Glen Morningstar is a recreational dance leader, dance caller, dance historian, traditional fiddle and banjo player, band director and folk singer.  He has taught and led traditional dance for K-university schools, adults, and inter-generational communities in the subjects of English country dancing, house-party square dancing, New England square dancing, contra dancing, and 17th-19th century dances of the United States.  He has led workshops for dance callers, writers, musicians and community organizers across the United States and Canada, as well as overseas in Denmark and Belgium.  From 1981 to 2005, Glen led the American Contra Dance series at Lovett Hall at The Henry Ford in Dearborn, MI. As Director of The Olde Michigan Ruffwater Stringband since its inception in 1971 and with Paint Creek Folklore Society, he directed two Folk Music, Song and Dance Performance and Cultural Exchanges between Michigan and Denmark.  He loves leading traditional and recreational dance for home school associations and dance-through-history programs for K-6 public elementary schools. As part of his MA in Education, Glen  constructed a curriculum for 5th grade elementary students, entitled “Dance Your Way Through American History”, to be used by educators in public and private schools. 

Judi Morningstar has been playing hammered dulcimer since 1979 and teaching (both privately and in classes at music festivals).  She performs with The Olde Michigan Ruffwater Stringband, Just Friends, and Aunt LU and the Oakland County All Stars.  She is a prolific composer of contra dance music and has published several collections of contra dance music, geared towards the hammered dulcimer.  She is also a great piano player.

We are very pleased to welcome Glen and Judi back for a second visit to the Central Iowa Traditional Dance Festival.

Amy McFarland began playing the piano as a young child in New England, where she discovered contra dancing as a teenager. By high school, she was playing in two contra dance bands, and performed with many notable folk musicians and dance callers. While living in Illinois during the 1980s she played for both contra dances and English country dances. In 1994, Amy moved to Wisconsin and joined The Last Gaspé. Her other musical interests include swing, blues, and ragtime.

Maria Terres began playing fiddle at the age of nine and attended her first contra dance while living in the Boston area as a teenager. She began playing for dances and has been a dance fiddler since then in dance communities throughout the country. The Milwaukee, WI ,monthly contra dance series she hosts is now in its thirteenth season. In addition, she is an accomplished Irish fiddler. She has taught privately and under the auspices of the Wisconsin Conservatory of Music and Milwaukee Irish Fest Summer School, given workshops, developed and performed in numerous school programs, composed music including music for theatrical productions, and worked as a studio musician. She has been a member of The Last Gaspé since 1996, having played with the band as a regular substitute since the late '80s. She has diverse musical interests, including jazz and improvisational playing, classical, theater, and all types of ethnic traditional music.

Cecil's Harp:  Gary Lieberman (guitar, clarinet, flute, oboe, etc), Linda Lieberman (whistles, fiddle, clarinet), with Annie Grieshop (piano), as Cecil's Harp, have played for English country dance, Scottish country dance, barn dance, and contra dance across the Midwest and as far away as Australia.  They will also be joined by other musicians from Central Iowa.