Bayside Travellers
Contra dancing in Northern Michigan! Traverse City and surrounding areas. Join us for a dance!
08/07/2024
Here's a chance to do some summer dancing! Not a Bayside Travellers event, but a great chance to get your dance fix in - reach out to Summit City Grange #672 with any questions. Happy dancing!
27/06/2024
Bayside Travellers Board Meeting tonight!
6pm at the Traverse Area District Library (610 Woodmere Ave.), upstairs in the Thirlby Room.
All members and dancers are welcome to attend (attend two meetings in a year and be able to vote at the second meeting). Agenda will include review of our constitution, officer and committee duties, and preparation for the annual meeting.
And just like that, our dance season is over, and we're on summer break! Don't worry, we're not going anywhere - regular dances will resume in October, and we can't wait to see you then! We'll be continuing to post pictures, videos, and other dance tidbits over the summer, so keep an eye out.
For now, here's a video of Ruby John Music singing with The Johns at our dance last Saturday. What a great way to wrap up our dance season! ❤️
05/06/2024
We're dancing this Saturday! Come on out and join us for our last dance of the season! But don't worry, we're not going anywhere - we'll be back in October!
Music by The Johns ( Ruby John Music ) and calling by Laurie Pietravalle. Fun for everyone! Come welcome in the summer with us!
Hoping for an extra chance to dance in October? We'll be having our normal dance on October 12th, but Josh Boomer and Alanna Steffunick are also inviting all dancers to their contra dance wedding reception on October 26th! All details are in the event below!
Join us for another wonderful dance! Last one before summer break! Don't worry, we'll be back in the fall. But in the meantime, welcome in summer with a great dance, incredible music, and fun for everyone!
https://fb.me/e/2616nK8jK
11/05/2024
Don't forget, we're dancing tonight! Come on out and join us!
All the details are here: Contra Dance in Traverse City - Learn to dance with Bayside Travellers!
03/05/2024
Special reminder that we've got a dance coming up next Saturday! Music will be provided by Woodland Celtic - the wonderful Sue Wood and Ruby John Music! We're so excited to have them!
Come dance with us on Saturday, May 11th, starting at 7pm!
All details here: Contra Dance in Traverse City - Learn to dance with Bayside Travellers!
For those who are interested, here is the Summit City dance that was mentioned at our last dance! It's coming up this Saturday! Sounds like there's a possibility of them dancing through the summer - great chance for you to get your dance fix in while Bayside Travellers is on summer break July through September!
Come dance with us! Our next contra dance is Saturday, May 11th!
https://fb.me/e/1h4ezvgAe
12/04/2024
We're dancing tomorrow! Starting at 7pm, with music by Last Minute String Band and calling by Dave Goodwin!
As you may know, our dance location is right in the middle of a large road work project. Please don't let this stop you from dancing with us tomorrow - our social media coordinator also works in the church we dance at and has to drive through the road work several times a week, and reports that all of the detours are well marked and very manageable! Traffic backup is minimal as well!
See the image below that has all of the detours marked - Bethlehem Lutheran Church is represented by the gold star. The front entrance/exit on Garfield is blocked, but the back entrance/exit on Peninsula Drive will be open for the duration of the project!
See you all tomorrow evening!
10/04/2024
Don't forget, we're dancing this Saturday! Live music will be provided by Last Minute String Band - be sure to join us so you don't miss their incredible music and some great dancing!
Dance info here: Contra Folk Dance with Bayside Travellers - Newcomers Welcome!
Dig for the oyster . . . dive for the clam . . . shoot that hole in the old tin can! 🎻🎶
27/03/2024
Did you know that Bayside Travellers has sponsorship opportunities? We would love to have YOU sponsor one of our dances! It's an incredible way to support Bayside Travellers and our mission to share traditional music and dance with the community!
There are multiple levels that we offer for sponsorships; check them all out in the image below! You can even sponsor the caller or band!
Would you be interested in sponsoring one of our dances? Do you know a local business or individual who might be interested in being a sponsor? Reach out to us here on Facebook or email us at [email protected] - we can't wait to hear from you!
Lovely music by Lone Pine Sound back in September! Enjoy!
