By Danny Bay
Music and dance enthusiasts from all across the nation and Canada will arrive in Buena Vista this weekend for the sixth annual Stellar Days and Nights music and dance festival at Adventure Unlimited in Chaffee County.
The guest list welcomes an eclectic mix of people composed of 20 percent locals, 30 percent from the Front Range, 15 percent from Colorado and New Mexico and 25 percent from out of state and out of country, according to Eleanor Fahrney, lead organizer and president of Arkansas Valley Music and Dance.
Fahrney said that blend is exactly what she wanted and that it was made possible by her and her husband's networking at various other music and dance camps around the nation. She said that through those camps, they decided to create one in their community.
"We saw something magical that happens when you're with some group of people for the weekend," she said. "You're sharing traditions. And so we felt that magic and wanted to share it."
In its first year, Stellar Days and Nights was offered a start-up grant from the Country Dance and Song Society, which was to cover half of the losses if the program were to lose anything, Fahrney said. And since then the organization has remained involved with the program helping with grants and various scholarships.
The weekend schedule includes several types of dance but Fahrney said that most people who come have a real desire to contra dance, which is a form somewhat similar to square dancing that derived from English country dancing and has one person calling each movement.
"It's one of the most accessible forms of dancing. It gets people into it. With everyone moving in the same direction they can guide you. And by dancing in a long line, by the end of the evening, you dance with everybody," she said.
Other types of dances throughout the weekend include waltz, which is the couples dance focus, Gumboot, which is an African rhythmic percussive dance, late-night blues and swing, and traditional English country dancing that is done to the classical tunes of Mozart and the like.
But Fahrney said there's a casual nature to it. "There is no tea or crumpets or proper attire. Some people like to dress up but there's no requirement," she said.
Because live music is such a key part of dancing, Fahrney said that there will also be a number of jam sessions and several intermediate guitar courses. One woman will share her family ballads from North Carolina; another will teach some African folk songs. The grant offered this year is for a sound operator's course.
(Originally published in The Chaffee County Times)
