The first FootFall Dance Weekend was in 2007, at Timber Ridge Camp in High View, West Virginia. It began as a successor to American Dance Weekend at Buffalo Gap, which ended in 2006.
Each year we were at Timber Ridge we picked a color (reflected in badges, mugs, and bling) and featured a quote.
September 7-9, 2007. Bands: Crowfoot and Footloose. Callers: Cis Hinkle and Ron Buchanan. Color: Orange. Cup quote: “To watch us dance is to hear our hearts speak.” Hopi Indian saying.
September 5-7, 2008. Bands: Hotpoint Stringband and Elixir. Callers: Kathy Anderson and Nils Fredland. Color: Red. Cup quote: “There is a bit of insanity in dancing that does everybody a gread deal of good.” Edward Denby
September 11-13, 2009. Bands: Notorious and Contrazz. Callers: Lisa Greenleaf and Robert Cromartie. Color: Metallic green. Cup quote: “There are shortcuts to happiness and dancing is one of them.”
September 10-12, 2010. This was the year we added a third band for English Country Dance (ECD). Melissa Running has been FootFall’s ECD caller almost every year since 2010. Bands: Night Watch (ECD); The Contraptions and The Love Mongrels (contra). Contra Callers: Adina Gordon and Bob Isaacs. Color: Purple. Cup quote: “A contra dance is an amusement park ride we make for ourselves.”
September 9-11, 2011. Bands: Perpetual E-motion (contra), Green Light Karma and Nor’Easter (ECD and contra). Contra callers: Diane Silver and Seth Tepfer. Color: Yellow. Cup quote: “We do not always dance because we are happy, but we dance and cannot help but become happy.”
September 7-9, 2012. Bands: Atlantic Crossing (contra), The Latter Day Lizards and London Porter (contra and ECD). Contra callers: Beth Molaro and Will Mentor. Color: Blue. Cup quote: “Never give a sword to a man who can’t dance.” Confucius, The Analects.
September 6-8, 2013. Bands: Mean Lids and Sligo Creek Stompers (contra), and KGB (ECD). Contra callers: Bev Bernbaum and Rick Mohr. Color: White. Cup quote: “Life is short, and there will always be dirty dishes, so let’s dance. “ James Howe
September 5-7, 2014. Bands: Escape and Sassafras Stomp (contra), and Goldcrest (ECD and contra). Contra callers: Shawn Brenneman and Joseph Pimentel. Color: Rainbow (we used up all of the leftover cups from previous years).
September 11-13, 2015. Bands: The Stringrays and The Free Raisins (contra) and Trio Con Brio (ECD). Contra callers: Janine Smith and Luke Donforth. Color: Turquoise. Cup quote: “The one thing that can solve most of our problems is dancing.” James Brown
September 9-11, 2016. Bands: Pete’s Posse (contra), Frost and Fire and Triple Helix (contra and ECD). Contra callers: Sue Rosen and George Marshall. Color: Silver. Cup quote: “We’re fools whether we dance or not, so we might as well dance.” Japanese proverb.
September 8-10, 2017. Bands: Frog Hammer and Buddy System (contra), and Old World Charm School (ECD). Contra callers: Gaye Fifer and Bob Isaacs. Color: Green. Cup quote: “Nobody cares if you can’t dance well. Just get up and dance.” Dave Barry
September 7-9, 2018. CANCELED. Our plans were for Carol Ormond and Ted Hodapp to call to music by The Ripples, Shandy, and the Organic Family Band. Unfortunately, Timber Ridge Camp abruptly and permanently closed, and therefore we cancelled our 2018 plans.
August 31- September 2, 2019. World Village Music and Dance Camp, which had been held over Labor Day weekend for many years, agreed to share a new venue — Camp Louise — with FootFall Dance Weekend. This was the year we switched to Saturday morning arrival and check-in — since it’s a 3-day weekend. Bands were The Ripples, Tea and Honey, and The FootNotes; callers were Gaye Fifer and Ted Hodapp. With the new location and a larger dining hall, we decided to distribute the leftover travel mugs and stop using them.
2020. The year of the Covid pandemic. The Camp never opened to summer campers, and both FootFall and World Village Music and Dance were cancelled.