Homespun Occasions

NEWS!

Remember Turkey in the Straw?
Remember what fun it was to dance to?

Homespun Occasions creates enjoyable, wholesome participatory dance and music events. You supply the atmosphere--cornstalks, hay bales, cider, pies and pumpkins. Homespun supplies the dance caller and musicians on fiddle, guitar, banjo and tin whistle.

We lead participants in square, contra, and circle dances brought to America from Europe and Africa. Connect with centuries-old traditions and celebrate the bounty of the harvest as generations of Americans have done.

Homespun's dances are community-building activities that get everyone up and moving. Easy dances that everyone can learn in one session means fun for children and adults.

To arrange for a dance or for more information,
call us at (800) 908-HOME or (518) 482-9255

Click below for the poster that will make your publicity easy
Sample 1 Sample 2

Click here for information about a Harvest Dance as a school event

Let's Dance!

Just released! The 56-page companion book for the “Peel the Banana!” CD, including our most popular dances at community and family dance events. Your group can learn the dances, reinforce their skills after we lead a dance, or simply become more familiar with a wide range of ethnic music and dance.

Step-by-step dance instructions
Easy-to-read melodies and chords
Historical research & anecdotes
Ideal for teachers and dance callers

Click here for more information about the book and CD

MORE NEWS!
Check our new "Schedule" page to find out where we'll be playing music and leading dances each month. Check back often!

"It is sweet to dance to violins when love and life are fair; To dance to flutes, to dance to lutes is delicate and rare."
Oscar Wilde

We bring you the delightful and distinctive sounds of these living traditions; the strum of the banjo, the pluck of the mandolin and the honey-with-lemon saw of the fiddle, as they interpret the joyful rhythms of Celtic, Appalachian, folk, classical, jazz, Klezmer, Cajun, Latin, African music... and more.

We can lead you in the steps; square, contra, country or folk. Quadrille, swing, Cajun, African, Israeli, Latin or any of more than 300 different dances.

We'll be your guide to these ageless forms and times past - from England, Scotland, Ireland and France; Israel and Africa, and from New England, Louisiana and the Native American tribes.

The BRIGHTEST MEMORIES, forever gleaming and glowing like the candle's flame, begin with Homespun Occasions. Located in Albany, New York, Homespun Occasions provides entertainment throughout the Northeast.

Homespun Occasions offers a fresh-as-the-morning entertainment alternative for your next special event; the fun of being part of history as it comes alive through the songs and steps of traditional music and dance. It's music and dance that capture the imagination and bring together families and communities in a joyous shared experience of harmony and art.

Groups

Traditional Dance & Music

Fun and laughter for your school, church and community group or for your whole community!

Bring Them An Evening Of Dancing And Music From Around The World:
England, Ireland, Scotland, Eastern Europe, Africa, Asia, Israel, Canada...And Of Course, America.

Your kids' school, your church's youth group, your family at it's annual reunion...everyone will delight in an evening of traditional music and dance.

And it's easy: We bring the musicians, we bring the dance instructor, you just bring a group who're ready for a good time. We can even build anticipation ahead of time with dance workshops for the kids.

Old fashioned, wholesome and non-alcoholic, it's the kind of enjoyment that has brought families and communities together for generations listening to live music from such traditional instruments as the fiddle, the banjo and the mandolin, and dancing the steps of the square dance, the folk dance, the contra dance and so many more.

You tap your foot, you hum along, and before you know it you're up and dancing; kids and parents, friends and sweethearts, all stepping high, all having fun.

Ya'll join in!