About: Currently serving his second term as president of the Bellingham Country Dance Society, a 34 year old registered 501c3 non-profit organization, he is proud to have been at the helm ushering the dance community out of covid years and through a transition of leadership as the veteran organizers retire and the new generation of dancers, musicians, and leaders comes on board.
Through his and the boards persistent work, including networking with local bands, musicians, organizers, government officials, administrators, college students, the Celtic Arts Foundation, the Skagit Valley Highland Games, and the Skagit and Vancouver contra dances, the local dance has seen the most consistently well attended dances in at least a decade. Our recent 2024 NYE dance at Norway hall saw 200 dancers!
For 2025: As part of an effort to make the dance community more robust over the long term, Sky is excited in the 2025 season to be part of developing a more formal instruction program for new and veteran dancers.
BCDS currently offers a 30m beginner lesson before each dance, which covers the bare minimum to get dancing. Starting with a swing lesson instructed by Sky, they experimented with longer dance lessons and have found with surprise and delight that there is a lot of interest, even with veteran dancers (Sky included — a dancer of 30 years!). They wondered why they didn’t offer this before! BCDS organizes many evenings of dancing, but not the advanced lessons in which to explore more thoroughly the rich experience of dance. In retrospect it had been a bit of a sink or swim environment (even a fun one), which works for the most part because country dance is more accessible on average compared with any kind of ball room dance. However, for the greater long term health of our dance and the legacy of folk dance, BCSD sees having intermediate and advanced lessons as crucial to a vibrant and thriving community.
The goal is for beginner dancers and veteran dancers alike to feel at ease and at home by providing a more comprehensive instruction program where they can be guided through the steps to become excellent and safe dancers, to provide a practice time that isn’t right on the dance floor.
Sky’s Vision for the Dance Society: through the storied tradition of folk dance and music and a warm and welcoming low stress environment, endeavour to bring people together in joy and delight, to keep our bodies and minds healthy with good exercise and socialization, keep our communities resilient by forging strong local connections, sustainable with localized cultural activities, and satisfying with an activity that is an hour to learn, but a lifetime to perfect; to empower by offering a place for leadership and growth and giving ourselves ownership and agency of our own cultural legacy that connects us to our past and present. Lastly, to provide a place for emotional expression through music and movement and take part in a rich legacy of music and dance and put the ‘rad’ in traditional!