Dance in the Desert 2022

Dance in the Desert 2022

Nov 11-13

Click here to Register for DitD 2022

Bands

Claire Zucker, Robert Rosenberg, Alice Boyle, Dave Firestine
 

Audacious

Larry Unger & Audrey Jaber (Knuth)

 

The Privy Tippers

The Privy Tippers will be performing at the 2018 Dance in the Desert.

Jesse Anderson, Jerry Ray Weinert,  Jacquie Wohl, and Dave Firestine

Callers

Will Mentor

 

Frannie Marr

Camp

Only an hour and a half from Tucson and two hours from Phoenix, the Triangle Y Ranch Camp is located in the northern foothills of the Santa Catalina Mountains. At a 5000 foot elevation, the camp’s 400 acres provide beautiful scenery and ample facilities. Dance on our custom-made, resilient wood floor, and enjoy the amazing view of the San Pedro river valley from the dining hall. Hike and explore the surrounding Coronado National Forest in the Arizona sunshine.

Check-in opens at 3:00 p.m. on Friday. Please try to arrive before dark (5:30pm) to get settled in your cabin or camping spot.  Camp begins with supper, followed by a dance. We start Saturday with a hearty breakfast, then prepare for a full day of workshops for dancers, singers, and musicians. Saturday night’s gala dance will be followed by late night jamming. Sunday morning features more music and dance, and the weekend concludes with a dance after lunch on Sunday. Camp closes at 3:00 p.m.

Rustic cabins each house up to twelve campers in bunks and share nearby rest rooms and shower houses. Cabins are designated family, mixed-gender, or single gender, and will be available on a first-come basis at camp.  Some handicapped accommodations are available. There is plenty of space for tent camping and RV parking. A new shower house for campers was built in 2018.  You can also arrange your own off-site accommodations and receive a discount on your registration fee.

Six hearty meals (Friday supper through Sunday lunch) plus delightful snacks will be provided. There is a vegetarian option.

Making It Happen

Other than the musicians and callers, Dance in the Desert is entirely run by volunteers. Each camper is asked to do one chore at camp. Let us know in advance if you have any special needs or talents.

A limited number of partial work scholarships (2-3 hours of work) are available for those needing financial assistance. Please note on the registration form if you wish to request a work scholarship.

  • Dance in the Desert 2022
  • Dance in the Desert 2022
  • Dance in the Desert 2022
  • Dance in the Desert 2022

About the Bands

STEAM

STEAM!

STEAM! brings power, energy, and fun to dance halls around the country.

Balancing drive with uplifting elegance, spontaneous quirkiness, and lush harmonies, this band serves up intuitive musicality based on decades of combined experience.

STEAM! plays an eclectic variety of tunes for contras: modern, old-time, Irish, and French Canadian, adding plenty of weird and wonderful tunes from around the world. Alice is known for her joyful fiddle style, inventive harmonies, and waltzes that make your heart sing. Dave is the band’s tune-meister for jamming and is a melody king on stage as well. Robert’s guitar lays a rhythmic groove with crazy-good chords and flat-picking leads. Claire adds boogie with her bodhrán and foot percussion and then pulls out a lovely sung waltz to cap the evening. While these four great friends spend most of their time separated by the Rocky Mountains, they tour and play dance events regularly all over the U.S. And they’ve spent every September for years now at Carp Camp of the Walnut Valley Festival in Winfield, Kansas. Jamming for 16 hours a day for 2 weeks straight gives room for experimenting and touring through the odd and wonderful permutations of each tune, not to mention the tie-dye and general silliness that may ensue. Check out their website DanceToSteam.com  to learn more.  When STEAM! comes round, it’s time to have some dancin’ FUN!

The Privy Tippers
The Privy Tippers

Hailing from Tucson, Arizona, The Privy Tippers are a rock-solid dance band steeped in the Southern string band tradition. Over the past 21 years they kept one foot in the South while they stepped into several other musical traditions, such as French Canadian, New England and music of the Southwestern Borderlands. Dave Firestine is an exceptional lead and back-up mandolin player who adds a danceable punch to each and every note. Jacquie Wohl leads the band with her driving melodic fiddling. On string bass, Jerry Ray Weinert lays the rhythmic foundation for the musical dance of the fiddle and mandolin.  Jesse Jacob Anderson brings a dynamic and powerful approach to rhythm guitar playing that can help propel dancers and musicians alike into that rare state of contra bliss. He has played with a variety of groups since moving to Arizona in 1998, including The Frayed Knots, Pick ‘n Holler, Updraft, Just Desserts, The Frisco Mountain Moonlighters, The Backsliders, and The Hillbillies from Mars. He is also a talented solo artist, playing professionally on The Grand Canyon Railway since 2004 and performing regularly elsewhere in Arizona and beyond.

Audicious
Audicious

Audacious is Audrey Jaber (Knuth) and Larry Unger, a duo of consummate dance musicians with unsurpassed energy and imagination coming from both coasts to help us shake off the last 2 years. Contra, Old Time, Celtic, New England, Old England, you name it, they play it. Larry is an accomplished composer and they both teach a fine workshop. Don’t miss this special combination! (Watch them play a waltz composed by Larry here.)

About the Callers

Wendy Graham
Will Mentor


Will Mentor is a contra and square dance caller from northern Vermont known for his clear teaching, upbeat wit, and relaxed stage presence. He loves to choreograph evenings with a variety of dances and tempos that at times surprise and always delight. All the while, keeping intact his guiding principle as a caller: “It’s about the dancers!”.​

Frannie Marr
Frannie Marr

I am a caller, dance organizer, and traveling dancer residing in North County San Diego. After being dragged to a contra dance by my sister, I fell so in love with dancing that I began teaching contra dances to my elementary school students. I called my first full night when a friend asked me to cover on short notice. I’ve been calling regularly ever since!

I draw on my experience as a traveling dancer to call dances that people like. My hallmark is quick walkthroughs, efficient calling, and letting the dance and music flow whenever possible. I continue to grow as a caller, and have recently begun calling squares and English Country.

Contact us about any questions you may have.