BRATTLEBORO — Some local musical legends will celebrate and support Hilltop Middle School students' upcoming 2015 Alabama Odyssey with a winter-chasing, down-home, family contra dance on Friday, March 6, from 7 to 9 p.m., in the new Arts Barn at the Hilltop Montessori School.
Keith Murphy will lead community dancing with musicians Becky Tracy (fiddle) and Andy Davis (piano). Participants don't need to bring partners or have any dance experience. All dances are easily taught on the spot. The event includes gourmet sweet and savory snacks, refreshments, and craft projects. Dancers will get a workout, as well.
The dance is a fundraiser for the April 2015 Hilltop Middle School's Alabama Odyssey, a unique biennial exploration of civil rights and reality in one of the United States' most culturally rich but economically depressed regions.
“We've been building connections with Alabama communities for 10 years now, but this civil rights immersion is particularly relevant today as images of Ferguson and reports of growing income disparity in the United States are fresh in our minds,” said Hilltop Middle School Director Paul Dedell. “Each trip deepens and grows the connections we've forged.”