It’s hard to imagine CFOOTMAD without Teri Rasmusson. She’s been an integral part of the dance scene here since its beginnings over twenty years ago. That seems like a very long time now, but Teri’s been organizing and running dances since then! Incredible!

Teri was born into a musical family in Nova Scotia, Canada, and began playing harmonica and “button box” at an early age. She went to elementary and high school in Canada and Scotland where she learned to play clarinet. She continued with clarinet in college which she played in the orchestra in California.

After college she worked as a fire fighter for the National Forest Service, and was transferred to Colorado to fight fires. Teri toured with “The Moving Company” — an international Celtic/Jazz Band and maintains a license in Music Therapy.

In Colorado she soon found the local musicians playing traditional music — “Dave Brown and Anita Dolan were probably the first.” In 1980 she started a community dance at the Niwot Grange which has become the Boulder Contra Dance which she has coordinated ever since. She joined forces with Paula Kermiet and Frances Waller who were holding dances in Denver, and together with several other folks they formed CFOOTMAD.

Teri plays piano, guitar, flute, and mandolin, as well as writes dance music, and performs for kids and adults. Ask her about buying a copy of her tune book! Her sense of community, her longevity, her lack of burnout, her continuing enthusiasm for traditional music and dance, and her service to CFOOTMAD are all quite amazing. She does not mind being married to a bagpiper (it comes in handy), has a daughter, Harriet, who is an up and coming fiddler and good at taking money at CFOOTMAD Dances. Teri currently performs professionally with Charlie Provenza, Rodney Sauer, Eric Levine (Eric for about 20 years) Chris Kermiet and when time allows; Bonnie Phipps, Johnny Cunningham, Mark Graham, Tim O’Brien and The San Francisco Scottish Fiddlers. Teri is available as a music teacher for both children and adults.