It’s open now! We expect to fill up early, so sign up today!

Early registration is now over, but it's still only $95. Sign up now!

To help with lodging, we luckily have a fantastic, generous community of dancers willing to host folks from out of town.

If you signed up before April 1, we’ll match you with a local dancer. As we get closer to Memorial Day, we’ll try, but there are no guarantees.

Here are some nearby options - List of Local Lodging.

Planes. Trains. Automobiles. Bikes. Feet. It's up to you. If you're interested in connecting with other Catapult dancers from your town\state\region who may want to carpool, Catapult is now set up as an event on the ridesharing site RickyRides.com.

Check it out at www.rickyrides.com/catapult-showcase-2012

Snacks will be provided at all dance events throughout the weekend. You’re on your own for meals, but there are lots of great, inexpensive restaurants in the Clarkston\Decatur\Atlanta area.

Catapult is a showcase, not a competition. We won’t be voting folks off the stage or handing out prizes. However, we hope there will be many winners.

For example, the Atlanta contra dance has already committed to signing one Catapult Band or Caller to perform at their 2012 Dance Weekend (November 9-11, 2012). We are hoping that other dance organizations will follow suit.

Catapult dancing events will be held at the Clarkston Community Center at 3701 College Ave Clarkston, GA 30021.

No dress code. No theme. Just straight ahead contra dancing in your regular ol’ dancing garb. Cool, comfortable and colorful are the keys.

Thanks for asking! Please click the links at the bottom of this page to tell your online friends. You can also download a flyer to print and distribute at the places you dance:

Catapult USA Flyer with bands and callers

If you send us an e-mail at info@catapultshowcase.com with your address and how many you need, we’ll make copies and mail them to you.

Yes! Catapult is planned to be an annual event each Memorial Day weekend. Sign up for 2012, and plan your calendars for 2013, 2014, and beyond.

In short, Talent, Desire and Impact…

Talent. Bands must be great musicians who play great together. Varying their sound, mood, energy and tunes within or across musical styles. Having talents in other areas for potential workshops is a plus.

Desire. Bands must be driven to play on the national contra dance circuit. The life of a band traveling great distances for little financial reward is not for everyone. Catapult is looking for bands that WANT to be on this path and are willing to WORK for it.

Impact. Bands must have the "oomph" that contra dancers want. The bottom-line is that all great contra bands drive those in the hall into an altered state dance after dance after dance.

That’s what we’re looking for.

There are many fantastic bands and musicians on the contra dance touring and festival circuit today. We love to dance to them, but they are not the ones we’re looking for. We want to showcase undiscovered talent from around the country and not the folks who already have national exposure.

The bands will be selected by a small team of respected musicians, callers and dancers from around the country. They will review the applications, watch\listen to the submitted materials, follow up with references, and confer with their regional contacts. That’s the easy part. The team will then refine the list of band applications and make the final selection to be announced in January 2012.

All performers - bands and callers - will be paid for their stage time based on a profit-sharing model. Since this is the first year of the Catapult Showcase, we have no past history to reference. If the weekend does not breakeven financially, the amount will be zero. We all hope that’s not the case.

The primary benefit for bands providing their time, talents and energy comes in the form of exposure to festival organizers and dancers from far and wide. Each musician in the selected bands will also receive free entry to the Catapult weekend.

To bring in bands from across the country to Atlanta, a significant amount of the Catapult budget will go towards travel. The travel subsidy per band will be determined based on distance from Atlanta, mode of travel, number of musicians in the band, and other factors. Our goal is to cover airfare, train fare, bus fare or gas expenses.

Housing and ground transportation will be provided by local Atlanta dancers.

Once the Catapult lineup is selected and confirmed, each band will be randomly assigned one night-time (2 hours), one day-time (1.5 hours), and one workshop (1.5 hours) time slot in the schedule.

The bands and callers will be independently assigned to their schedule slots. Band-caller pairings will be determined by this assignment. Each band will work with two callers - one for their night- time dance and one for their day-time dance.

