From the Mic  By  cover art

From the Mic

By: Mary Wesley CDSS
  • Summary

  • Host Mary Wesley takes you behind the caller's mic to explore perspectives from the people who choose to stand in that curious place between the band and a roomful of dancers. Featuring conversations with callers of American social dance forms (contras, community dances, trad squares). Why do they do it? How did they learn? What is their role, on stage and off, in shaping our dance communities?
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Episodes
  • Episode 24 - Rick Mohr
    May 23 2024

    See the From the Mic website for great bonus content, including pictures and audio, transcripts, and more. Click here to download the transcript directly.

    And the Country Dance and Song Society for information about Contra and English country dance across the continent

    Sound bites featured in this episode (in order of appearance):

    • Rick calls his own dance, Rick's Triplet #1 at the 2011 Chattahoochee Country Dancers Au Contraire November Dance Festival in Atlanta, GA to the music of Crowfoot (Adam Broome, Jaige Trudel, and Nicholas Williams)
    • Rick calls the dance Tica Tica Timing by Dean Snipes at the 2015 Flurry Festival with music by the Great Bear Band, (Andrew VanNorstrand, Noah VanNorstrand, Kim Yerton, Rebecca Bosworth-Clemens, and Dana Billings)

    Other links:

    • Once you've listened to Rick on this podcast, go check him out on his own podcast! Rick hosts and produces the Northwest Philly Neighbors podcast where he interviews, you guessed it! His neighbors!
    • Explore dances written by Rick here and find lots more goodies on his website.
    • Learn about the By-Ear Open Band
    • And for all you dance card enthusiasts, thanks to Rick for sharing the fruits of his epic internet search for heavier weight index cards!
    • Lastly - how cool is the World of Tessellation Art that Rick made!?
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    1 hr and 41 mins
  • Episode 23 - Cis Hinkle
    Apr 5 2024

    See the From the Mic website for great bonus content, including pictures and audio, transcripts, and more. Click here to download the transcript directly.

    And the Country Dance and Song Society for information about Contra and English country dance across the continent

    Sound bites featured in this episode (in order of appearance):

    • Cis calling the dance Reel to Reel by Cary Ravitz with music by Barefoot (Ed Howe and Jamie Oshima) at the 2015 - Atlanta Dance Weekend with the Chattahoochee Country Dancers
    • Cis calling a square dance with music by The Figments (Ethan Hazzard-Watkins, Owen Morrison, and Anna Patton) at the 2023 Epicenter Contra Dance Weekend in Mill Valley, California.
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    1 hr and 21 mins
  • Episode 22 - David Millstone
    Mar 1 2024

    See the From the Mic website for great bonus content, including pictures and audio, transcripts, and more. Click here to download the transcript directly.

    And the Country Dance and Song Society for information about Contra and English country dance across the continent

    Sound bites featured in this episode (in order of appearance):

    • David calling a variation on the dance "California Twirlin" by Janet Levatin at to the music of Nova at the Ottawa Contra dance on April 28, 2016.
    • David calling the singing square dance "Deep in the Heart of Texas" to the music of the Stringrays at the 2013 Dance in the Desert weekend near Tuscon, AZ.

    More from David

    • David's work as a documentarian is prolific! Be sure to check out these links mentioned in the interview:
      • The Square Dance History Project
      • A Hand for the Band
      • Find MUCH more on his personal website
    • David has also presented for groups all over the country, both in person and online. Check out these recordings:
      • Country dance in Modern Times: Squares, ECD, and Contras in Post-WWII America
      • Contra Dance in Modern Times: 75 years of change in post-WWII America
      • Contra Chestnuts: A New Look at Old Dances
      • Square Dance: An American Medley (for the Country Dance and Song Society)
        • Session 1 – historic roots
        • Session 2 – Northern and Southern
        • Session 3 – Western and modern
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    1 hr and 40 mins

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