Downtown Amherst Contra Dance

09/15/2026

Come celebrate our anniversary with a fantastic night of contra dancing! We’ll have treats at the break to share 🎉

This month features TWO fabulous callers, Luke Donforth and Zach Miller, as well as excellent live music by a pair of talented musicians from the band Good Company:
🎻 Rohan Weedon (fiddle)
🎹 Sammy Wetstein (piano)

WHEN:
Wednesday, September 16
7:00pm intro lesson
7:30pm - 10:00pm dance (with a short break in middle)

WHERE:
Pacific Lodge Hall, 99 Main St, Amherst, MA 01002

COVID precautions:
- Masks are recommended, but not required.
- Windows will be open, with box fans for increased ventilation.
- If you have any symptoms, please stay home and rest, and we will see you next dance.

COST:
🎵 $15 - $20 general
🎓 $10 - $15 students (right now we have many prepaid tickets for Five Colleges students — show your student ID at the door and you’ll get in FREE!)
⭐️ FREE for volunteers: email [email protected]

First-time dancers will now pay to attend 7:00pm lesson and dance, and get a come-back-free coupon!

No one will be turned away for lack of funds — ask about the Dancing for All Fund at the door.

Please bring your own water bottle and a pair of soft-soled shoes!

08/19/2026

Join us this Wednesday for a great night of dancing!

The talented Quena Crain calls to hot tunes by a powerhouse pair of musicians (you may know them from the iconic band Stove Dragon):
🎻 Rose Jackson (fiddle)
🪕 Oliver Scanlon (mandolin, fiddle, feet)

WHEN:
Wednesday, August 19
7:00pm intro lesson
7:30pm - 10:00pm dance (with a short break in middle)

WHERE:
Pacific Lodge Hall, 99 Main St, Amherst, MA 01002

COVID precautions:
- Masks are recommended, but not required.
- Windows will be open, with box fans for increased ventilation.
- If you have any symptoms, please stay home and rest, and we will see you next dance.

COST:
🎵 $15 - $20 general
🎓 $10 - $15 students (we have a limited number of free admissions for Five College students... arrive early and ask!)
⭐️ FREE for volunteers: email [email protected]

First-time dancers will now pay to attend 7:00pm lesson and dance, and get a come-back-free coupon!

No one will be turned away for lack of funds — ask about the Dancing for All Fund at the door.

Please bring your own water bottle and a pair of soft-soled shoes!

07/13/2026

!!UPDATE!!
Unfortunately, due to high air quality index from Canadian wildfire smoke, we regretfully need to cancel tonight's dance. :(

We look forward to seeing uou in August!

Join us for an excellent evening of dancing! We’ll have hot tunes and cool treats

Daniel Levitin calls to live music by the dynamic duo:
🎻 Becky Miller (fiddle)
🎹 Carol Compton (keyboard)

WHEN:
Wednesday, July 15
7:00pm intro lesson
7:30pm - 10:00pm dance (with a short break in middle)

WHERE:
Pacific Lodge Hall, 99 Main St, Amherst, MA 01002

COVID precautions:
- Masks are recommended, but not required.
- Windows will be open, with box fans for increased ventilation.
- If you have any symptoms, please stay home and rest, and we will see you next dance.

COST:
🎵 $15 - $20 general
🎓 $10 - $15 students (we have a limited number of free admissions for Five College students... arrive early and ask!)
⭐️ FREE for volunteers: email [email protected]

First-time dancers will now pay to attend 7:00pm lesson and dance, and get a come-back-free coupon!

No one will be turned away for lack of funds — ask about the Dancing for All Fund at the door.

Please bring your own water bottle and a pair of soft-soled shoes!

07/10/2026

06/15/2026

We dance on the third Wednesday of every month!

This month, Hannah Chamberlain visits us from Maine to call to a dynamic duo of:
🎻 Eileen Kalfass (fiddle)
🪕 Larry Unger (banjo, guitar)

WHEN:
Wednesday, June 17
7:00pm intro lesson
7:30pm - 10:00pm dance (with a short break in middle)

WHERE:
Pacific Lodge Hall, 99 Main St, Amherst, MA 01002

COVID precautions:
⚠️⚠️ NEW ⚠️⚠️ Masks are recommended, but not required.
Windows will be open, with box fans for increased ventilation.
If you have any symptoms, please stay home and rest, and we will see you next dance.