The bands and callers will be notified of the pairings, and provided with contact information in advance to allow for (and to encourage) working together to plan their Catapult dances.

In addition to all the dancing and fun, Catapult also provides musicians with a chance to network with influencers and decision makers. We will provide a list of Talent Scouts to the Catapult Bands just in case you don’t have a chance to connect during the weekend.

In short, Talent, Desire and Impact…

Talent. Callers must excel across all aspects of calling - programming, teaching, working with the band, fixing things on the fly, and, oh yeah, calling. Plan\call\adjust to exceed the wants and needs of the contra dancers through figures, variety, energy, style and humor. Having talents in other areas for potential workshops is a plus.

Desire. Callers must be driven to call on the national contra dance circuit. The life of a caller traveling great distances, often alone, for little financial reward is not for everyone. Catapult is looking for callers who WANT to be on this path and are willing to WORK for it.

Impact. Callers must have the "savoir-faire" that contra dancers want. The bottom-line is that all great contra callers navigate that fine line required to move a hall full of dancers with different skills\personalities\preferences\desires towards an altered dance state and then slide into the background while remaining on alert.

That’s what we’re looking for.

There are many fantastic callers on the contra dance touring and festival circuit today. We love to dance to them, but they are not the ones we’re looking for. We want to showcase undiscovered talent from around the country and not the folks who already have national exposure.

The callers will be selected by a small team of respected musicians, callers and dancers from around the country. They will review the applications, watch\listen to the submitted materials, follow up with references, and confer with their regional contacts. That’s the easy part. The team will then refine the list of caller applications and make the final selection to be announced in January 2012.

All performers - bands and callers - will be paid for their stage time based on a profit-sharing model. Since this is the first year of the Catapult Showcase, we have no past history to reference. If the weekend does not breakeven financially, the amount will be zero. We all hope that’s not the case.

The primary benefit for callers providing their time, talents and energy comes in the form of exposure to festival organizers and dancers from far and wide. Each selected caller will also receive free entry to the Catapult weekend.

To bring in callers from across the country to Atlanta, a significant amount of the Catapult budget will go towards travel. The travel subsidy per caller will be determined based on distance from Atlanta, mode of travel, and other factors. Our goal is to cover airfare, train fare, bus fare or gas expenses.

Housing and ground transportation will be provided by local Atlanta dancers.

Once the Catapult lineup is selected and confirmed, each caller will be randomly assigned one night-time (2 hours), one day-time (1.5 hours), and one workshop (1.5 hours) time slot in the schedule.

The callers and bands will be independently assigned to their schedule slots. Band-caller pairings will be determined by this assignment. Each caller will work with two bands - one for their night- time dance and one for their day-time dance.

The callers and bands will be notified of the pairings, and provided with contact information in advance to allow for (and to encourage) working together to plan their dances.

In addition to all the dancing and fun, Catapult also provides callers with a chance to network with influencers and decision makers. We will provide a list of Talent Scouts to the Catapult Callers just in case you don't have a chance to connect during the weekend.

The band and caller applicants will be vetted by a national team of respected organizers, musicians, callers and dancers - much like you. The team will assemble a lineup with the talent, desire and impact it takes to energize the dancers on the festival dance floor. Your specific selection criteria may vary slightly, but out of twelve up and coming bands and callers, you’re certain to have a tough time picking which ones to schedule at your next dance weekend.

There are many, many aspiring bands and callers around the country. The first step is to spread the word - website, Facebook, Twitter, e-mail, telephone, dance announcements, word of mouth. While geographically dispersed, contra dancers are a close knit community. It all starts with telling your playing, calling and dancing friends.

For those bands and callers selected to perform at Catapult, we’ll provide as much travel money as possible so they can afford to make the trip to Atlanta.

When the Catapult bands and callers are announced, the information for the bands will be posted on the website.

Better yet, come and meet them yourself in Atlanta next May. Over 4 days there will be plenty of opportunities to dance and socialize with the outstanding Catapult talent.

Looking forward to seeing you there!