Contact: email
phone: 860-561-5585
Click here for Contra dances written by Jim
First Nights in Hartford, Stamford, New Haven, Windham, CT
Founder / director of Hartford’s Concert & Country Dance Series 1978-1995, 2002-2003
Caller in demand from New Jersey to Martha’s Vineyard. Has called in Pittsburgh, Seattle, Nova Scotia.
Adult colonial dance classes for centennials of Granby, Ellington, Windham, each culminating in a demonstration.
Founder / director of Reel Nutmeg dance troupe 1979 to 1990.
Choreographer and on-stage MC of the Mountain Laurel Cloggers 1980-1992
Dance performer with Sedenka, The Elm City Vintage Dancers, and The Crackerbarrel Revue
Choreographer for: The Robber Bride Groom (The Producing Guild, 1983) Best Little Whore House in Texas (The Nutmeg Players, 1987)
Senior citizens’ dance classes ongoing in five towns.
Are
you looking for entertainment for your community festival, company picnic, or
church social? Jim Gregory can deliver.
Do you require a live string band and caller for your wedding celebration? Jim Gregory is ready to arrange it for you.
How about a dance sequence crafted for the school kids' history or phys. ed. program? Great idea - let's get on it!
Dancing fun is a hit at fairs, birthday parties, colonial camps too. Let's use our imaginations.
Maybe it's private dance lessons you really want: for example, swing, tango, waltz, or country-western. When Jim Gregory takes you through the steps, you will know what you are doing. We can use recorded music to make it most affordable.
Jim Gregory of West Hartford, Conn., works with bands from Conn,, Mass,. and New York. So most of the Northeast is within their accustomed range of travel. The 'affordable private lessons' are applicable more locally, from central Conn. to Springfield Mass. When you contact us we can talk over rates and dates.
Highlights For 2011
April 2011
Friday 1 Apr. 7 - 9 p.m. Granby Family Dance.Jimleads a merry mix of reels, circles,squares and dance games to the music of HEARTSEASE. This concludes our season at South Church Parish Hall in the center of Granby CT. [Info: 860) 653 - 6146]
Monday 4 Apr. 5:30 - 6:45 p.m. Country Western Line Dance classes at Vinnie's. 424 Main Street, Middletown CT. $9 per person on a per class basis. [Info: Jim 860) 561 - 5585]
Mondays 11, 18, 25 Apr. C &W classes continue at Vinnie's Jump and Jive. See April 4. Still open to newcomers and returnees.
Friday 29 Apr. 8 - 9 p.m. Jim leads Country Line dancing to the music of SKYLINE DRIVE. The overall event is Country Music Night at the National Guard Armory in Hartford CT. For $30 per person (+ tax + tip) you can enjoy cocktails at 6, a full Texas-style dinner at 7, and the music of a six-piece Country Band all night. [Reservations Please! Officers Club of CT: 860) 249 - 3634]
May 2011
Sunday 1 May 6 - 8 p.m. Barn Dance with THE REEL THING in Fairfield CT. Squares, reels, mixers as a birthday celebration. [Info: it's a surprise party for someone who doesn't know about this website]
Mondays 2, 9, 16, 23 May Country Line Dance classes continue at Vinnie's in Middletown. See April 4 listing.
Friday 6 May 7 - 9 p.m. School community dance with GET REEL for Plymouth CT Elementary. [Info: Private Event]
{Fri 6 May No Granby Family Dance}
Saturday 7 May 6 - 8 p.m. Wedding anniversary dance for a colonial re-enactor couple, with music by Jim and Willow SIRCH. In historic Olde Wethersfield CT. [Info: Private Event]
Saturday 21 May approx. 5 - 8 p.m. Barn Dance with WILD GOOSE NATION at the Bent of River Audubon sanctuary, 185 E. Flat Hill Road, Southbury CT. Last year we ran a family dance for members, guests and kids as part of a bigger festival and fundraising event. Dinner may be purchased. [Info: 203) 264 - 5098]
FURTHER AHEAD
[Friday 3 June No Granby Family Dance} This corrects previous information, when we thought the Granby church would be available. You might say our April Fools surprise landed on June 3. But if you would like to get on the mailing list, or offer encouragement about the Granby series, or offer to help in some way contact Laura at 860) 653 -6146.
