WHIRL 2027 TALENT

Callers

BOB ISAACS

The talented and very funny Bob Isaacs made his Whirl debut in 2026. It was a roaring success, so we’re delighted that he’ll be back for 2027. Bob squares the circles and lines up the dots with his delightful dance compositions.
A prolific choreographer, his creative dances are called throughout the country. Bob has built his reputation on the dance weekend circuit for his concise teaching and clear calling of flowing contras.
He is known for his unusual dance forms: the Zia (named for the sun symbol of the Zia tribe of New Mexico) artfully stitches together a square and a contra while Bob’s grid squares are a wild ride.
TERRY DOYLE

We’re delighted to welcome back Terry Doyle who last called at the 2023 Whirl, helping us revive the dance weekend after a three-year COVID hiatus.
Terry Doyle has been calling now for close to two decades. Her warm personality, patient, clear, concise and melodic calling has made her a favorite of dancers from across the nation. And don’t forget her infectious, energizing (flatfooting) feet!
Terry is the co-producer of the ContraBlossom weekends and the nationally recognized Contradancers Delight Holiday (CDH) weeks. Terry has a musical background and is a community college educator by profession.
PAUL BALLIET

We’re delighted that Paul Balliet, a longtime Whirler from northeast Ohio, will be joining us to teach waltz and either East or West Coast swing (he hasn’t yet decided which style).
Paul is also pulling together the music mix (waltz, swing and blues) for couples dancing after the Saturday night contra.

Bands

TOSS THE POSSUM

Toss the Possum has been playing contra dances as a family band since 2004. The current band is Laura Zisette on keyboard and son Rob on fiddle/percussion/vocals.
This duo regularly hears from surprised listeners that they thought there were more than two on stage. They play with high energy and a big sound, but also create lyrical magic on smooth sets. Their goal is to give the dancers the best experience possible. You might hear some fun rock-n-roll inserts. You will enjoy a lot of creativity, some humor and great passion with this band.
Toss the Possum is also known for waltzes. They have written over 100 waltzes in all styles and frequently play for waltz events. Rob loves to dance and teaches dance workshops for waltz, swing, blues and contra styles. Rob and Laura enjoy teaching band workshops, and Laura teaches contra piano workshops and offers private sessions online.

THE RHYTHM BLAZERS

The Rhythm Blazers is an exciting new trio of North Carolina-based contra dance musicians, all with experience playing in other popular bands.
The Blazers are going to do more than warm up the dance floor—they’ll set it on fire!
David DiGiuseppe

David DiGiuseppe is a nationally recognized accordionist known for his fiery and emotive playing in a number of styles including Celtic and Cajun.
David began playing professionally as a mandolinist in 1978 in Massachusetts. Fascinated by all musical genres, he performed with a bluegrass and jug band, an acoustic jazz quartet, and mandolin and harmonica orchestras, as well as playing avant-garde classical music.
Since moving to Durham, NC, in 1985, has toured and performed with the Big Zucchini Washboard Bandits, Craicdown, the Nee Ningy Band, nationally acclaimed Cajun singer and songwriter J.J. Reneaux, singer and songwriter Jonathan Byrd, guitarist Danny Gotham, flutist Mike Casey, multi-string player and story teller Joseph Sobol, songwriter Tokyo Rosenthal, and many others. Playing accordion for New England-style contra dances, David has toured with FootLoose, Contrazz, The Avant Gardeners, and Playing with Fyre.
Jared Kirkpatrick

Multi-instrumentalist Jared Kirkpatrick performs and plays piano, mandolin, fiddle, and foot percussion.
Currently, Jared partners with Mo Bracheld in Starling, playing music based in traditional fiddle styles from Appalachia, New England, Quebec, and Ireland, and Flamingo Sketches (with Tom Krumm), playing for contra dances, waltzes, English Country dances, and private functions in and around the greater Philadelphia area.
Jim Roberts

Jim Roberts, based in Chapel Hill, NC, is a percussionist, producer, and artist. He has played with contra dance bands including FootLoose, The Ivory Boys and Craicdown.
His skills include drum set, djembe, congas, production using Ableton Live and Cubase and performing with groups or solo.
Until his retirement, he taught drum set and percussion and classes on the music of the 1960s and 1970s at Elon University and directed the Elon World Percussion Ensemble.