Hi, I'm Harris Lapiroff.

Last week, at Youth Dance Weekend¹ in Fairlee VT, I called my first full dance festival.

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It nicely caps off the five years of calling I’ve just had. When reflecting on two years of calling in 2024, I wrote, “I really like doing this. I think I’ve gotten pretty good at it and I’m determined to get better.” I didn’t write posts reflecting emotionally on 2024 and 2025 but, had I done so, I might have written something like:

2022 and 2023 were years of determination and momentum for me. 2024 and 2025 were years of imposter syndrome. I spent much of them feeling like I wasn’t as good at this as my peer callers. I had many nights where I didn’t do as well as I should have and I received some substantial negative feedback on my teaching from an event that was important to me. I’m unsure I deserve to be booked for the bigger events I’ve been coveting.

So it’s nice, in 2026, to feel like I’m back on the upswing – largely feeling good after the events I call, better at handling the unexpected, and like my baseline event quality is now “a pretty good night.” It helps, too, to have the external validation of finally being booked for some of those weekends I’ve longed to call².

And I think I did well this weekend! I made some small errors, nothing major, and I got a lot of positive feedback from dancers. Some of them had not done much English dancing at all before and nevertheless navigated my program, which was not overly simple!

It was a pleasure to work with the other staff, especially my English band and friends, Jacob Chen and Audrey Jaber, but also to collaborate with the contra staff Hannah Chamberlain and Cojiro (and some stray musicians from the YDW committee) on an ambitious English-contra medley Saturday night³.

This event was also special to me because of the place YDW has in my heart. I was at the very first YDW in 2008⁴. It’s likely it was actually the first dance weekend I traveled for. In 2013 I joined the YDW organizing committee and remained on it for six years. The event has meant a lot to me as a dancer and organizer and a surprising number of my canon events of adulthood were at or related to it. So, even though I’m now squarely outside of YDW’s core demographic, it was meaningful to finally take the stage for an event that is so significant in my life. It may well have been my last time ever at YDW and it was a beautiful way for me to close out that era.

The Program

Here is the complete YDW program for 2026. Much thanks to Hannah Chamberlain (contra caller), Greer Doble (camper caller wrangler), and Kat Dutton (Scottish caller) for their quick responses to my program requests and permission to republish here.

Friday Night Contra, 7:30–9PM

Led by Hannah

1. Once More With Feeling, Isaac Banner
2. Summer of '94, Mike Richardson
3. Weave to Orbit, Bob Isaacs
4. I’ve Got Your Shadow Cornered, Jim Hemphill
5. Chain the Corner, Chris Page
6. Fruit Punch, Diane Silver

Friday Night English, 9:30–11PM

Led by Harris

1. The Farmer’s Joy, Joseph Pimentel (2012)
2. Childgrove, Playford (1701)
3. Well Hall, Playford (1679)
4. Peridot Ring, Susan Kevra (2017)
5. Candles in the Dark, Loretta Holz (2006)
6. Barbarini’s Tambourine, Walsh (1745)

Saturday Morning Scottish 9:15AM–10:15AM

Led by Kat Dutton

1. Lords of the Wind, Iain Boyd, Lord of the Rings Collection
2. Zytglogge, Terry Blackburn, Collecta Ursis
3. Loon Mountain Reel, Alan Smith, Start Dancing!

Saturday Morning ContraLab, 10:30–11:45AM

Led by Hannah. The ContraLab session is a YDW tradition where callers lead dances with twists – games, exercises, or just something a little different from your usual contra.

1. Patience, Chris Page
   In the Manner of the Adverb: At the top, each person (Lark 1, Robin 1 etc) gets an index card with an adverb. Keep it secret!!! Pass the card down to the next same-role person in their line. Your challenge is to dance in the manner of the adverb. At the end, stay in whatever hands 4 you’re in and guess the adverb of each role.

2. United We Dance, Bob Isaacs
   Keeping Time: Every so often during this dance the band will stop playing for big chunks of time. Keep dancing! You are the rhythm! When we end, the band will tell us our BPMs at the beginning and end of the dance… or we’ll dissolve into complete chaos and that’s okay too.

