chesapeake community dances

For Immediate Release

Contact: Busy Graham

410-745-5654 / 301-466-0183 cell

busygraham@gmail.com

Carpe Diem Arts, in partnership with St. Michaels Community Center & St. Michaels Studio,

presents

Chesapeake Community Dance in St. Michaels

featuring

The Off’n Ensemble

Laura Brown, caller

Saturday, March 27, 2010 ~ 7 pm

Christ Church Parish Hall

103 Willow Street / St. Michaels, MD

Enjoy a memorable evening of live music and dancing with friends and family: circles, squares, line dances and contras on Saturday, March 27 at the spacious and welcoming Parish Hall of Christ Church, 103 Willow Street in downtown St. Michaels.

The acclaimed Off’n Ensemble will be providing the dance music, accompanied by one of the most sought-after dance callers in the region, Laura Brown -- back by popular demand for the Chesapeake Community Dance.

All ages are welcome. No need to bring a partner. Arrive anytime and stay as long as you like. No experience necessary. A professional dance caller will lead the way. Those who want to watch from the sidelines and enjoy the music are also welcome. The last part of the evening (8:30-9:30) will feature more advanced dances.

FOR LOCAL MUSICIANS (teens and adults) – there will be an open band session 7-7:30 pm (and again at the end of the dance) -- for anyone who plays an instrument and would enjoy the opportunity to play some tunes in an ensemble setting. (Arrive 6:30 for warm-up before dancing starts at 7pm). Visit www.CarpeDiemArts.org to download tunes and practice in advance. Please encourage your musician friends to give it a try. The tunes are great fun to learn and sound even better with a band!

Admission to the dance is on a pay-what-you-can basis, less or more, to help pay the musicians’ fee and travel. Any net proceeds will go to support arts programming in area schools and under-served communities. Suggested donation: $7 adults, $3 students. Refreshments provided.

The Off’n Ensemble plays the traditional music of New England, Appalachia and Ireland for dances, parties, weddings, civic events and festivals along the Mid-Atlantic region from Washington to Boston. The band features Heidi Hammel on hammered dulcimer and concertina, Steve Smith playing guitar and saxophone, and Bob Yarbrough on wooden flute, tin whistle, banjo and bodhran. Heidi, Steve and Bob have been performing together as Off’n Ensemble since 1991. For the March 27 dance, they are joined by Elliott Schmuckler on upright bass.

The most striking instrument in the Off’n Ensemble lineup is Heidi’s hammered dulcimer. The hammered dulcimer has many strings stretched across a trapezoid-shaped body. Heidi hits the strings with small ‘hammers’ that she holds in her hands to make the haunting sounds of the instrument. ìThe hammered dulcimer is the grandmother of the piano,î says Heidi. The origins of the hammered dulcimer are murky, but most believe that the instrument originated in the Middle East in the early part of the last millennium. Hammered dulcimers under various names are part of the folk music traditions of many places, including China, the Middle East, Europe and the United States. Heidi discovered the hammered dulcimer shortly after returning from a year teaching English in China in 1979.

Also of interest is Bob’s bodhran. The bodhran is an Irish drum – a wooden frame covered by a goat skin. Bob plays the bodhran with a two-ended ‘tipper’ or beater. Said Bob: “The best thing about the bodhran is how expressive it is. By pressing on the back of the drum head, the player can draw a wide range of sounds from the instrument.” Bob’s flute is unusual too. It is a ‘simple system’ wooden flute based on the ‘concert’ flutes of the early 19th century, before the modern silver flute was developed. ìIrish flute music developed using the old style flutes,” said Bob. “The simple system flutes achieve sounds that are very difficult, if not impossible to obtain on a modern flute.” Bob discovered Irish music from the record rack in his local bookstore at a small town in Kentucky in the late 1970s.

Steve Smith was an early member of the ‘Spuds’ contradance orchestra. In addition to his work with Off’n Ensemble, Steve enjoys playing in jazz and big bands. Elliott Schmuckler is a classically-trained bassist and provides the heartbeat of the Off’n Ensemble sound. He plays the bass in several community orchestras and is an avid hammered dulcimer player, as well. He frequently performs on the dulcimer during Media's 2nd Saturdays. In un-real life, he is a dentist.

The Chesapeake Community Dances are sponsored by Carpe Diem Arts Productions, in partnership with St. Michaels Community Center and St. Michaels Studio – and are made possible in part by the generosity of Christ Church in providing the dance hall.

For more info visit CarpeDiemArts.org or contact BusyGraham@gmail.com or 410-745-5654 or 301-466-0183 cell. View footage on YouTube from one of our past dances: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=hXN_hNLtTCo

TUNES TO LEARN FOR THE OPEN BAND SESSION ON MARCH 27, 2010, 7pm

(first half-hour of dance) and again at the end of the dance, to include the closing waltz.

Musicians: Please arrive for tune-up and short practice as close to 6:30pm as possible.

Leitrim Fancy / Smash the Windows: http://freepdfhosting.com/9776752e9b.pdf

St. Anne’s Reel / Arkansas Traveler: http://freepdfhosting.com/d39a3d2846.pdf

Kitchen Girl / Cold Frosty Morning: http://freepdfhosting.com/b75bd876eb.pdf

Ootpik Waltz: http://freepdfhosting.com/5ce0a09ac1.pdf

THE OFF’N ENSEMBLE: Left to right: Heidi Hammel on hammer dulcimer and English Concertina, Bob Yarbrough on wooden flute, banjo, whistle and bodhran, Elliott Schmuckler on upright bass, Steve Smith on guitar and saxophones.

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Scenes from the Chesapeake Community Dance in St. Michaels.

Photo credit: John K. Johnson, MidShoreLife.com

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RECENT ARCHIVES

TUNES FROM NOVEMBER 28, 2009 OPEN BAND SESSION with STEVE HICKMAN & JOHN DEVINE, DELAURA PADOVAN, CALLER

Jamie Allen (G major) -- polka

Sheet music: http://freepdfhosting.com/839d97d1e0.pdf

Video: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-ntO1YrtVnM

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=GBuM8yGg2nw&feature=related

Bay of Fundy (D major) -- reel

Sheet music: http://freepdfhosting.com/6e664b432e.pdf

Video: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-UhMkMOXYV0 (You can watch the teaching of it on another link too)

Dusty Bob (G major) -- jig

Sheet music: http://abcnotation.com/tunePage?a=www.thursdaycontra.com/_spuds/tunes/jigs/alljigs/0021

Video: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v FNlHiFGmM

The ABCnotation.com site includes link to a rather slow midi (audio) file of this, which you can slow down even further by clicking on "Now Playing" in Windows Media player and changing the speed.

Lanigan's Ball (E minor) -- jig

Sheet music: http://freepdfhosting.com/a52ea98a0d.pdf

Star of the County Down -- waltz

Sheet music: http://freepdfhosting.com/49dbb9f028.pdf

Midi file option: http://www.thesession.org/tunes/display/9747

includes a slow midi file again...see “Dusty Bob” instructions for slowing it down to a crawl to learn it.

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TUNES FROM JANUARY 23, 2010 DANCE WITH ANDREA HOAG AND CHARLIE PILZER,

JANINE SMITH, CALLER

Bonnie Breast (C major) -- reel

Sheet music: http://freepdfhosting.com/43255b55cc.pdf

Jack Robinson (G major) -- reel