23/03/2024
"There are shortcuts to happiness, and dancing is one of them."
-Vicki Baum
A beautiful dance from October, when we celebrated our 40th anniversary!
18/03/2024
Have you enjoyed watching our wonderful callers lead the dances, and thought that maybe you'd be interested in learning the skill for yourself?
One of our callers is in the process of putting together a possible calling workshop!
If you'd be interested in this, please send us a direct message (there is a message button at the top of our page, Bayside Travellers) with your contact information, and we will forward that on to the caller to get you connected!
Happy dancing to you all!
16/03/2024
The wonderful Rigs & Jeels - TC played for our March dance, and we cannot thank them enough! If you're looking for something to do today and want to listen to some amazing music, they'll be playing at Lake Ann Brewing Co. this afternoon and at St. Ambrose Cellars this evening! Ruby John Music will be joining them as well!
More details on their page, which you can find by clicking on their name at the beginning of this post. Check them out!
Shenanigans!
If you watch closely in this video, you can see some partner swapping happening between two of the couples! The two gents are swinging at the beginning, and the two ladies are paired up as well. You'll see them switch around a few times during the dance! This is a pretty advanced addition that you'll see more often at bigger dance weekend events - it was great fun to watch here at our own dance!
08/03/2024
Smiles all around, at every dance!
06/03/2024
Passing the mic halfway through the dance.
Two incredible callers, Dave Goodwin and Patricia Reeser, calling a dance together in October!
What fun! Don't forget, we're dancing again this Saturday, and we hope you can join us!
Details here: Contra Dance - Learn to dance with Bayside Travellers!
29/02/2024
Some very important information!
Over the next several months, there will be significant road work being done in the area surrounding Bethlehem Lutheran Church, Traverse City, where we host our dances. For our upcoming March 9th dance, the roadwork is scheduled to begin the next day, and our April, May, and June dances will be effected.
There will be many road closures and redirections, but please know, there will ALWAYS be one way to get into the church! It may just take a little more planning to get there! The Peninsula Drive back entrance should always be open.
Please check out the maps below to see what roads will be closed (we've added a gold star to show where Bethlehem is) so that you can plan your route in advance. Here is a link to the Department of Transportation's article on the project if you need more info: https://www.michigan.gov/mdot/projects-studies/us-route-construction/us31-m72-rebuilding-project-traverse-city
Don't let the roadwork stop you from dancing - just do a little bit of planning in advance to make sure you know how to get there!
27/02/2024
LOST & FOUND ALERT!
These items were left behind at our dances over the last few months! If any of these items belong to you, please send us a message so we can arrange to get them back to you!
Anything not claimed in the next few weeks will be donated.
Items include:
Khombu boots size 7.5
leopard print Apt. 9 brand sweater size XL
Athletic Works brand water bottle
a beautiful patterned scarf, no tag!
Beautiful circle dance a few weeks ago, and as you can see, everyone was having a great time!
We are so excited to have Rigs & Jeels - TC play for our upcoming March dance! They've played for us many times before and are always absolutely wonderful. Check out all these other places you can catch them, including this weekend at the Great Indoor Folk Festival!
24/01/2024
We are very excited to announce that we have dances scheduled THROUGH JUNE 2025!
Special thanks to Bethlehem Lutheran Church, Traverse City for continuing to allow us to use their space to hold our dances for another year!
Check out the schedule below, and make sure to mark our dances on your calendar so you can make it! There will always be a Facebook event published for the next upcoming dance.
PLEASE NOTE that we will be taking a summer break from dances in July through September 2024, and will be back dancing again in October!
Happy dancing to you all!
16/01/2024
Great Indoor Folk Festival is an amazing way to experience the local folk music talent! Several people who have played for our dances are included in this line up!
Here it is folks, the lineup for this year's Great Indoor Folk Festival! Thanks to Jenny Thomas for knocking it out of the park every year with her fabulous design work!
What a fun dance we had last night! The snow sure didn't stop us from having a great time!
Thanks to everyone who braved the weather to come dance with us. For everyone who had to miss it - don't worry, we'll be back on February 10th! Same time, same place, and we hope you can join us!
(February dance event and info will go up within the next few days.)
Videos (show all)
