Years of effort land

After 10 years of working with clay, Andrea Dana-McCullough was struck by the beauty of an entirely different art form: Japanese woodcuts. Soon she found herself carving into her ceramics, creating landscapes and patterns that captured the woodcut's elegance and grace.

That was a decade ago, and though she has shown her work often, this weekend her porcelain opus makes an important debut. For the first time, the Stow-based artist will exhibit at the Paradise City arts festival in Marlborough, one of the most competitive arts and crafts shows in the country.

All her pieces are monochromatic -- either jet black, coral, blue, green, or celadon on white. ''So much of the field of ceramics is about color and glazes that it's quite refreshing to find an artist who limits herself to a monochromatic palette," said festival cofounder Linda Post.

But Dana-McCullough's work is also striking for its hybrid designs. At first glance, her teapots, bowls, and tiles recall the patterns of ancient Greece or of Native American pottery, but a closer look reveals modern themes inspired by centuries of artists.

''When I first started doing these, I was interested in older designs from all over the world. But then I started looking at art deco, art nouveau, and the world around me. Some of my interior scenes even come from Architectural Digest," she said. ''So I think what's happened is they have kind of meshed."

Some of her nature themes derive from her daily walks with her dog at Delaney Park in Stow. Others evolve from her view of her forested yard. ''My setup is not very glamorous. My studio is in my basement," she said. ''Then I carve at my kitchen table while I look out at the yard. I know it sounds hokey, but nature really does inspire me."

The festival features 175 artists from across the country, live jazz, and a gourmet cafe. Other local artisans who made the cut include Lynn Nafey of Stow (hand-screened jewelry), Cindy Walsh of Framingham (appliqued clothing), Seth Friedman of Maynard (photography), Anne Elliot of Shrewsbury (stoneware), and Sudbury jewelers Anne Besse-Shepherd and Beth Solomon.

Paradise City runs March 17-18 at the Royal Plaza Trade Center, 181 Boston Post Road in Marlborough. Admission is $12, $8 for seniors, $5 for students, free for children younger than 12. Call 800-511-9725 or visit www.paradisecityarts.com .

CONTRA MAKES A COMEBACK -- The music is old-fashioned, the refreshments tend toward lemonade, and the scene is so family-oriented that ''babes" means tots in Snugglies. So why are local contra and square dances experiencing an upsurge in teenage and college-age dancers?

''Contra dancing has become an in vogue, or in thing, to do now, which is great because for a while everybody was talking about how the contra community was aging. And we were all wondering, when we weren't able to dance anymore, who was going to do it," said Northboro Contra Dance organizer Jon Weinberg of Lancaster.

Weinberg, who founded the monthly Northborough dance in 1998 with other members of the Polymorphous String Band, said he has observed a growing number of youths attending dances from Boston to New Hampshire.

''At the Thursday night dance in Medford, a third of the dancers there are young kids now," he said. ''Here in Northborough, we've had a lot of students coming out from Clark University."

Fiddle player Evy Dueck of Berlin said the monthly Berlin Contra Dance is also growing more popular, especially with students. The dance is planning to move into the newly renovated Berlin Town Hall, which will hold more people.

''I noticed the increase in the last year," said Dueck, who plays in the dance's house band, the Berlin Country Orchestra. ''It's my theory that the [Worcester Contra Dance has] been helping us by marketing to the colleges in Worcester."

Dueck said the Northborough, Berlin, and Worcester contra dances banded together to promote themselves. With Berlin dancing on first Saturdays, Worcester on second Saturdays, and Northborough on third Saturdays, it seemed a good fit.

But Carolyn Noah of the Worcester dance thinks the uptick in young dancers goes beyond well-placed fliers. ''It's almost viral," she said. ''We have trouble reaching students directly, so we know that one's telling the next who's telling the next."

Like other dances in the region, the Concord Square & Contra Dance lowered its admission price for students and has seen a spike in younger dancers since.

''But it's unclear if that's what is drawing them in," said string bass player Cal Howard of Burlington, who has played the Concord dance with the band Yankee Ingenuity for three decades.

Howard does, however, have a theory as to where the trend began. ''Some of these kids were taken by their parents to Pinewoods Camp in Plymouth. It's a recreational dance camp, and a few of them got really interested," he said.

Which leads the trail of clues to the parents. Liora O'Donnell Goldensher, a senior at Newton North High School and an avid contra dancer, said the tide began with youths who were born into it.

''My Dad [Vince O'Donnell] is a fiddler. . . . My parents met at one of the dances. They were married in one of the dance halls. I went to my first dance when I was just several days old," said Goldensher, explaining that she is not alone.

''There's a really huge community of young people going to the dances, and it's grown a lot recently because the people doing it since they were born started bringing their friends. And then their friends started loving it and bringing their friends," she said.

It wasn't always an easy sell. ''There was a time in middle school when I didn't really talk about it. I didn't want my friends to know I was going to a square dance," said Goldensher.

''But as we've gotten older and people are more willing to try new things, all you have to do is tell your friends they should come to a dance because the people there are really cool, and they'll come," she said.

According to Goldensher, Lincoln and Sudbury are hot spots because of the Great Meadows Morris and Sword traditional dance group of Sudbury. ''A lot of the kids who do Morris dancing also contra dance as well and bring their friends," she said.

And they travel. ''Kids will drive out to Greenfield or Peterborough [N.H.] for a good dance. If there's a really hot band and a good caller, they'll go out of their way to get there," said Goldensher.

They go for the same reasons their parents did, and still do. ''It's really social and it's really fun," said Goldensher.

Newcomers of all ages are welcome at all the dances. The Northboro Contra Dance runs 8-11 p.m. Saturday and the third Saturday of each month from September to May at the First Parish Unitarian, 40 Church St. in Northborough. Admission is $7. Call 978-365-3883. The Berlin Contra Dance runs 8-11 p.m. April 1 and the first Saturday of the month October through May at the First Parish Church, 24 Central St. in Berlin. Admission is $5. Call 978-838-2738. For more information on both and links to area dances, including the Medway Contra Dance, visit www.jonweinberg.com/northboro.

THEIR PRINCE HAS COME -- Codirector Raye Lynn Mercer found the perfect duo for the Franklin Performing Arts Company's production of ''Cinderella."

In her words, ''the extremely handsome and talented" Dan Gleason of Franklin and the ''beautiful singer, gorgeous dancer," and freshly crowned 2006 Massachusetts Junior Miss Colleen Megley of North Attleborough will put the spark in the sparkle of this musical fairy tale.

These two high school talents will be joined by a cast of more than 40 professionals and aspiring actors. Backing them up will be a 25-piece professional orchestra, a cadre of puppets, and a few nasty stepsisters, who Mercer said ''make rather outrageous fashion statements."

Cinderella's Ball precedes the opening show. For an extra fee, tiny princesses are invited to attend the gala in royal dress with an adult escort.

''They'll make wands, and the Fairy Godmother will attend to teach them wand technique. They'll also meet Cinderella, make sashes for their escorts, and then be presented on stage before the show. It will be very regal."

''Cinderella" runs Saturday and Sunday at the Horace Mann Auditorium, 224 Oak St. in Franklin. Tickets are $24 and $26. Call 508-528-8668. Cinderella's Ball will be held 6-7:30 p.m. Saturday at ''Sir Horace Mann's Castle" (the auditorium). Tickets are $75 for one princess and her escort (includes ball, buffet, and two show tickets). Siblings may attend for an extra $35. Reserve in advance.

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