Vancouver, BC Contra Dance

Name: Vancouver, BC Contra Dance
Start: 2025-10-04T18:00:00-07:00
Location: Elgin Hall

Schedule

Sat, 04 Oct, 2025 at 06:00 pm

UTC-07:00

Location

Elgin Hall | Surrey, BC

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Dust off your dancing shoes and your favorite dish! You're invited to our first-ever harvest contradance potluck featuring the fantastic Ground Effect with callers Katie Pinter and Leslie Bishko. It's going to be a-maize-ing!
Saturday, October 4th at Elgin Hall, 14250 Crescent Road in South Surrey
Outside contra tunes Jam 4:30-6:30 weather permitting
Doors open: 6:00
Table set-up: 6:00 (VOLUNTEERS APPRECIATED!)
Potluck: as soon as tables are set up – about 6:15
Dance: 7:30 - 10:30
Admission: Cash only at the door, $20; first-timers, $15 for students with ID, and after-the-break, children are free
Dances taught on the spot, newcomers always welcome, no partner needed.
Soft-soled shoes, light clothing, and water bottles recommended. Please come fragrance-free.
Weather permitting, musicians welcomed for a free pre-dance jam 4:30-6:30pm! Relaxed tempos, tunes from the Portland Collection books plus other dance favourites. Contact Konstantin at [email protected] or text 604-221-2312
Caller: Katie Pinter
Katie Pinter (she/her) is an emerging contra caller based in Burnaby, BC, on the unceded traditional territories of the Musqueam, Squamish, and Tsleil-Waututh Nations. She began dancing in 2018, first falling in love with contra and quickly discovering a passion for other social partner dances too. Curious about the art of calling, Katie began her contra calling journey in September 2023.
Caller: Leslie Bishko
Leslie started dancing contras and squares at the Big Scioty Barn Dance in central Ohio. She arrived in Vancouver on New Year’s Eve, 1992. After landing in June Harmon and Michael Dyck’s living room to ring in the new year, she found herself contra dancing at the Wise Hall 2 nights later. Along with Dieter Brock, Leslie graduated from the Marian Rose School of Creative Calling in 2000, but her calling career was cut short due to an ankle fracture. Oy vey, that ankle took too long to heal, but once it did, Leslie returned to the contra dance, and has since rekindled her dance calling practice, which she finds the perfect compliment to her movement analysis work and teaching animation at Emily Carr University as well as her Flamenco dancing!
Band: Ground Effect: Prairie Wolfe (fiddle and percussion)/ Claire McCague (woodwinds) / Sky Leuba (piano and concertina).
In flight, a ground effect is the added lift an airplane receives when it flies close to the ground. Ground Effect is a Vancouver-area trio shaking up the local contra dance scene with driving rhythms, eclectic tunes, and irresistible energy. Their music is rooted in tradition—-drawing from Irish, Scottish, French Canadian, and New England influences-—with room to spare for playful improvisation and memorable originals.
Since debuting in 2022, Ground Effect has become a fixture at Vancouver Country Dance Society events, performed at the Mission Folk Music Festival and the MacLean Park Music Dance Party, and played for private dances. Whether you're new to contradance or have well-worn soles on your dance shoes, this energetic ensemble promises to lift you off your feet.
Asian Canadian fiddler Prairie Wolfe has a rhythmic, driving style honed through two decades of performance on a variety of stages. Most recently, she has also performed with singer/guitarist Chika Buston and step-dance and crankie troupe Podorythmie.
On saxophone and recorder, Claire McCague brings a bold, melodic voice to the group. Claire is a veteran of Ontario’s dance scene, and is a current member of Vancouver's Sybaritic String Band.
Rounding out the trio is Sky Leuba, blending jazz-inspired harmonies with a deep love for traditional dance music on piano and concertina. An alum of Capilano University's jazz studies program, Sky has been performing, dancing, and organizing in the Pacific Northwest contra dance community from a young age.
Future Dances: Oct 18, Nov 7, Nov 15, Dec 20