We are excitedly looking forward to dancing with friends from all over during our eighth Harvest Moon Dance Weekend held September 20 to 22, 2024, at the Baker Community Center in St. Charles. We are pleased to have Paul Ross calling for that, and to hear the combination of two wonderful musicians, Mara Shea and Kathy Talvitie, playing for the weekend. Registration will open in the summer

Coming up sooner, our Chicagoland West Dance groups are sponsoring a weekend in April with live music of Dance in France: the New and the Old. Saturday’s New program will initiate what we hope is a series of Balfolk events in this area. Sunday’s Old program gives an opportunity to welcome back Susan de Guardiola for her fascinating exploration of historic dance.

In May we will enjoy live music for our slightly earlier “usual” English dance — Amy McFarland and our own Aileen Murphy will be playing — in conjunction with live music also for the Scottish dancers’ Spring Dance the previous day. In June, we will take advantage of the visit by the DC area band Terpsichore for the Midwest Scottish Weekend and have them play for an English dance.