Ann Arbor Council for
Traditional Music and Dance
Traditional Music and Dance
Annual Reports (April 30, 2008)AACTMAD, a nonprofit foundation, is a participatory membership organization which enriches people's lives and sense of community through traditional music, dance, song, and related arts. AACTMAD is a volunteer organization; its activities are planned and carried out by volunteer committees. These are brief summaries about the committees' activities as of April 30, 2008. Events and activities committees:
[Community Partnering & Youth Activities] [Concerts] [Dancing in the Streets] Service committees supporting the organization as a whole:
[ECD Leader Development] [Events Calendar] [Facilities] [Finance] [Fundraising] [Library]
Community Partnering & Youth Activities - We provide organizational services for outreach activities and events within school, home school, university, church, and other community settings. We have a wonderful partnership with the Ann Arbor District Library and work jointly on programming with them through our Lets Dance! team. We recently organized three-week residencies at Slauson Middle and Burns Park Elementary schools. We also provided an in-school program for 5th and 6th graders, one UM class, and assisted in booking youth musicians into summer festivals. Since September of 2007 we have organized 22 events in the form of three series (1 campus based, 1 church group, and 1 church/home school group) and 2 stand-alone events and have had one "high school credit" participant. These series have served over 2,000 participants ages 4 and up. You can learn more about our recent activities and service offerings by visiting our website. Our activities could not happen without the support of dedicated event organizers, musicians, callers, sound engineers, and experienced dancers whom are passionate about reaching new audiences. We were recently approached by the Ann Arbor Parks & Recreation Department regarding a possible venture for programming within their facilities and will keep you informed as that unfolds. We welcome your suggestions, referrals, and assistance. Ray Bantle (facilitator), Anne Ogren, Bob Messer, Bronwen Gates, Joan Hellmann. Concerts - There have been 5 concerts since the last annual meeting: Faileas and Nutshell in May 2007, The Wild Wood Band and Motor City Sidestrokers in November 2007, and Waverly Station (Liz Donaldson and David Knight) in February 2008. The latter was co-sponsored with Tartan and Thistle Scottish Country Dancers. We are excited about the first weekend in November 2008, which we are co-sponsoring with the First Saturday Dance Committee. Alan Jabbour (fiddler, and former head of the American Folklife Center at the Library of Congress) and Ken Perlman (well-known banjo player and teacher) will be leading workshops and playing for the contra dance on Saturday, and playing a concert/jam Sunday afternoon. Watch for details! (Kathy Gravlin and Joan Hellmann with support from Richard Raymond. New members are welcome.) Dancing in the Streets - Dancing in the Streets is an annual free festival on the Sunday of Labor Day weekend in downtown Ann Arbor (2007 event was held on Sep 2). It offered local residents a chance to sample lots of different music and dance traditions, enjoy the downtown, and see some friends and neighbors in the process. Multiple stages offered visitors a chance to try many different styles of dancing, as well as enjoy mini-concerts and entertain their children with special activities. For 2008, the chair position is currently unfilled. Dawn Dance Weekend - The 2008 Dawn Dance Weekend was held February 29 - March 2nd at Clague Middle school. Over 150 pre-registered and we had visitors from 13 states and Ontario. All event segments were very well attended and we noticed a younger median age of attendees. This year we featured a variety of workshops, singing and dances and had over 45 hours of scheduled activities including: Bones, harmonica, Polynesian dance, Irish set, community drumming, music jam, Dutch Crossing, Contra, English, advanced waltz, contra writing, and shape note singing. Our headliners included Joseph Pimentel, Susan Kevra, Great Bear Trio, Fred Todt, and Foxfire with Paul Oorts. Local musicians included Stout-Hearted String Band, Childgrove, Scalar Scalawags, Treetown Swingtette, and David West and Donna Baird. Local callers and workshop leaders included Glen Morningstar, Lisa Stop, Sundance, Brad Battey, Myron Grant, Ed Vincent, Drake Meadow, Dave Sebolt, and Anne McCallum. New this year was a Saturday night afterparty and a Sunday lite lunch. With an operating budget of $15,000, the event couldn't happen without the great planning committee and crew of 50+ volunteers who make it magically happen. Next year's event is schedule for February 27 - March 1 at Clague Middle School. Debbie Jackson and Rick Szumski, co chairs. Fifth Friday Fusion - The first dance of this new series is May 30 at the Pittsfield Grange. We hope dancers will enjoy this friendly combination of international, contras, English, and who knows what...with exciting music and skilled teaching to make it all work. The organizers say: "It's like dim sum for your feet!" Drake Meadow (chair), Dan Peisach, Neil Epstein, Elisabeth Epstein, Sara Kennedy, Pat Micks, Martha Vander Kolk, and Nancy Meadow. First Saturday Contras - The First Saturday Committee primarily presents a monthly contra dance, but offers other styles along with contras as opportunities appear. We present a wide variety of performers, aiming