538 Providence Street
Albany, New York 12208
(800) 908-4013
paul@homespun.biz
Videos

Simple dances from the US and around the world. Circles, squares, contras and other configurations. Connect to the old traditions of community dancing, as something everyone did as a social activity: fun, easy, celebratory. A way to bring people of all ages together in an evening of simple joyous dances that anyone of any age can do, whether you have ever danced or not. Sit-in musicians welcome!

Come kick up your heels to live fiddle music! Enjoy a tradition of community dancing and music handed down from generation to generation. We get everyone involved – from ages 2 to 102 (especially those who have not danced before) -- in easy-to-learn American barn dance favorites: circles, squares, contras, as well as folk dances from around the world, like Ireland, Russia, Israel, Mexico, France, Scandinavia, China and Africa.

The toe-tapping tunes consist of reels, jigs, polkas, hornpipes and waltzes. Instruments in a family dance may include fiddle, banjo, mandolin, flute, pennywhistle, clarinet, guitar, piano, recorder, accordion, dulcimer, percussion, and more. While participation in the dancing is encouraged -- and it's hard to sit still -- it's also fun to just watch and listen to the music.

Paul Rosenberg has been leading dances throughout the northeastern United States since 1986. In recent years, he has been one of the busiest callers in North America, working over 200 dance engagements a year. He is known for his gentle but energetic, encouraging style, concise teaching, and offbeat sense of humor.

The programs Paul presents consist of community dances from the Hudson Valley, United Kingdom, Appalachia, and New England, as well as international folk dances and African-American singing and playparty games. Paul loves teaching traditional dances to children (as a visiting arts educator) in elementary schools and leading novices in community dances at festivals, community celebrations, weddings, family reunions, birthday parties, Girl Scout events, and other gatherings. He also leads seasoned contra dancers and has performed at numerous major festivals and events around the Northeast.

Paul gets his greatest satisfaction from enabling people who have never danced—especially the dance phobic—to not only get up and dance, but also to have a great time doing it and come back for more! Someone once said of his teaching skill, “Paul can even teach a three-legged stool to dance.” His enthusiasm for dance and empathy with novices comes from his avoidance-at-all-costs and terror of dancing—until he discovered contra dancing at age 30.

The other hat he wears is as an organizer. He founded and for eighteen years organized the Dance Flurry Festival in Saratoga Springs, NY; a monthly family dance in Albany; and Fiddlers’ Tour, a weekly fiddle tune jam session in the Albany area. He founded and for twenty years served on the Board of Directors of DanceFlurry Organization (Hudson-Mohawk Traditional Dances, Inc.), a nonprofit educational organization dedicated to the preservation, study, teaching, enjoyment, and continuing evolution of traditional dance.