President, John Guay - I worked 25 years as a service tech in the foodservice industry. I've enjoyed contra dancing for 30 years but could not commit to helping out.  Early retirement has given me the time to work with the DFO. Naturally I met my wife at a contra dance. While my wife and I dance less now, we play a lot more music.  She plays piano and I play the hammered dulcimer.  We jam a lot around Saratoga at the Parting Glass Celtic Sessions, farmers markets and the occasional contra or barn dance.  We do dress up and play for revolutionary war enactments.  Since my family roots are in Quebec (both English and French), we attend festivals and dances up there five or six times a year. The Quebecois tunes really appeal to us, so we've helped create more interest in them locally.

Treasurer:

Rich Pisarri - My first dance experience, Zydeco, was seven years ago at a DanceFlurry sponsored event.  Since then I've enjoyed Swing, Contra, Tango, and Cajun. I love the DanceFlurry organization for the wide variety of  dancing and live music it sponsors.

 I began volunteering as a member of the Flurry Festival cash crew and now look forward to serving the organization as Treasurer. Professionally, I have been an auditor for 32 years.

2nd Vice President: Melanie Axel Lute

Secretary: Mark Berman

Patricia Stephens

Peter Stix

Shira Love

Jim Savitt

Sandy Waxgiser

Ken Fisher

Brian Carr

Chelsie Henderson

Lauren Keeley Youth Outreach Chair has been swing dancing for 3 years primariliy focusing on the lindy hop, charleston, and blues. She is also vey involved in performing swing and was a member of a swing team in the mid-west and teach choreographies to the RPI Swing Club. She and her husband Walter hope to continue to promote and teach the lindy hop, blues and popular swing choreographies in the Capital District. Lauren's collaborations with the DFO began recently as a private instructor and organizer of the Albany Lindy & Blues Exchange and she hopes to continue to partner with their great organization in the future. See www.walterlauren.com for more information.

 Paul Rosenberg,

DanceFlurry Board Emeritus - I have been leading dances throughout the northeastern United States since 1986. In recent years, I have been one of the busiest callers in North America, working over 200 dance engagements a year. I am known for my gentle but energetic, encouraging style, concise teaching, and offbeat sense of humor. My programs consist of community dances from the Hudson Valley, United Kingdom, Appalachia, and New England, as well as international folk dances and African-American singing and playparty games. I love teaching traditional dances to children (as a visiting arts educator) in elementary schools and leading novices in community dances at festivals, community celebrations, weddings, family reunions, birthday parties, family dances, Girl Scout dances, and other gatherings. I also call contra dances and perform at numerous major festivals and events around the Northeast. I play recorder and fiddle. I founded and organized the Flurry Festival in Saratoga Springs, NY for eighteen years; Fiddlers’ Tour, a weekly fiddle tune jam session in the Albany area; and have been organizing a monthly family dance in Albany since 1994. I also founded and served on the Board of Directors of the DanceFlurry Organization.

Bill Matthiesen,

DanceFlurry Board Emeritus - Dance and music have been such life-changers for me! So I've worked on the board for many years to help keep our wonderful event going. We have a really nice group of folks on the board and creating the festival, the Adirondack weekend and all the other local dances -- it's really a good community. My "day job" is creating videos for educational, industrial, non-profit and small business clients. And we travel most weekends to play for contras, vintage dance, tangos & couples dances. Any extra time goes to publishing music books (like The Waltz Book series) and historic dance music recordings. We also really enjoy hiking, cross country skiing and traveling to foreign places.

Patti Melita,

DanceFlurry Board Emeritus - I grew up in a family of church choir and barbershop harmony singers. Although I studied classical piano and voice for several yearsMy real love proved to be traditional jazz. After singing in jazz and dance bands for a while, I took a hiatus from performing.  Paul Rosenberg, helped me rediscover my talent by clandestinely putting me on Flurry Festival program in 1990, singing with a swing band. I found myself right at home at the microphone. Since then I've been singing at festivals, swing dances and jazz clubs throughout upstate New York and New England. I was a long-time co-director of the Flurry Festival and, with Teresa Broadwell, coordinated the DanceFlurry Organization's monthly swing dance events for 16 years. I am also an official dance consultant for the annual Falcon Ridge Festival in Hillsdale, N.Y.  With producer Peter Ecklund, I recorded "Swing It!", a collection of vintage tunes arranged for the most discriminating dancers and listeners. Presently can be seen performing in various venues with Peg Delaney on keyboard and Linda Brown on bass, a group known as The Gals Who Play Jazz.

Jen Brown DanceFlurry Board Emeritus - I like Lindy hop, Blues, East Coast Swing, Contra, and Salsa dancing. I joined the board in 2005 and served as president from 2010-2013. Other roles included 2 years as Treasurer, a finance committee member, and a seat on a variety of other committees. I also volunteered for the monthly swing dance and still volunteer with the annual Flurry Festival. Working with the DFO has always been rewarding, helping to bring great music and dance to the region with dedicated volunteers and talented musicians and teachers.