3. No Use Crying Over Spilled Milk, Chris Weiler
   Becket Contra Dance Mixer

4. Mad Robin in Love, Greg Frock
   Quiet Contra

5. Butter, Gene Hubert
   Respond to the Music: For this last dance, the band will switch tunes several times. Pay attention to the music and try to fully embody what you’re hearing in each tune.

Saturday Afternoon Contra, 2:45–4PM

Led by Hannah

1. Woven Waves, Cary Ravitz
2. Moody Street, Sue Rosen
3. Dead Cat Bounce (var.), Nathaniel Jack
4. Nightsail, Rick Mohr
5. Read Between the Lines, Bob Isaacs

Saturday Evening English, 7:30PM–9PM

Led by Harris

1. Mile of Smiles, Joseph Pimentel (2012)
2. Michedonia, Dan Blim (2014)
3. Lilliburlero, Playford (1690)
4. Key to the Cellar, Jenny Beer (2004)
5. The Astonished Archaeologist, Philippe Callens (1992)
6. Softly Good Tummas, Nathaniel Kynaston (1718)

Saturday Evening English-Contra Medley, 9:30PM–9:40PM

Alternating prompting from Hannah and Harris, each dance run 3–4 times.

1. Punch West, Dugan Murphy
2. Cockle Shells, Playford (1701)
3. Roll Twelve (var.), Chris Page
4. When Laura Smiles, Orly Krasner (2000)
5. Dawn’s G——y Dance, Grant Goodyear
6. Indian Queen, Playford (1701)

Saturday Evening Contra, 9:40PM–11PM

Led by Hannah

1. Naughty Neighbors, Mark Richardson
2. Cupid’s Clout, Susan Petrick
3. Arcadian Stomp, Darcy Kerr
4. To Live is to Dance (var.), Jim Kitch
5. Serendipity, Chris Page
6. Random Acts of Kindness, David Glick

Sunday Morning English, 9AM–10:15AM

Led by Harris

1. Alice, Philippe Callens (2002)
2. Pluck Me A Fig, Anna Rain (2011)
3. Dancing Across the Atlantic, Loretta Holz (2003)
4. Revelations, Jenna Simpson (2017)
5. Sapphire Sea, Christine Robb (2015)

Sunday Morning Camper-Led Dance, 10:30AM–12PM

Callers coordinated by Greer

1. Working Stiff, John Coffman (Called by Albert)
2. Winter in Summerland, Jeff Spero and James Hutson (Called by Summer)
3. Double Trouble, Bob Isaacs (Called by Andrey)
4. Heartbeat Contra, Don Flaherty (Called by Ronja)
5. Old Wife Behind the Fire, Neal (1726) (Called by Mo)
6. Thing of Trust, Chris Page (Called by Jay)
7. Richfield Stomp, Becky Hill (Called by Tighe)

Sunday Afternoon English, 1:15–2:10PM

Led by Harris

1. Mendocino Redwood, Mary Devlin, Bob Fraley, and Elizabeth Zekley (2005)
2. Pine Hollow, Brooke Friendly (2025)
3. Monterey Ploughman, Susan Kevra (2019)
4. Money Musk, Preston (1776)⁵

Sunday Afternoon Contra, 2:10–3PM

Led by Hannah

1. Medley: The Nice Combination, Gene Hubert; The Ritz, Gene Hubert; Burning the Bacon (var.), Steve Zakon-Anderson
2. Gold Star Wednesday, Dale Wilson
3. Twiddly Diddly, Walter Lenk
4. Mary Cay’s Reel, David Kaynor

1. “Youth” is perhaps a bit misleading here for those not in the know. In this context, youth means “young for the folk dance community.” The event is 18+ and mostly consists of people in their 20s and early 30s. ↩︎

2. Though I can’t announce it yet because contracts haven’t been signed and promotion hasn’t started, I do have another weekend lined up! ↩︎

3. Inspired by Adina Gordon undertaking a similar feat at YDW a number of years ago. ↩︎

4. Which is how you know my presence at YDW 2026 strains the definition of youth. ↩︎

5. Technically, as taught at YDW, this is a contra dance “chestnut,” but responsibility for teaching it falls to the English dance caller. ↩︎