Plan your summer dance weekends now

Dance safely and comfortably this summer at your favorite (and newly air-conditioned) dance barn—The Dancing Fish of Lake Santa Fe in historic Melrose, Florida.

The summer dance calendar is full—with the notable exception of August’s first weekend when Dr. Joe will be dancing again at American Dance & Music Week at Pinewoods Dance Camp near Plymouth, MA. Don’t we wish that we could dance at Pinewoods again, too!

August 2014: Florida dancers about to return from a long road trip to New England in Joe’s old school bus.

We wish we could dance and learn and make new friends all week down here some day, too! Meanwhile, The Dancing Fish offers the closest comparable contra dance venue in terms of talent—plus a superbly well-ventilated dance barn like no other barn anywhere!!

Summer Events at The Dancing Fish

Spend whole weekends dancing & relaxing beside Lake Santa Fe—it doesn’t get any better!

June 3-5: Janine Smith and Stomp Rocket

Janine Smith calls contra, square, ceilidh, and family dances mostly in the Washington, DC, area, but she shares her humorous and infectious passion for music and dance with folks from Glen Echo, MD, to Seattle, WA.

Specializing in Singing Squares and in generally whoopin’ it up, Janine is known for her calm, unflappable demeanor and for her skill at knowing just which dances to teach and call, whether it’s to a room full of new and never-danced wedding guests or a group of skilled contra dancers looking for a challenge.

The Stomp Rockets are:

  • Dave Langford on fiddle;
  • Glen Loper on mandolin and banjo; and
  • Bethany Waickman on guitar and keyboard.

The New England trio Stomp Rocket has Glen Loper with fiddler Dave Langford (Latter Day Lizards, Les Z Boys, and Big Bandemonium)  and DADGAD guitarist  Bethany Waickman from Anadama.   They’ve played for contras throughout New England and at dance weekends in Alaska,  Tennessee, Maryland, Kentucky—and at the 2020 Florida Snowball.

Dance Schedule

  • Friday June 3, 7-10 pm
  • Saturday June 4, 7-10 pm
  • Sunday, June 5, 11am -2 pm (June only)

Book your reservation for June 3-5: Janine Smith and Stomp Rocket

Finally, don’t forget to book your reservations before you donate—so you will be included on our list of paid attendees.

  1. First, book your reservation on that event page.
  2. Then only, make your donation on the PayPal website.

Omicron BA.2 Variant is contagious and widespread

In Florida, COVID cases have dropped dramatically for months, but new COVID cases are on the rise again.

The Omicron variant was nearly 2.8 times more infectious than the Delta variant, which was the previously dominant circulating strain of SARS-CoV-2. The new Omicron BA.2 variant is 50% more contagious than the original Omicron variant. It now makes up by far most new COVID cases nationally.

  • Get your current COVID boosted if you have not already done so.
  • And get yourself tested occasionally or whenever you exhibit symptoms.

The Dancing Fish does not expect dancers to update us about every change of booster status. Once you established that you have been fully vaccinated, staying boosted at least annually is your responsibility out of concern for oneself and others. We are a dance community that is based upon trust in one another—even in strangers.

Summer events at The Dancing Fish
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Patrick Harrigan

An avid contra dancer, Patrick Harrigan is also a photographer, editor, and website publisher.