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Join us for the 2024 Mad Robin Ball Weekend, May 17-21, in Petaluma, California. Our 20th Mad Robin Ball is expanded to include a welcome dance on Friday night and a special Palo Alto dance the following Tuesday. We’ll dance to programs designed by three of ECD’s most notable callers to memorable tunes provided by four of the genre’s most venerable musicians, all located in one of the most glorious locales in Northern California.

*Jacqueline Schwab, Mary Lea, Earl Gaddis, Daniel Beerbohm*

Jacqueline Schwab, Daniel Beerbohm, Earl Gaddis, and Mary Lea will play for all five dance events, except that Friday’s dance will feature Jacqueline, Earl, and Mary.

*Kalia Kliban, Gene Murrow, Bruce Hamilton*

Mad Robin Dancing Master – Gene Murrow
Special Dance Callers – Kalia Kliban and Bruce Hamilton

Weekend Highlights

Friday, May 17, 7:30-10 pm

The Weekend Welcome dance will feature the energetically textured calling of Kalia Kliban in the impeccably restored historical Craftsman-style Petaluma Women’s Clubhouse, 518 B Street, Petaluma, CA.

Saturday, May 18

Dancing Master Gene Murrow will lead the afternoon workshop and evening ball program Celebrate the Classics. His legacy program will comprise significant and consequential dances drawn from those recorded by Bare Necessities, Hold the Mustard and Reunion.

1:30-4:00 pm Workshop
7:00-10:00 pm Ball

Dancing will be on the resilient wooden dance floor in Petaluma’s spacious Hermann Sons Hall, erected in 1931, at 860 Western Avenue, Petaluma, CA.

Sunday, May 19

Enjoy a noontime potluck brunch in the garden of the 19th Century “Shingle Style” St. John’s Episcopal Church, 40 Fifth Street, Petaluma, CA, originally designed in 1891. Gene Murrow will then lead dancing to Memorable Melodies in the church hall. Following the dance, participants may join long-time and newly formed friends for a pay-to-order catered dinner.

12:30-2:00 pm Potluck Brunch
2:30-5:30 pm Memorable Melodies Dance led by Gene Murrow
6 pm Community Dinner, prepaid catering

Monday and Tuesday, May 20-21

Explore the distinctive natural beauty and quirky towns of Napa, Sonoma, and Marin Counties and the cultural riches of San Francisco and the Peninsula. See our Concierge page for ideas.

Tuesday, May 21, 7:30 -10:00 pm

Finish the ball weekend at the Special Peninsula Dance led by Bruce Hamilton in Palo Alto. Bruce’s program will reward an extra bit of skill and experience, but will remain accessible to dancers with basic knowledge of English figures. Enjoy dancing one more time to the music of Mary Lea, Earl Gaddis, and Jacqueline Schwab of Bare Necessities, with Daniel Beerbohm on winds at the First United Methodist Church, 625 Hamilton Avenue, Palo Alto, CA 94302.

Registration will open January 9, 2024 for the Workshop and Ball, which are limited to 125 pre-registered dancers. The additional three dance events will be open to all with admission paid at the door.

Community Expectations

COVID precautions. The NBCDS board of directors regularly updates and posts their covid policy. Individual event organizers may have more restrictive policies, and the Sebastopol ECD group, as of November, 2023, requires N-95 (or equivalent) masks indoors. The Mad Robin Ball committee will review local conditions and inform participants of the policy in advance of the Ball Weekend.
Dance Etiquette. The Mad Robin Ball committee asks participants to follow the NBCDS policy on dance etiquette.
Fragrance-Free Policy. Please refrain as much as possible from wearing or using products that contain synthetic fragrances, including perfumes, deodorant, soaps, laundry detergents. Fragrance-free soaps for handwashing will be available at our events.
Code of Conduct for NBCDS events.

Download a printable Save the Date flyer below:

Question or comment about Mad Robin Ball? Contact us here.