to balance newer vs. more-experienced and local vs. regional performers. For the November 2008 dance we will be collaborating with the Concert Committee to bring in two nationally-known bluegrass/old timey musicians, Ken Perlman and Alan Jabbour. Richard Raymond, chair. Fourth Saturday Contras - The 4th Saturday series is now in its 4th year and appears to have taken root as a regular dance in our community. As a sister dance to First Saturday, we have much in common. We are a dance open to all levels of experience and do our best to encourage beginners to attend. We rotate in a variety of bands and callers. The basic theme of our dances can be summed up as follows: Provide a warm and welcoming atmosphere where people first and foremost can have a good time. Our objectives are sevenfold. We seek to provide consistently high quality dance music and calling. As to beginners - we pay attention to helping them develop dance skills without feeling overwhelmed and seek to let them experience success from their efforts. At the same time we also pay attention to the experienced dancers' desire for stimulating, interesting dances. These two objectives are quite compatible and realizable in our viewpoint. Although our attendance has varied in certain periods of the year, this seems not to be specific to 4th Saturday. It is an issue that we are attentive to and the above noted objectives and action appear to be currently improving attendance. At this time, we are also holding a special winter holiday dance where we get food contributions and voluntary calling and music from the near community. This was a well attended success in 2007 and we plan to do this each holiday time in late December. Ed Vincent, chair. Midwest Morris Ale - The Midwest Morris Ale is a Morris dance festival that has been held in various Midwest cities for over 25 years. In recent years, the growing need for liability insurance to be able to rent camp facilities has motivated the Morris dance community in the Midwest to form, or become affiliated with, a non-profit organization that has insurance coverage. Consequently, the Midwest Morris Ale Committee was formed under AACTMAD in 2005 to sponsor the Midwest Morris Ale, which was held at Camp Cavell and the Port Huron area on Memorial Day Weekend 2005. Typically, the Midwest Morris Ale draws about 200 attendees from 22 Teams from the US and Canada. The total budget for the Ale is typically about $27,000, and the growth of our funds has recently been about $2,000 per year. Our financial plan is to continue to steadily grow our fund balance, which is currently about half of the total cost of putting on the Ale, while endeavoring to keep the attendance fees as low as possible. We have implemented a Midwest Morris Ale Scholarship program for the 2008 Ale to help make attendance possible for needy, young, and/or first time Morris Ale attendees. The 2008 Midwest Morris Ale is being hosted by Prairie Waves Morris in Omaha, NE, and the registration fee is about $200 per person. In a few years, Ann Arbor Morris will very likely again host the Ale in Michigan. Plans are still progressing to form a separate non-profit organization for the Midwest Morris Ale per the desire of the participating Midwest Morris Teams. When that is accomplished, the Midwest Morris Ale restricted fund balance of $12,719.12 as of January 1, 2008, will be transferred to the new organization. By-Laws and Articles of Incorporation have been approved by the Midwest Morris Teams, and have been submitted for incorporation in Missouri. We expect to hear the disposition of that effort to incorporate when we all gather for the Ale this year on Memorial Day Weekend, 2008. Greg Meisner, chair. Pittsfield Open Band - The POB's jam sessions on the first and third Saturdays at the Pittsfield Grange are free and open to all interested musicians. We play jigs, reels, and waltzes as played for contra dancing. In addition to our regular jams, we play for contra dances and sponsor occasional workshops on contra dance musicianship. We hire an experienced dance musician to lead us when we play for dances. We have paid our Grange rental fee for the 2008 year. We are in excellent financial shape. Susan Songer from Oregon, director of the Portland MegaBand came in December to lead the group and share techniques for arranging and developing musicianship. Bill O'Connor directed our March 2008 3rd Saturday Cobblestone gig. We can always use more volunteers to help schedule and prepare for jams, gigs and special POB dances like the Sue Songer event in December. A good way to become involved is to become a co-chair of the committee. Fresh ideas may lead to new ways to utilize AACTMAD resources to enhance POB events, such as digital recording of our gigs. John Lesko and Sylvia Lewis (co chairs). Second Friday Advanced English - The Second Friday advanced English dance is going well; we have a good crowd of regular dancers and have been having fun. Childgrove plays for about half the dances and they are great; we're also fortunate to have a number of other exciting musicians who can add variety. We've been able to pay travel expenses for our out-of-town callers and still break even, usually by adding some small event that takes advantage of their visit and makes the trip more worthwhile. (We had a callers' workshop in November, a mummer's workshop in December, and a harmony sing in February.) We've also been enjoying our local callers, who led the September "What We Learned On Our Summer Vacations" dance, the January