On Tuesday, September 30th, nationally known caller Penelope Weinberger will call the dance! Regular time and place.
On October 11th, a group unaffiliated with Madison Contra is putting on a barn dance. It should be a good time! Information from them:
Old-Time Barn Dance #17
Saturday, October 11, 2025
Come join in the fun of the Old-time Barn Dance #17 out on the farm at The O'Brien Barn, 552 Glenway Rd, Brooklyn, WI.
The Old-time Barn Dance #17 is at @ 7pm with ’Cobs, Clover & Twang’ and dance caller Mike Mossman (all dances will be taught).
Special Music Guest: The Stop and Listen!
This event is in the spirit of family fun so Come One, Come All! Open to all Ages!
The Evening will start with a Potluck Dinner @ 5:30pm.
Please come meet friends and neighbors and bring your favorite dish to pass and own beverage(s) for the evening.
Plus: Oregon-Brooklyn Food Pantry Collection Night! Info at: https://oregonareafoodpantry.com/helping-the-pantry for donation needs. (No expired food items please)
* A suggested $15. per adult optional donation will be collected at the door (to cover the many expenses).
* Mask Optional. Please feel free to wear a mask if you need or want to!
The calendar below adjusts based on the time zone you're in. For example, if you're in the eastern time zone, it will look like our 7:30 pm dances happen at 8:30 pm. Some people also see the wrong times when daylight saving time is not in effect, i.e., November to March. In any case, the Tuesday dances are always at 7:30.
Almost every Tuesday, year-round, dancing to begin promptly at 7:30 to about 9:30 pm, at the Wil-Mar Center.
Your donations fund modest payments to the bands and callers, and the hall rental. Please give what you can — many folks give about $5. For students, $3 is typical. If you're coming regularly, you could consider paying $50 for three months of dancing.
If you're a band interested in playing music, please contact our booking committee.
If you're interested in calling, please contact us and introduce yourself.
The first Tuesday of each month has an open band. The sheet music is available here.
News articles about Tuesday dances:
Circle Left. Published in the Isthmus, January 2, 2020.
Madison's Tuesday Night Dances: Fostering Talent for More Than Twenty Years, Published in CDSS News, spring 2014.
October 18: Summer Shay with Cosmic Otters (Meg Dedolph and Jonathan Whitall)
November 15: Noah Natzke with Rare Privilege (Amy McFarland and Maria Terres)
December 20: Steve Pike with Cross Trail (Sheri Hazeltine, Carol Ormand, and Lori Pierick, with special guest Rex Blazer)
January 17: Meg Dedolph with ravenswing (Abi Sandy and Crystal Zhu)
Dances are held on the third Saturdays of October through May at the Wil-Mar Center. Optional, but recommended, lessons are at 7:00 pm. Dancing from 7:30 to 10:00 pm.
We hope to see you at Squirrel Moon, September 18-20, 2026! Held at the beautiful Folklore Village in Dodgeville, WI
Masking or testing for COVID is no longer required, unless Dane County's CDC hospital admission level is high or red. Check this map to see the CDC level (updated by Friday evening). People on our email list will also receive a notice if the level becomes high or red.
If it is red or high, participants must either wear an effective mask - N95, KN95, KF94 - or have a negative self-administered rapid antigen test after 5 pm on the day of the dance.
Please do not attend if you are having symptoms of respiratory illness. We encourage all to keep up-to-date on vaccinations.