Beantown Stomp

This is an archived page, which we've kept online for historical reasons. To see information on the next Beantown Stomp, visit beantownstomp.com.

Beantown Stomp 2024 is full, but we encourage you to join the waitlist. You will be notified by email if you get in off the waitlist.

Performers

Callers

Maia McCormick
Will Mentor

Bands

The Figments: Ethan Hazzard-Watkins, Anna Patton, Owen Morrison
The Mean Lids: Matt Turino, Miriam Larson, and Ben Smith

Venue

Cambridge Masonic Hall
1950 Mass Ave Cambridge MA (map)

Schedule

Beantown Stomp 2024 runs from the evening of Friday March 15th through the afternoon of Sunday March 17th and is followed, in the same hall, by BIDA's 3rd Sunday regular evening dance.

We have two spaces this year:

Main Hall: our wonderfull ballroom
Upstairs room: chill space (❆), unless otherwise noted. Puzzles and board games will be available throughout the weekend. Childcare is available during some sessions (); please include on your registration (or write info@beantownstomp.com) if you'd like to use it.

	Main Hall	Upstairs Room
Friday
7:00pm	Hall opens	Room opens
7:30pm	Mean Lids with Will	❆
9:00pm	Break
9:30pm	Figments with Maia
11:00pm	Dancing ends
11:30pm	Hall closes	Room closes
Saturday
9:00am	Hall opens	Room opens
9:15am	Family dance, led by Andrew Stout + Acoustic Open Band led by Jeff Kaufman
10:30am	Break	❆
10:45am	Figments with Will	❆
12:00pm	Lunch	Song Swap with Lisa (12:30-1:30)
1:30pm	Chaos is Beautiful Workshop, with Maia and Annie + Mean Lids	❆
3:00pm	Break	❆
3:15pm	Mean Lids with Will	Irish Stepping workshop with Sam Jones
4:45pm	Break
5:00pm	Kerry Sets with Sam Jones + Ethan and Owen	Harmony singing with Anna
6:00pm	Dinner	Laughter yoga with Emily (7:15-7:45)
7:45pm	Figments with Maia	❆ + Jamming
9:00pm	Break
9:30pm	Mean Lids with Will
11:00pm	Dancing ends
11:30pm	Hall closes	Room closes
Sunday
9:30am	Hall opens	Room opens
10:00am	Open Waltzing with the Figments	❆ (childcare ends 2:15pm)
11:15am	Break
11:45am	Mean Lids with Maia
1:00pm	Break
1:30pm	Figments with Will and Maia
3:00pm	Dancing ends	❆
4:00pm	Hall closes: unless you're staying for cleanup please leave; you can come back at 5pm	Room closes and doesn't reopen (take your stuff!)
5:00pm	Hall reopens for jamming and hanging out	Room closed
7:00pm	Beginner lesson for regular evening dance
7:30pm	Regular BIDA dance (separate admission)

Pricing

We want people to be able to come regardless of means, so we're offering a sliding scale of $45-$120.

We're predicting our break-even figure will be about $65/person, and the more you're able to contribute the more we're able to pay our musicians and let others attend below cost.

Any money that the weekend makes above breaking even will be split between BIDA, LCFD, and our musicians and callers.

Unfamiliar with sliding scales?

Money is a social construct, right? But also, its effects are very real: we need it to buy food, pay rent, get to dance weekends, pay talented musicians for creating magic that brings us together, etc. etc. So a sliding scale is a way of accommodating different incomes and asking you, the dancers, to take account of what kind of financial situation you're experiencing, and pay accordingly. Here are some examples:

$65 Break-even point: this is the amount we estimate will cover our costs for performers, venue, sound, food, everything. If everyone paid this, we'd come out ok. But, read on...
$45 Minimum: if you can only afford this much, that's ok! We'd love for you to be able to come and dance. If you can't pay at least $45, we recommend volunteering.
$80-$100: this is an opportunity to help cover the difference for someone who can't pay a full ticket. Maybe you're in a good job or comfortable situation, or maybe you're wanting to give back directly to your community. It's been a weird, hard couple of years for many. Paying $80 will cover the difference of one person attending at the minimum. Paying $100 will cover two.
Giving even more: Paying $100-$120 will allow us to give extra to our performers and help BIDA continue to run affordable events in the future!

Gender and Roles

All calling will be gender-free, with Larks/Robins terms. The bathrooms will also not be gendered. This event is not gender or role balanced, and anyone is welcome to dance either or both roles.

Housing

Housing isn't included, but we expect to set something up to try and help out-of-town dancers match with local dancers who are willing to host.

Transportation

Public Transit

Public transit is a great way to get to and from the hall, which is at the Porter Square stop on the Red Line Subway, the Fitchburg Line Commuter Rail, and the 77, 83, 87, and 96 buses. For detailed directions and schedules Google Maps works well: Cambridge Masonic Hall.

Driving

Friday and Saturday:: The parking lot at the Kennedy School (map) a short walk away is free to use when school is not in session.; Parking meters on Mass Ave or at metered municipal lots in Davis Sq.
Sunday:: All parking meters and residential spaces are free on Sunday.

Please don't park in the big shopping center lot across the street from the hall, because they tow.

Accessibility

See BIDA's general accessibility information; note that the venue is not wheelchair accessible. Unlike BIDA's regular evening dances, this event is low-fragrance.

Covid

We'll require proof of a negative covid rapid test taken on Friday. You'll show your test or a photo of it when you check in. Masks will not be required, but are certainly welcome. In line with BIDA's policy, vaccination is also not required. Please don't attend if you're at all sick, with anything! We'll fully refund any cancellations due to illness. Let's have a healthy dance weekend!

Refund Policy

We'll refund you for any reason if we can fill your place, but we may keep an admin and payment processing fee.

If you become symptomatic (of anything!) or test positive for COVID, we will refund you fully—Don't come if you're sick!

Childcare

Childcare will be available Saturday daytime after the family dance (with the exception of lunch) and all day Sunday. On the schedule these times are marked with

Volunteering

We will have a limited number of SuperVolunteer roles who get free admission to the weekend in exchange for a larger time commitment. You can sign up for most smaller volunteer roles at check in. More details in the registration form.

Saturday Morning

We'll start Saturday off with a family dance to an open band. While this is included in a weekend registration it's also open to all: you can pay at the door with cash or Venmo ($3 for kids, and $5-$20 for everyone else). As always, the open band is free for musicians, though we're happy to take donations! People attending the family dance are also invited to stay until noon to dance to The Figments and Will Mentor.

If you would like to play in the open band, just bring your instrument. It will be very relaxed - no microphones, no arranging, just playing tunes acoustically. We're probably going to play:

Questions

Please write to us at info@beantownstomp.com

Past Stomps

2023
2022 cancelled
2021 cancelled
2020 cancelled (retrospective)
2019 (retrospective)