Date: June 14th 2008

Dear Dancers:

We thought we'd remind you, as you start planning vacation dates and allocating precious leave time, that it's not too early to mark your calendars for FootFall, September 5-7, 2008. That's right. Eighty-two days from now, the second annual FootFall Dance Weekend will fill Timber Ridge Camp, in High View, West Virginia, with fabulous music, exhilarating callers, enthusiastic dancers, and entertaining workshops.

Our committee feels incredibly lucky to have booked two of the very best contra bands in the country for FootFall 2008. First, from Athens, Ohio, the powerful and energetic Hotpoint Stringband will make us all go "wooo!" This Midwest "gang of five," a favorite at many dance weekends, pours everything they have into making dance music. Mark Burhans on fiddle, Hilarie Burhans on clawhammer banjo, Mark Hellenberg (aka "Pokey") on percussion and banjo uke, Marlene Shostak on piano, and Nick Weiland on bass. You can sample some of their tantalizing tunes at http://www.hotpointstringband.com/ .

Alternating with Hotpoint will be the dynamic young band Elixir from Brattleboro, Vermont. The tight harmony and propulsive sound they achieve on a unique combination of instruments - Ethan Hazzard-Watkins on fiddle, Anna Patton on clarinet, Owen Morrison on guitar and foot percussion, and Jesse Hazzard-Watkins on trumpet - will amaze and delight you. Transcendent harmonies, playful improvisations, traditional melodies that morph into raucous Dixieland riffs. Hear it for yourself at http://www.elixirmusic.us/ .

We're extremely pleased to welcome caller Nils Fredland to FootFall 2008. In addition to playing trombone with Elixir, Nils calls extensively, particularly on the East Coast. You might have heard him at Glen Echo, or Augusta, or Pinewoods. His genial and lighthearted manner is a constant delight - and he's even agreed to teach a vocal workshop!

And as if all of that weren't enough, the one and only Kathy Anderson will lead you through her matchless collection of quirky contras and high-energy squares. Kathy's clear teaching style and rollicking, rapid-fire calling is sure to provide outstanding workshops and fabulous evening dances.

Gaye Fifer and Wayne Albright will be at FootFall again this year with their always delightful and popular waltz tutorials, plus a workshop on Irish set dance. Ted Hodapp will host the Saturday night Joke Show (this year's topics: lightbulb jokes and doctor jokes) and teach a hambo session. Anna Rain will lead early morning yoga and English Country Dancing. Our master sound tech Jamie Platt is planning an International dance session. Warren and Terry Doyle will lead a clogging workshop. We'll have a fossil dig, foot-care and skirt-making workshops, and much more. Cool off after dancing, in the olympic-size swimming pool. Check our website, http://FootFallDance.com for updates (and photos from last year!).

On-line registration (including PayPal) is available right now. We'd love to see you in September!

The FootFall Committee
Jerry and April Blum, Robert Cox, Mike Fallon, Jean McAulay, Will Strang and Betty Wells