dance, and April's "local choreography night," and will lead our season-ending "Familiar Favorites" party in June. A couple of our dancers regularly provide refreshments and we're slowly moving toward having a network of contributors for that. We have two sound guys, which is a wonderful thing. Publicity is pretty darn good. We could probably use some floor-sweeping volunteers, though the Grange floor has been quite clean this year. Our attendance goes up and down in mysterious ways that don't seem to be linked to the quality of the event. I'm happier when it's in the 40's rather than the 20's, so I'm always looking for feedback on what people think about the dance and what we can do better. Thanks! Fae Fuerst, chair. Swing (Ann Arbor Swing Dance Association) - We sponsor a weekly swing dance on Fridays at a dance studio near the U of M Stadium. The evening includes free lessons at the intermediate and beginner levels, and then DJ'd music for open dancing. It's friendly social dancing in a noncompetitive atmosphere; dancers change partners and welcome new attendees. The weekly dance offers discounted admission to AACTMAD members. We also sponsor seasonal events such as additional lessons, dances, and occasional workshops throughout the year. Our events attract people of all ages from college students up through retired folks. Scott Rice and Holly Ackerman, co chairs. Tuesday English - The Tuesday English dance event continues to please and serve a diverse population. Each week dedicated and loyal dancers return to welcome a variety of beginners, who come to us through printed publicity (thank you Joan!), word of mouth recommendations, and Internet publicity. We encourage families, students, and people of all ages to join our dynamic and nurturing activities. Our regular callers, in addition to a cadre of developing new and cross-over callers, focus on friendly and welcoming teaching and exciting variety in dance choices. True to our mission, callers benefit from working with more experienced callers and personal mentoring. Musicians are nurtured through playing with more experienced musicians, another aspect of our mission. The encouragement so evident from dancer to dancer is also a vital element in the dynamic between dancers and musicians. Attendance varies from the 30s to the 50s. One of our most successful ideas in the last years has been to expand our season to a year-round series, with only one week off prior to Labor Day and accommodating the Christmas and New Year holidays. Our relationship with Chapel Hill continues to be smooth, largely to the efforts and tact of Kay Brown, who along with Arlene Kindel, Marge Cramton, Ray Bantle, and Shirley Harden (chair) comprise the Tuesday ECD Committee. Service committees supporting the organization as a whole: English Country Dance Leader Development - We maintain a lending library (catalog is available on our website) of support materials including dance instructions and recorded music for use by our callers. We also maintain and publish lists of dances called for use by our callers in planning their programs. We have twelve active English dance callers in Ann Arbor and attempt to provide venues and opportunities to as many as possible. We support and encourage caller development by organizing workshops and direct one-on-one mentoring opportunities. Thanks to Debbie Jackson for recently recording 46 tunes for our leader's to use for practice. Ray Bantle, Facilitator/Librarian. Events Calendar - We publish both a printed version, distributed statewide, and a web version ( www.aactmad.org/cal/allevents ) of the bi-monthly events calendar. We have designed and are implementing a new web-based approach for a perpetual calendar and will be transitioning to this process this summer. The bi-monthly Events Calendar provides authoritative events information for music and dance events in Michigan, Northwest Ohio, and Indiana, and is available in print and online. The Mailing team handles the mailing of AACTMAD's membership mailings and Events Calendars to groups around the state. Ray Bantle, chair. Facilities - AACTMAD membership's long-term planning retreat in the fall of 2001 identified securing a long-term dance-friendly facility as a top goal. The facilities committee works to obtain stable, controllable space for AACTMAD's activities, addressing requirements gathering, partnering opportunities, and fundraising and business plans. While most of our dance series are OK with their current dance locations - the Pittsfield Grange, Chapel Hill, the Dakota Building, etc. - the viability of our existing programs would be threatened if any of these were to be lost as a venue, as has happened in many dance communities around the country, including Lovett Hall in Dearborn. The facilities committee is currently investigating two possible options. Nawal Motawi has volunteered to head a team to investigate and develop a plan for the board to evaluate. If you'd like to be involved, please Nawal Motawi, chair. Finance - We maintain the accounting system for the organization on behalf of the Treasurer. We provide both annual Financial Statements as well as periodic Operating Statements for the board. We also file all required state and federal financial information including tax returns. We publish financial reports and tax returns on our website. We also assist the board in its annual budgeting process, which utilizes the Annual Reports & Request for Resources (ARRR forms available in the AACTMAD Office page of our website - due by May 