In 2019, the first year that FootFall Dance Weekend and World Village Music and Dance shared space, Jamie Platt and I agreed to try something we weren’t sure would work. We agreed to plan the Sunday night Dance Party as a celebration of every type of workshop either group had scheduled. (There’s an old joke about someone asking a hot dog vendor for a Zen hot dog. “A what?” “A Zen hot dog — make me one with everything.” So I call it the Zen Dance.)

Much to our delight, the Zen Dance Party was a great success, creating a crossover event that emphasized the cultural community of which we all are part, and we are planning to do the same this year. We expect to have contra, balfolk, English Country, Greek and Balkan dance, along with Georgian, Bulgarian, and Ukranian singing. It’s a challenge for The Sound Guy to set up and switch all the bands, but the result is a spectacular spectrum of live music.

(And for you contra nerds — and I KNOW you are out there — I will see about a one-hour techno contra from 11:30-12:30. No promises, but I’ll do my best.)