Saturday 11 June 7:30 Beginners' Dance Workshop 8 - 11 p.m. Contradance with THE FIDDLEHEADS, 275 Main Street, Olde Wethersfield CT. The American Legion Post offers a wood floor and air-conditioning. Join Jim at the dance serieshe started decades ago. [Info: 888) 423 - 0423]
Wednesday 13 July 6 - 8 p.m. Middletown CT. Dance Americana includes both squares and line dances, for about 100 participating international students. Our volunteers would helpdemonstrate square dance figures,financially benefitting Hartford Community Dance. Raindate is Thurs. 14 July. [To volunteer: Jim 860) 561 - 5585]
Mid July, a daytime program at the Goddard School in Glastonbury CT. Line dancing intro for some very young kids. [Info: Private Event]
Wednesday 3 Aug. (Raindate Thurs. 4 Aug) Same event and same benefit possibility as Wed. 13 July, with a different group of international students. Volunteer helpers again are invited.
Throughout each week Jim's line dance classes for senior
citizens continue in five Connecticut towns. Lively Minds is his
discussion group at the West Hartford Senior Center. By the end of
October, a similar group will be added to his weekly Bloomfield classes.
The newest venture is the Sunday night series at Vinnie's. It seems that
Middletown has a truly community-oriented group there, in possession of a good
dance floor.
Thanks, and I hope to be seeing you. Jim G.
As you browse here you'll find out more about the programs Jim offers and the types of dance he teaches, from Appalachian clogging to Zorba the Greek. We'll also try to summarize Jim's background as a dance teacher and caller (full-time since Sept. 1980). There will be a list of Jim's upcoming appearances as well as links to the schedules of Conn. contradance groups, and the bands Jim most frequently works with. As the site grows it will also offer descriptions of some dances Jim has written, plus a selection of his informative columns.
1974 was the year Jim hitched his star to the dance band wagon. In that spring semester at Cornell Jim finished up his studies of philosophy and enjoyed his first evenings with the Cornell Folk Dance group. By May '74, attending a country dance weekend at Hudson Guild Farm, Jim was hooked. Returning to CT, he sought out folk, English and contra dances. Live music was not easy to find around Hartford, however. By 1978 Jim had started his own dance series that grew into two contras per month with live fiddle bands. Hartford Country Dance was born. There would also be twenty years of lovely summer evenings in Elizabeth Park at the Concert & Country Dance series. Jim called the majority of these, but he hired guest bands and callers, too. Jim has been a performing dancer/choreographer with several groups totaling about 33 years experience. Count among them Sedenka (the International dance performers), Mountain Laurel Cloggers, Reel Nutmeg as founder and director, Crackerbarrel Revue, and the Elm City Vintage Dancers. These experiences were recounted in Jim's column "Your Contra Corner," which ran 1982-1985 in Folknotes.
Jim became a full time dance teacher and caller in 1980. Senior citizen classes and school programs form a steady part of his day's work. Adult classes, contras, and weddings enliven the evenings and weekends. Jim has developed specialties in family dances and colonial American dance. Camp Salomon hired Jim full time for a 10 week summer and that relationship continued three more summers. Jim has also been on the staff at Rowe Camp's Liberation Week and Pinewoods Camper's week. He has called at NEFFA, NOMAD, and the Dance Flurry. Jim was the stage choreographer for two Connecticut musicals, Robber Bridegroom and Best Little Whorehouse in Texas. In addition, half a dozen of his original contras are in print, including Zesty Contras, Fiddler Magazine, and the Country Dance & Song Society News.
Photo Courtesy of New Canaan Historical Society
The Family Dance is accessible to the whole community, especially children bringing adults. Enjoying dances such as Virginia Reels and squares, snakes circles, and trios makes for energizing, interactive fun.
Your Wedding Dance will be a memorable way to celebrate your marriage. We add waltzes, polkas, and mixers to the repertoire of the family dance, then choose something especially for the newlyweds. The dancing not only entertains the guests, but also provides them a way to participate, mix & mingle. Fiddle tunes are the pleasant background.
The Colonial Ball is a way to recreate through music and dance the feeling of our Colonial and Revolutionary Eras. These are dances steeped in history: Hunt the Squirrel - The Market Lass Yankee Doodle - Sir Roger de Coverley
A New England Contradance is a lively evening involving the general public as well as experienced dancers. This contemporary dance form (with a great history) builds both the body and the community. You’ll love the live music.
The Concert & Country Dance program adds up to a full evening of music, song and dance. A performance of folk songs by a star singer or band leads it off. Then comes country dancing, with the humor and calling of Jim Gregory. This mini- festival can top off your community event.
Programs in School
Jim Gregory will enrich your curriculum with specially developed sessions in:
A. Early American Dancing
B. New England Squares & Contras
C. Appalachian Clogging & The Big Circle
D. International Folk Dancing
E. Country Western Line Dancing
Each subject can be taught in a series of two or three 40-minute workshops. Your series might culminate in a student performance. Choreography and calling practice can be added for further enrichment.
 | CONNtra CONNection - The place for everything related to contra dancing in Connecticut |
| New Haven Country Dancers |
| Round Hill Country Dancers |