Fairfield Folk Arts & Dance Co-op

Bare Necessities is a Boston-based quartet known nationwide for its unique presentation of English country dance music. The quartet, composed of Earl Gaddis and Mary Lea(violin and viola), Peter Barnes (flute, whistles and guitar), and Jacqueline Schwab (piano) has been playing weekly country dances since 1978, performing music primarily from the 17th and 18th centuries. They have toured in England as a band and have played for concerts, festivals, workshops, balls and dance camps throughout the United States and Canada over the years. In the course of concertizing and dance playing, they have become increasingly free in their improvisatory explorations of these beautiful melodies. The resulting sound is that of both chamber and folk music, yet extraordinarily inventive and playful with its interweaving of harmonies and countermelodies.

Joanna Reiner is one of North America's premier teachers and callers of English Country Dance. Her depth and breadth of knowledge of all things ECD is vast, as is her charm in teaching and leading both traditional and contemporary ECD dances. She is an English and Scottish dancer and leader in the Philadelphia area. Her calling has taken her across the country, from Amherst to Ann Arbor, from Neffa to Heydaze, including several sessions at Pinewoods Camp in Plymouth, MA.

Joanna has served on the board of the Germantown Country Dancers and on the executive committee of the Delaware Valley Branch of the Royal Scottish Country Dance Society. She led the GCD English Country Dance demonstration team and taught English and Scottish dance at Swarthmore College for over a decade.

Joanna is an avid dance gypsy, and in her spare time, works to support her dance habit.