The Braintrust

We are a little group of traveling folkies. We contra dance, we sing Sacred Harp, we laugh, we play Apples to Apples. We gossip because we care, we deconstruct every possible shared experience, we build families and give hugs. These days we’re mostly from Philadelphia, though parts of us grew in the Midwest and in Boston, and we often find ourselves driving from one place to another for a singing convention or a dance festival. Perhaps we’ll see you soon.

Send us (all) email at braintrust@tychoish.com.

Who Are They?

Sam Kleinman

(sometimes samtron)

In addition to dancing (Morris, Contra, International Folk), and singing (bass mostly). I’m a writer, geek, hacker, and knitter. By day I work for an IT infrastructure company hacking on various projects and writing about technology so people can build awesome things on the Internet. Also I write Science Fiction stories and keep up to date with the tychoish.com blog where I’m the puppeteer behind tycho garen.

I currently dance with Renegade Morris in Philadelphia on Mondays in the spring. I have danced with the Capering Roisters Cotswold Morris Team (Wednesdays, St. Louis,) The River Rats Border Morris Team (St. Louis,) the International Folk Dance Association of University City (Saturdays, St. Louis.) At the moment, my “home” Sacred Harp singing community is in Philadelphia (Forth Thursdays, at A-Space in West Philadelphia.)

See Also: tychoish on twitter

Mel Novner

(sometimes meltron)

Dancing is one of my greatest passions. I currently dance with Renegade Morris in Philadelphia, and will begin dancing with Maple Morris–the fabulous traveling youth team–in May of 2010. My “home” Sacred Harp singing community is in Philadelphia (4th Thursdays at the A-Space in West Philadelphia.) I am a crazy contra dancer, usually the most flamboyant and dippy of the braintrust. My voice is almost as loud as my pants. I’m an instigator. I’ve previously danced with Uptown-on-Calhoun Morris and Bells of the North Morris (Minneapolis) and several other folk dance groups. I use the most lolspeak, and probably work the most.

See Also: springiswrath on twitter

Becky Wright

(sometimes beckypants)

I lead the Chaverim A Capella group at Swarthmore College and I currently dance with Renegade Morris in Philadelphia. I have danced with International folk dancers in Boston and with Banbury Cross Morris (Boston). My current “home” Sacred Harp is the first Sunday singing at Swarthmore College in Swarthmore, PA. As you might have figured out by now, I attend Swarthmore College, where my non-folk interests include Linguistics, Deaf Studies, Psychology, and trying to figure out what I will do after I graduate.

See Also: bequilles on twitter

Hangers On

The truth is that the braintrust isn’t exactly a closed circle, and we tend to adopt people. So if you met us at an event and could have sworn that there was a fourth, or fifth, or sixth one of us, there probably was. In no particular order:

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Just drop us a line at braintrust@tychoish.com and we’ll get it sorted out. If you want to hang out at an event with us, or coordinate a carpool do be in touch.

The Schedule

Upcoming Events

Past Events