Tony Parkes (1949–2024) receives the Lifetime Contribution Award in recognition of his contributions as a caller of contras and squares for more than 50 years, choreographer, musician, band leader, author, workshop leader, dance historian, and dance organizer. His award will be presented posthumously on November 22, 2025, in Concord, MA.
Tony Parkes touched the lives of innumerable dancers, musicians, and callers throughout his career. He was the author of Contra Dance Calling: A Basic Text, the comprehensive book on calling, and more recently Square Dance Calling: An Old Art for a New Century, and his legacy will live on in those foundational volumes for decades to come. But Tony also embodied the consummate caller and musician, appearing weekly at the Concord (MA) Scout House for more than 20 years with the band Yankee Ingenuity, which he co-founded.
Tony recorded two albums with Yankee Ingenuity, Kitchen Junket and Heatin’ Up the Hall. He also published a chord book for piano accompaniment, played piano on two albums with the Canadian-American fiddler Gerry Robichaud, published two collections of original dance material (Shadrack’s Delight and Son of Shadrack, 90 dances in all, including some that incorporated square dance figures in contras), and created a CD illustrating calling techniques.
Tony served on the boards of the New England Folk Festival Association (NEFFA) and the Folk Arts Center of New England. He taught at myriad folk dance camps and events, including Pinewoods Camp in Massachusetts, Stockton Folk Dance Camp in California, Ralph Page Legacy Weekend in New Hampshire, and the New England Folk Festival (which he attended and performed at every year from 1969 to 2023); and led dances and workshops in 35 states, Canada, and Europe.
Tony had an encyclopedic knowledge of regional square dance traditions and history; for the past two years, he shared that passion in a monthly column for American Square Dance magazine. He served as an advisor to the Square Dance History Project and was featured at a Dare To Be Square Weekend at the John C. Campbell Folk School in 2011.
Always an advocate for comfortable dancing and for dance programs that included multiple dance formations, Tony made dance accessible to all. His repertoire was vast, presenting the best of contras, squares, and couple dances, old and new alike. He was the consummate New England dance master.
Adapted from a longer article by David Millstone in the Fall/Winter 2024 issue of the CDSS News.
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Thanks to the Massachusetts Cultural Council for their generous support.