Square Dance Workshop

Join us for a lively afternoon of music and movement. Learn traditional American social dances, including contra dances from New England, square dances from the Southern Appalachians, and reels with roots in Ireland and Scotland. Gibson teaches gender-free dances (traditionally, participants had either a 'lady' or 'gent' role) , ensuring that all are welcome. The event is open to first-time dancers of all ages. The rain location for this event is Top of the Hop. About the Artists About the Artists Ida Mae Specker is an old-time fiddler, vocalist, songwriter, educator and radio host from southern Vermont. Blending original compositions with contemporary and traditional material, she brings heartfelt new life and relevance to the living chain of American folk music. Alongside her father, legendary Vermont fiddler John Specker, Ida Mae performs a singular take on old-time music—anchored in tradition yet audacious in originality. The late Vermont Public radio host Robert Resnik has called the Specker family "Vermont Folk Heroes." She has shared the stage with Yo-Yo Ma, Jeremy Dutcher, Mali Obamsawin, Donna the Buffalo, Rising Appalachia, Caitlin Canty, Noam Pikelny, and Jake Blount, and has performed at venues across the eastern US from the Green Mountain Bluegrass & Roots Festival to the Shakori Hills Festival in North Carolina. In 2025, she began a collaboration with cellist Yo-Yo Ma and others to explore our connections to community and nature across the northeast. More info at: www.idamaespecker.com Sarah Gibson is a musician, square dance caller and radio journalist from Rutland County. She grew up performing world folk music with the Vermont-based Village Harmony and Northern Harmony. She has studied old-time music, banjo and dance traditions in Kentucky and North Carolina, and she is currently a Vermont Traditional Arts Apprentice with the Vermont Folklife Center. She specializes in calling family-friendly gender-free dances that incorporate traditions from the Southern Appalachians and New England.