31 for next season's budget.) Kay Brown handles all of the banking and report gathering for the committees. The committee also makes recommendations about the financial systems, supporting the budgeting process and standard financial reporting. Ray Bantle (chair) and Kay Brown. Fundraising - In addition to membership dues and admission fees, funds come from the scrip program (Kroger and Busch's rechargeable gift cards), matching employer grants, and the generosity of donors. The Fundraising committee explores new funding sources, makes recommendations to the board, and is available to consult with any other committee to raise funds for their programs. We assisted in obtaining grants for the Dancing in the Streets festival and have assisted with grant applications to support our Community Partnering Activities. We continue to provide assistance in planning for a Capital Campaign. We are planning for a donor and planned giving program and the content to support these programs on the website. Debbie Jackson and Ray Bantle, fundraising co-chairs; Mark Hillegonds, scrip chair. Library - The AACTMAD library contains a variety of traditional music and dance materials, including folklore publications, books about folk music, back issues of Sing Out!, CDSS News, recordings, Rapper swords, and more. It's at Gretchen's House Child Development Center 6 on Oak Valley Drive and is open by appointment. The library committee could use a couple of people to volunteer. No particular skills are needed; just a willingness to do a couple of hours of boring work a year. Ownership of a laptop is a plus. Ruth Scodel, chair. Mailing Services - The mailing team prepares mailings to members and other dance groups six times a year. They schedule flexibly to coordinate with the dance calendar production, and always have great fun doing the job. Occasionally, envelope preparation receives an assist from a group during a break at a dance. Nina Scheider (chair), Tom and Nancy Taylor, Nora Karsch, Kay Brown, Dick Fortune, and other drop-ins. Membership - We continue to maintain the database and support materials used for enrollment, mailings, email lists, and contact information. We have shared the contact info with both MDH and DDW 2008 to assist them in their registration efforts. As of April 30, we have 264 members, who have supported the organization in a most generous and giving way by donating $5,549 over and above their annual dues to the General fund thus far this season. Ray Bantle, chair. Nominating - The nominating committee works year-round to recruit volunteer candidates for the Board of Directors and the Nominating Committee. Board members are elected by the membership in an annual election held in April. Ruth Scodel, Debbie Jackson, Ruth Jones, Abby Liskow, and Neil Epstein. Scholarships - Scholarship aid for music- and dance-related events is offered to members who agree to volunteer for the organization in return. The Scholarship Committee implemented a Scholarship Program in late 2003 for the purpose of promoting and developing new dancers, musicians, callers, and organizers and encouraging their participation in AACTMAD, as well as developing leadership skills among existing dancers, musicians, callers, and organizers. In addition to scholarship funds, the Scholarship Committee is responsible for awarding the CDSS Priority Spot for attendance at CDSS summer dance camps and courses. In addition to awarding AACTMAD's CDSS Priority Spot, the Scholarship Committee looks to collaborate with other local CDSS Group Affiliates to identify candidates for their CDSS Priority Spots. The Scholarship Committee has worked with Cobblestone Farm Country Dancers in this regard. Because the Cobblestone Farm Country Dancers do not have sufficient resources for funding scholarships, the Scholarship Committee has provided matching scholarship funds for these Priority Spot candidates. Consequently, the Scholarship Committee budget has grown faster than expected, and this will be reflected in next year's appropriation request. The Scholarship Committee feels that this is a tremendously successful program for AACMTAD and recommends it continue to promote and expand this program. Greg Meisner (chair), Fred Karsch, and Carl Fuerst.
Scholarships Awarded in 2007 ($1472):
Sound - The sound committee maintains a sound system for use at AACTMAD events and for rental to members of the community. (The $35 price hasn't changed for 20 years!) Recently, a DI box was added to the list of equipment. Occasionally we hold sound reinforcement workshops. Contact Joan Hellmann to inquire about rental or to suggest a topic on which you would like a workshop. Joan Hellmann (chair), Richard Raymond, and Terry Richards. Website & Record Archives - We have continued to expand, modify, and update our website at www.aactmad.org. It contains our "public" face as well as the events calendar, news, and documents and forms in use by AACTMAD. We receive several requests for information each month from people new to the area or new to dancing. We have recently added new sections for the Community Partnering Activities and Fifth Friday Fusion series. We are in the midst of a major update of the current site as well as the development of an interactive site to support the long-term needs of the organization with a projected launch before next season. We also maintain the electronic vault of source and historical materials in use by the entire organization. Ray Bantle, webmaster. Wow!
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