7-10pm.

Dances from the Saturday, October 11, 2025 Dance:

  1. Contra: “Easy Peasy” (Diane Silver)
  2. “Frederick Contra” (Tom Hinds)
  3. Contra: “You Can’t Get There From Here” (Linda Leslie)
  4. Contra: “Get Me Going” (Lisa Greenleaf)
  5. Contra: “To Turn a Page” (Bob Issacs)
  6. Contra: “Tica Tica Time” (Dean Snipes)
  7. Waltz: “Chère joues roses”

Break

  1. Contra: “Rock Creek Reel” (David Harris)
  2. Contra: “Friday Night Fever” (Tony Parkes)
  3. Contra: “United We Dance” (Bob Issacs)
  4. Contra: “Hocus Pocus” (Lisa Greenleaf)
  5. Contra: “20 Below” (Bill Olsen)
  6. Waltz: “Halfway Pond”

First dance of the new season – September 2025

After a summer break, Worcester Contra Dance happily returned to Wesley United Methodist Church on Main Street September 13 for our first dance of the 2025-2026 season.  Don Veino called the dances to music played by Accentricity, consisting of Paul Lizotte and Carol Bittenson fiddling, and Debby Knight on piano.

Our Saturday night event had 54 dancers.  Our earlier start time does not seem to have deterred our established regulars, who were ready for another year of dancing.  We also welcomed many new dancers, with caller Don Veino and all the dancers happy to teach and guide.  It is also worth noting the large and growing group of students from Clark University, who continue to bring more and more dancers.

We are looking forward to our next dance, with Dead Sea Squirrels playing and Dereck Kalish calling.  The dance will be Saturday, October 11 at Wesley United Methodist Church, 114 Main St, Worcester.  As a reminder we have changed the time of our dances this year;  the dance will be 7-10pm, with beginners’ lessons at 6:45.

Dances from the Saturday, September 13, 2025 dance:

  1. Contra: “Greeting”
  2. Circle Mixer: “Trip to Hollywood”
  3. Contra
  4. Contra: “Purple Haze”
  5. Contra: “Pumpkin Spice Madness”
  6. Contra: “Golden Ticket”
  7. Waltz

(Break)

  1. Contra: “Box the Cat”
  2. Contra: “After the Solstice”
  3. Contra: “Matt Just in Time”
  4. Contra: “Old Time Elixir"
  5. Contra: “New World Festival Reel”
  6. Waltz

The two waltz tunes played were “Emma’s Waltz” and “Haapavesi.”

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