The Predominantly Playford Ball

Playford Ball 2024

Registration is open!
Saturday afternoon and evening December 5, 2026,
and Sunday afternoon, December 6.

Music by Alchemy: Rachel Bell, Karen Axelrod, and Eric Martin.

Afternoon Review Session music by Kathy Talvitie and Miranda Weinberg.

Thank you for your patience, dear dance friends. Here's the link to register & pay for your Ball attendance.

Advanced registration for Saturday is required. That includes those who just want to come to the afternoon review, as well as our non-dancing guests. There will be no tickets available at the door.

New this year: Make it a weekend!
Special Sunday afternoon dance from 1:00 to 3:30.

Alchemy will be playing for us once more! Joanna Reiner Wilkinson calling, highlighting some of Rachel Bell's tunes.

Our ball chairs Nicola Lustig and Stephen Welsh have put in months of search time to find us a hall. The Masonic Hall in Ardmore, PA 19003 looks to be a good one -- sunny with a large wood floor, and easy access to public transit, restaurants, and free parking in the town lots on Sundays. Regretfully they do not (yet?) have a ramp for wheelchair access.

You can either purchase a Sunday ticket when you register for the Ball, or pay at the door.

When we say "make a weekend of it", we remind you that our NJ friends are hosting a Friday night dance in Princeton's Unitarian church. Alchemy playing and Gene Murrow calling! Here's the flyer.

Ball & Sunday information

Admission

  • $45 -- GCD members (you can join while registering if you wish)
  • $48 -- Non-members
  • $30 -- Under 30 / limited income
  • $15 -- Ball Review afternoon only
  • $10 -- Non-dancing guests
  • $15-$25 -- Sunday afternoon is sliding scale.

Ball Location:

We're glad to be back in our spacious previous hall at St. Thomas Indian Orthodox Church 1009 Unruh Ave, Philadelphia, PA 19111

St. Thomas’ is challenging to reach by public transportation. Please be generous in offering carpools to dancers without cars. Off-street parking is available at the church, and the site is wheelchair accessible.

See above for the Sunday location in Ardmore.

Saturday Ball schedule

Review session, 2:30
Dinner break, 5:00-7:15
Evening dancing, 7:30pm

Meals

Meals on Saturday and Sunday are not catered. Either head out to a restaurant or bring your own (for the ball we will have nice tables set out for people to enjoy dinner and each other's company.) Sunday the hall will be open around 12:30 and dancing starts at 1:00, with some tables set out and kitchen access.

We enjoy our substantive Tea intermission at the Ball! Local dancers are encouraged to bring a specially delicious contribution. There will no official snack break on Sunday.

COVID note: Masks are not required. However we have had COVID outbreaks this fall at our Philly area dances.
Please test prior to travelling to the Ball. GCD will of course refund your registration if you test positive.

Learning the Ball Dances

In mid-November, registered dancers will receive a dance instruction PDF from our registrar, along with other details about the venue and the schedule. Meanwhile, check out all our videos below!

  • At the ball, dances will be talked through but not prompted.
  • Dances are taught on GCD Wednesday evenings all fall, and at the 1st Saturday afternoon workshop in November 7th, 3:00-5:30pm at Summit Church.
  • All-ball review nights are Wednesdays Nov 4th, 18th, and Dec 2nd at Merion.
  • We encourage non-gendered dancing, in our teaching, in partnering, in choosing which role you want to dance, and in our dance instructions.

    The 2026 Ball Program & Videos

    Some of these videos are performed by the Germantown Country Dance Team. 🌟 Gratitude to Jan Alter for carefully producing them for many years! 🌟

    Questions? Requests? Issues? Please email ()

    ball@germantowncountrydancers.org