• Schedule of David's public calling, dancing, or music-playing engagements
• Dance sequences by David and friends
• "Cracking Chestnuts" column
• Dances in search of attribution
• Index of Ted Sannella's dances
• Publicity materials: a brief biographical blurb and a hi-res version of the photo above
• Email David

If you are unfamiliar with contra dancing, this page may not make much sense to you. But I am a good example of just how all-consuming dancing can become. Most of my weekends include some time calling, playing, or dancing somewhere, and I often work on dance related projects when I probably ought to be doing something else.

I have been dancing since the mid-sixties, and calling for dances since 1981. Most of the calling I do is in NY State, but I sometimes travel a bit farther afield to call as well. Being a caller is a great opportunity to facilitate other people's fun while having lots of fun myself. I call for family dances and school programs, regular evenings of contras and squares, English Country Dances, and special events. I also have prepared a variety of workshops on dance related topics that I enjoy offering. My taste in dances is eclectic, and I love to present a wide variety of dances when I call. My repertoire includes plenty of New England contras, as well as an assortment of squares, singing calls, mixers, old chestnuts and freshly minted dances.

A musician as well as a caller, I work at integrating my calling with the music. Give me a guitar and I can be both caller and band for a singing square dance! I am part of various bands, including my family's band, Three Wheel Drive ("the tricycle of contra dance bands"), and a band called Hearts Delight. I'm also an accompanist for the English Country dance ensembles Four Hands Round and Two Laurels.

Members of my family are involved with dance and music as well. My wife plays beautiful whistle music. My oldest son plays a variety of instruments. The next one is a fine dancer, singer and composer of dances. And my youngest plays electric guitar. We are all now - or have been at one time or another - Bassett Street Hounds. (The Hounds are Syracuse's finest - and only - border Morris team.)

I am occassionally on staff or volunteering at various dance weekends and camps. I have also worked for several years now on a syllabus for the Ralph Page Dance Legacy Weekend. Hard copies of this record of all the dancing that takes place at the weekend are available through NEFFA. Electronic versions can be found on the Internet at the University of New Hampshire's Dimond Library. My master index of all the syllabi created since 1988 is also at the UNH website.

Spreaking of indices... while thinking about a "Ted Sannella Retrospective" session that was being planned for the 2006 Ralph Page weekend, I created an index of all of Ted's published dances. It is in a Microsoft Excel file, and I offer it here as a small gift to others who appreciate (as I do) Ted's rich contribution to contra dance choreography. (This is an excellent example of how I find myself working on dance related projects when I probably ought to be doing something else.)

My work as an organizer with the Syracuse Country Dancers has involved me in a variety of fascinating projects over the years, including working on the Phylla Mae Fall Fest and organizing and helping to coordinate special callers gatherings. I was one of the three original organizers of the triple Ted's Triplet Marathon that took place in March of 2002. (An article that I co-authored about this event appears in the May/June issue of the 2003 CDSS News.) In March of 2004 we had a similarly exciting callers gathering in Syracuse called "Cracking Chestnuts," which led eventually to the publication of my book by the same name, which offers my take on such wonderful dances as Hull's Victory, British Sorrow and Rory O'More. Interested in the dance Petronella? Check out my list of Petronella "spinoffs".

And I enjoy tinkering with dance sequences. Because I like dances of many different styles, my compositions are fairly eclectic in character. If you click on my name below you can check out some of my experiments and creations. The other names lead you to dances by friends, relations and neighbors.

Finally, if you are a caller, I'd much appreciate if you'd have a look this group of dances in search of attribution. They are all sequences that I've written down from one place or another, but for which I don't have a title or author. I would be very grateful if you could identify any of them for me.