Dinner to Support PICD

Have dinner with us!

We had a such a good experience hosting a fundraiser dinner at B.Good back in November of 2017 that we decided to have another in April of 2018.  We will be gathering at downtown Portland's B.Good restaurant on Exchange Street in the Old Port the evening of Wednesday, April 25, 2018 and enjoy some good food while raising money for PICD! A portion of all proceeds from food, beverage, and beer sold that evening will go to our dance, for orders between the hours of 6 and 9PM.

See you there!

The Pic'd Up Orchestra Has Room For You

Fearless Leader, Emily Troll, conducting The Pic'd Up Orchestra 12/14/17

Did you see the open band play on December 14, 2017 and think that maybe you'd want to try playing along next time?  Have you otherwise wondered how it feels to make that toe-tapping hollering music you hear every Thursday night?

Here’s your chance to get involved.

Open Band - June 14, 2018

Guitar - John Cote

Fiddle - Clara Stickney

Fearless Leader - Emily Troll

Other Instruments - YOU!

In an open band, everyone is welcome!

Seriously.

The goal is simply to have fun playing together for dancers. If you’ve been playing fiddle for two days, come and saw away on your D string. If you’re a more experienced player, come share your music with the community. A good time is guaranteed for all. 

A great open band has a diverse array of instruments. Fearless Leader, Emily Troll, would especially love to recruit some trombone and trumpet players, so please spread the word, even to your friends who don’t dance yet. Think outside the box.

And for those folks wanting a little preparation, we will have a practice party to get ready the week before, time TBA. 

So are you in? If so, please email Emily at etroll@wesleyan.edu for more information. 

PICD Prepares for Pride

HELP US PREPARE FOR ANOTHER AWARD-WINNING PRIDE PORTLAND PARADE FLOAT THIS YEAR!

Portland Intown Contra Dance is hosting a series of craft parties to prepare a float for the Pride Parade in Portland in June 2018.  We will have the supplies - just bring yourself and a snack!

Check the PICD event calendar for craft dates and locations.  We also share updates about craft nights in the PICD Facebook group.

In 2017, Portland Intown Contra Dance won the award for best music-themed float at the Pride Parade.  Let's win it again in 2018!

Reflecting on 2017.

2018 has big shoes to fill.

Wowee has it been a brilliant year of dancing, friendships, and growth! With your support and the help of many volunteers, 2017 saw:

• 60 dances hosted this year, even spreading the joy of contra in our city for free through our Friends of Congress Square Park summer series and the Pride parade
• New callers and a new sound technician trained and booked for evenings - and continued support of several emerging musicians and bands as they played our venue
• The artistic lives of 92 musicians and 28 callers supported
• The inaugural PIC'd Up Orchestra Open Band evening, which was a roaring success
• Experimentation with Advanced Contra dances to offer dance diversity and advanced skills
• A strengthened dance community and a tighter network in our broader community - bringing joy and a sense of belonging to many
• More dance managers trained (the folks who ensure each evening goes swell!)
• A new sound system, which has enabled us to both be more sustainable and support other series
• Support to the State Street Church, as they make much needed building repairs
• And more...

The PIC'd Up Orchestra, our open band

As 2018 rings the doorbell, we plan to open the door to be:

• Training even more callers, sound techs, and musicians
• Hosting more Open Band evenings
• Hosting a delightful 9-hour dance called The Portland Triple-Decker!
• Increasing minimum payments for performers, which makes us more sustainable as a series and allows us to contribute to the lives of artists even more
• Adding more volunteers to share the fulfillment of bringing a dance series to life, and pass on important community building skills
• Supporting a leadership conference hosted right here in Portland for dance organizers from across the country, so we can all learn from one another and add zest to many, many series
• Beginning preparations for a dance weekend!

We are grateful, grateful, grateful for YOU and all the ways you've made PICD happen - by dancing, by inviting friends and spreading the word, by volunteering, by being a leader in our community, by donating... YOU are PICD.

May you stay merry,
May you share joy,
May you give and receive charity,
and may you have endless nights of dance and song.

