PORT ANGELES — The nationally touring band the Syncopaths are swinging into Port Angeles for an extra contra dance — open to all ages and dance experience levels — at the Black Diamond Community Hall, 1942 Black Diamond Road, this Monday evening.
While the foursome’s Irish, Scottish and American folk music flows, contra-dance caller George Marshall, also nationally known, will guide everybody across the floor.
He’ll start with the beginners’ workshop and refresher at 6:30 p.m.; then the Syncopaths will play at 7 p.m.
Admission is by donation: a suggested $8 for adults and $4 for those 17 and younger, but no one is turned away for lack of funds.
“Come and pay what you can . . . most important is to bring your enthusiasm and eagerness to dance,” organizers write on the Port Angeles contra-dance website, blackdiamonddance.org.
The site also has information about contra dances held at the hall on the first Saturday night of each month.
When asked what he might say to invite a novice to the Black Diamond hall on Monday, Syncopaths pianist Jeff Spero emphasized the feeling he has at such events.
“Contra dancers are a very welcoming community,” he said, and “it’s a great way to exercise your body and mind, while meeting some very down-to-earth people.”
Marshall, who’s making a return visit to the Olympic Peninsula, learned to contra- and square-dance while working as a trail crew volunteer in New Hampshire’s White Mountains some 40 years ago.
Later, attending college in Amherst, Mass., he started calling and playing for dances.
These days Marshall’s specialty is calling the New England-style contras he’s collected while traveling around the country.
As for the Syncopaths, they’re powered by Ryan McKasson’s Scottish-based fiddling and the understated picking of mandolinist Ashley Broder.
Spero provides piano accompaniment, while Christa Burch plays a non-traditional bodhran and lends her vocals to the band’s numbers, be they high-energy dance tunes or contemplative songs.
The band has a couple of CDs out: “Five Gears” from 2010 and 2005’s “Rough around the Edges.”
The Syncopaths enjoy raves from dancers, including a writer at the Portland Country Dance Community’s Footnotes publication.
“The energy, joy, and spontaneity . . . rolls right off the stage,” the fan wrote.
“The combination will make you feel like you’re fire-walking.”
