Boogie Down in Buena Vista
Articles - Life In BV

by: Eleanor Fahrneybass

As Randy Barnes tunes his hammered dulcimer, Carole Barnes sets up the sound system at the Heritage Museum.  It’s the second Friday of the month and the Buena Vista Community Dance is getting ready to start.  The other local musicians – often including Sue Greiner on penny whistle, Dennis Fischer on fiddle, and Mike Rosso on mandolin – shoot the breeze while they finish tuning and warming up.  

“Find a partner and join hands in a circle,” we’ll often prompt.  Dances inbarnes square, circle, and long line formations are taught and called by John Vakarietis, Randy, and me.  Some people call this evening a “Contra Dance.”  Derived from English country dances like ones you might have seen in Pride & Prejudice, contra dancing involves moves like a do-si-do and swing with your partner and progressing through a line of couples.  In a single dance, you’ll enjoy moving with everyone else in the room.  This form of dance also requires little footwork which makes it friendly to the newcomer.  They say the name is from the French, “contre danse” – perhaps taking the French name was an effort by the early colonists to disassociate from the English – and live traditional music is a keynote feature of these events that happen in almost every locale across the country.  Each contra dancedance evening also includes couple dancing such as polkas, swing, hambos, and, most often, waltzes.

Buena Vista dance is not just about grooving to the music - it’s also about the snacks and the socializing - about hanging out and just catching up with old friends and new.  Having taken place every month from September through May for over eight years, the BV community dance is a fundamental cultural offering of this community.  

When my husband, Andrew, and I moved here in 2002, we sought to connect with the opportunity provided by the BV community dance and to build on it.  We attended the dances, and I started helping Randy and John call. We worked to create Arkansas Valley Music And Dance, a local organization dedicated to fusing live music with lively dancing and soughtkiz ways to expand the dance offerings in Buena Vista.  The encouragement of Kyle Wayman and Mary Plumb led to the first swing dance series last fall in conjunction with BV Recreation.  Four Sundays of lessons culminated with a Swing Ball featuring the big band music of the Swingin’ Seven from Boulder.  For five weeks, Buena Vista became the place to dance in the valley and the events were met with overwhelming success.  

Recently, we began our 2007 Swingin’ In the Spring series where we arestellar introducing participants to the idea that swing can be danced to all kinds of music and a variety of tempos. The series involves three Sundays of lessons and for the grand finale, the return of the Swingin’ Seven. We hope you will join us on Saturday, March 10th at 7:00pm at The Orpheum Theater at 409.5 East Main Street in Buena Vista.  

Starting Sunday, April 15th, join in for salsa lessons at the BV Heritage Museum at 7:00pm with Denver-based salsa champions and instructors, AJ Washington and Eulanda Shead. The name "salsa" correctly describes the flavor of this dance: hot! Danced correctly, there's a lot of hip action and zesty spins going on. We are offering five Sundays of salsa lessons which will lead up to the Salsa Dance Rally, Saturday, May 19th, at the Orpheum Theatre in conjunction with the Paddlefest 2007 River Rally Weekend. For this live music event we are looking forward to the return of the 11-piece salsa band, Kizumba, from Denver. Kizumba’s high energy playing is sure to get your feet moving!

Community members are already talking about what a fun, dance-filled spring this will be in Buena Vista.  Make sure to join in the excitement.  Visit www.avmad.org for more information.