Happy New Year. We wish a bright and beautiful new year to you and yours!

Calling 101 Registration Opens

Registration is now open for Calling 101 on Saturday, December 2!  This class, taught by Dugan Murphy, is designed for experienced contra dancers with absolutely no experience calling contra dances.  

Whether you want to call dances yourself or just get a more rounded understanding of the contra dance experience, this class may be for you.

Click here to read more and to register.  Class size is limited to 9 participants, so register soon!

Calling students practicing with each other at the December, 2016 class

New PICD Open Band - YOU’RE invited!

Have you ever wondered how it feels to make that toe-tapping hollering music you hear every Thursday night? Here’s your chance to get involved.

Open Band - December 14th 2017

Piano - Neil Pearlman

Fiddle - Clara Stickney

Fearless Leader - Emily Troll

Other Instruments - YOU!

In an open band, everyone is welcome!

Seriously.

The goal is simply to have fun playing together for dancers. If you’ve been playing fiddle for two days, come and saw away on your D string. If you’re a more experienced player, come share your music with the community. A good time is guaranteed for all. 

A great open band has a diverse array of instruments. Fearless Leader, Emily Troll, would especially love to recruit some trombone and trumpet players, so please spread the word, even to your friends who don’t dance yet. Think outside the box.

And for those folks wanting a little preparation, we will have a practice party to get ready the week before, time TBA. 

So are you in? If so, please email Emily at etroll@wesleyan.edu for more information. 

Cultivating Callers.

Learning how to call is as easy as 101, 102, 103...

For the last year, Dugan Murphy, contra dance caller, has been working with PICD to cultivate a pool of well trained, enthusiastic callers. More than 35 local folks have taken the Calling 101 class, and so far, the following emerging callers have taken the stage here in Portland:

Jeannine Ameduri
Gretchen Carroll
Sonja Birthisel
Dela Taylor
Krysten Raymond
Gawain Thomas
Annabel Dryden
Nancy Kierstead
Alison Stevens
Shari Shakti
Erin St. Peter
Joel Peck
Elsa Rowe
Nevin Brackett-Rozinsky
Jonathan Freedner
 

We're really proud of these people for their bravery, enthusiasm, and grit. Some of them are now calling full evenings in venues throughout New England! (Great job, everyone!)

If you're curious about what's been happening here in Portland, or what the class entails, the latest edition of the Country Dance & Song Society's quarterly News publication featured an article Dugan wrote describing Calling 101 in detail (full PDF). You can also check out his website for more resources.

Elsa Rowe practicing at a Calling 101 class.

What's next? As these folks develop, you'll see them booked for full nights in Portland and, we're sure, in other venues in Maine and beyond. To offer further support, this Fall Dugan is hosting a Calling 102 session for developing callers and he's designing a Calling 103 to be held next year.

The PICD community has been so welcoming and supportive as these individuals learn. Thanks for your rumbling applause and many warm pats on the back!

Happy Anniversary!

PICD is officially a 1-year old!

On June 9, 2017, we got together (many of us in fancy dress!) to celebrate this holy-mackerel of a community that has formed in the last year. So, what were we celebrating? The loving, generous people who make up this community. And, some of our major accomplishments from our first year as a series:

And who do we have to thank for so much of this goodness that's been growing?

View fullsize

Soooo many people contributed to creating PICD in the last year that we almost ran out of space to write names! If you've given your time, talent, energy, space, resources, joy, verve, or your everything to PICD, we thank you from the bottom of our hearts.

We have great memories from the evening of revelry. Here are a few highlights:

As for *next* year, PICD is looking forward to bringing to life some community desires, including beginning to plan a dance weekend (yes! you heard that right!), as well as offering more monthly opportunities to dance creatively by learning style tips, flourishes, and advanced choreography. We'll keep cultivating new and emerging callers, and we might even kick off opportunities to host open band nights.

If you have ideas about what would make our second year great, or if you want to volunteer, get in touch with Dela at dela@portlandintowncontradance.com.