This monday will be Callahan and Cassie.

Callahan Connor is a fiddler, spoken word artist, and certified music therapist. He loves to explore the beautiful mysteries of human music-making and to bring good vibes to a dance party. Lately he has been composing fiddle tunes for Balfolk dances and playing fiddle with the band Kryva Kosa.

Cassie Norton is a Toronto based singer-songwriter, violinist/multi-instrumentalist, improvisor, educator, facilitator and activist. The thread that ties all of these endeavors together is a strong desire to foster connection and community through music. 

The floor is open for dance musicians this fall! Want to play for Balfolk? Find an open slot, add your name, and get info on how it all works on this form. If you have questions about what to play, or anything else Monday music related, feel free to email Daev at daev3000@gmail.com

Location: 

Super Wonder Gallery, 1162 Bloor Street West, Toronto (near Dufferin)
Every Monday night! 

Schedule: 

7pm Tune Learning Session

8pm Dancing 

Both are pay-what-you-can

Upcoming dance music hosts:

Oct 20 Daev
Oct 27 John & Lisa

Nov 2 Daev & Callahan 

Nov 10 it could be you!

 CALL FOR BOARD MEMBERS 

Balfolk Toronto is still seeking more board members, and an accountant! Want to give back to this community, and have a voice in how it develops? We are currently seeking people with ANY of the following:

Enthusiasm to help support and grow this beautiful community

• Experience working with not-for-profits

• Interest in Balfolk dances

• Organizational skills (spreadsheets, Excel skills a plus)

If you feel something stirring in your heart about this, write to balfolktoronto@gmail.com! Or speak to Jeff, Daev, Cassie, or Callahan at a Balfolk event. 

See you on the dance floor!

Kryva Kosa is a Toronto-based folk band formed by members of the Kosa Folk Arts community.  We play music from Ukraine, Finland, Lithuania and Rezija, creating a unique blend of sound and song that reflects our diverse musical traditions.  In Ukrainian, Kryva Kosa means “crooked scythe”.  In many places the scythe brings the harvest and, across cultures, expressive folk music also helps nourish and connect us and sustain our survival.  But folk music is not just performed- it’s a community affair that is meant to be experienced!  We invite you to participate in some lively dancing- we'll teach you.  Join us as we carry the timeless melodies and movements of European folk music into the present day.  Together we’ll create a space where music, culture and community come together.

Balfolk dancing is popular social dancing from Western Europe, a recent revival of traditional, mostly French, folk dances.
Bourrées, jigues, gavotte, mazurkas, waltzes, scottishes: some partner dances, some group dances, some snakey chain dances.
They are all fun and easy to learn, you don’t need any partners or prior experience. We’ll show you how!

We always dance to live music: fiddles, accordions, clarinets and more…

Balfolk is a term used in the last 50 years to describe popular social folk dancing in Western Europe. It includes old traditional dances from a variety of French and western European regions, as well as modern tunes influenced by many styles composed for people to dance to. Balfolk is not definable as ONE style, but rather an umbrella term for many ways of dancing and playing for a huge repertoire of dances.

Balfolk Toronto was started by Tangi Ropars and Emilyn Stam in the spring of 2013, with our first big bal in March of 2014 and weekly dances on Mondays almost every Monday since 2013. Since then many people have contributed to the development of our community!

7pm: Tune Learning Session AKA Slow Jam with Cassie Norton
8pm: Dance! With live music
The Tune Learning Session AKA Slow Jam is a pay what you can weekly workshop open to all people who are interested in playing balfolk music, but are either completely new to it, or find our dance jams a little too fast to pick up the tunes. We will learn a couple of tunes per week (maximum 2) and review tunes from previous weeks at each session. We will learn all tunes by ear, very slowly, first singing and then playing. ALL instruments are welcome, including the voice! Hope to see you at the session soon.

Pay What You Can! Suggested $10.

Balfolk dancing is popular social dancing from Western Europe, a recent revival of traditional, mostly French, folk dances.
 Bourrées, jigues, gavotte, mazurkas, waltzes, scottishes: some partner dances, some group dances, some snakey chain dances.
They are all fun and easy to learn, you don’t need any partners or prior experience. We’ll show you how!
 
We always dance to live music: fiddles, accordions, clarinets and more…

Balfolk is a term used in the last 50 years to describe popular social folk dancing in Western Europe. It includes old traditional dances from a variety of French and western European regions, as well as modern tunes influenced by many styles composed for people to dance to. Balfolk is not definable as ONE style, but rather an umbrella term for many ways of dancing and playing for a huge repertoire of dances.

Balfolk Toronto was started by Tangi Ropars and Emilyn Stam in the spring of 2013, with our first big bal in March of 2014 and weekly dances on Mondays almost every Monday since 2013. Since then many people have contributed to the development of our community!

7pm: Tune Learning Session AKA Slow Jam with Cassie Norton
8pm: Dance! With music by Elise Boeur & Adam Iredale-Gray
The Tune Learning Session AKA Slow Jam is a pay what you can weekly workshop open to all people who are interested in playing balfolk music, but are either completely new to it, or find our dance jams a little too fast to pick up the tunes. We will learn a couple of tunes per week (maximum 2) and review tunes from previous weeks at each session. We will learn all tunes by ear, very slowly, first singing and then playing. ALL instruments are welcome, including the voice! Hope to see you at the session soon.

Fiddler Elise Boeur draws from the wells of Norwegian and Swedish fiddle music, melds in fistfuls of arcane influences, and emerges with a multi-faceted sound grounded in Nordic traditions. Adam Iredale-Gray is a versatile guitarist with deep roots in Irish traditional music and a commitment to innovation. They each spent years touring as collaborators with diverse projects, and as members of their prog-trad quintet Aerialists, and all along they were playing fiddle tunes at sessions, folk dances, and afterparties. With this duo project, you’re invited into these social music afterhours; a celebration of the experience of sharing fiddle traditions the way they’ve been shared for centuries, the tune recreating itself anew with each repetition as folks sit knee to knee and play.