COST:
🎵 $15 - $20 general
🎓 $10 - $15 students (we have a limited number of free admissions for Five College students... arrive early and ask!)
⭐️ FREE for volunteers: email [email protected]
⚠️⚠️ NEW ⚠️⚠️ First-time dancers will now pay to attend 7:00pm lesson and dance, and get a come-back-free coupon!

No one will be turned away for lack of funds — ask about the Dancing for All Fund at the door.

Please bring your own water bottle and a pair of soft-soled shoes!

05/16/2026

Join us this Wednesday in Amherst for a great evening of dancing! Please note this dance is MASK-OPTIONAL.

Sue Gola calls to amazing music by Crossover Trio:
🎻 Carol Bittenson (fiddle)
🎹 Alex Cu***ng (keyboard & accordion)
🪈 Len Bittenson (fiddle & recorder)

WHEN:
Wednesday, May 20
7:00pm intro lesson
7:30pm - 10:00pm dance (with a short break in middle)

WHERE:
Pacific Lodge Hall, 99 Main St, Amherst, MA 01002

COVID precautions:
⚠️⚠️ NEW ⚠️⚠️ Masks are encouraged, but not required.
Windows will be open, with box fans for increased ventilation.
If you have any symptoms, please stay home and rest, and we will see you next dance.

COST:
🎵 $15 - $20 general
🎓 $10 - $15 students (we have a limited number of free admissions for Five College students... arrive early and ask!)
⭐️ FREE for volunteers: email [email protected]
⚠️⚠️ NEW ⚠️⚠️ First-time dancers who attend 7:00pm lesson get a come-back-free coupon!

No one will be turned away for lack of funds — ask about the Dancing for All Fund at the door.

Please bring your own water bottle and a pair of soft-soled shoes!

04/17/2026

tldr: The Amherst Contra is piloting 2 policy changes starting at our next dance (May 20):
1) Masks encouraged, rather than masks required
2) First-time dancers get "Come back free" coupons, rather than free admission

Full message:
--------------------------------
To our dancing community,

Thank you to everyone who filled out the Amherst Contra survey earlier this year, giving feedback on our masking requirement at the Downtown Amherst Contra Dance!

Considering both the community's feedback as well as our financial situation, your DACD committee has unanimously decided to pilot two changes to our dance policies:

1) We are piloting a policy of "masks encouraged" at our dances, rather than "mask required."
- We will continue to look for other ways to mitigate disease risk at our dances, including good hall ventilation whenever possible. - Rest assured we did not make this difficult decision lightly -- we appreciate and respect the variety of thoughts that have been expressed. We've made our decision taking these thoughts into account, along with the science and other factors of our dance series.
- As we have done for the past six years, we commit to continuing to monitor and evaluate the disease risk -- as well as continuing to monitor our community's sentiments.

2) First-time dancers attending our lesson will receive "Come back free" coupons, instead of free admission to their first dance.
- Many other dance series have found this incentive structure to work well.
- As always, any dancer has the option to use our Dancing For All Fund to cover or supplement their admission.

We will be piloting both of these changes beginning with our next dance on May 20, 2026.

Our website and advertising will be updated with these changes soon, but please help us get the word out!

With love,
Your Downtown Amherst Contra Dance committee
(Robbin D, Moe I, Liz N, Len B, Julian B, Hannah J, Gumby F)

04/13/2026

Join us in Amherst for a fabulous evening of contra!

Our own Hannah Johlas calls to tunes by the talented duo Mo & Michael:
🎻 Mo Brachfeld on fiddle
🎸 Michael Solomon’s on guitar

WHEN:
Wednesday, April 15
7:00pm intro lesson
7:30pm - 10:00pm dance (with a short break in middle)

WHERE:
Pacific Lodge Hall, 99 Main St, Amherst, MA 01002

COST:
🎵 $15 - $20 general
🎓 $10 - $15 students (we have a *limited number* of free admissions for Five College students... arrive early and ask!)
⭐️ FREE for volunteers: email [email protected]
💖 FREE for first-time dancers who attend 7:00pm lesson

No one will be turned away for lack of funds — ask about the Dancing for All Fund at the door.

COVID precautions:
N95 or equivalent mask required, worn snugly unless taking a sip of water. Windows will be open, with box fans for increased ventilation. If you have any symptoms, please stay home and rest, and we will see you next dance.

Please bring your own water bottle and a pair of soft-soled shoes!