James C. Kitch

Eldest son of Aimee Lou and Albert Kitch, Jim was born in Harrisburg, PA. He studied physics at Drexel University in Philadelphia, and then studied law at Rutgers University in New Jersey.

Jim was introduced to contra-dancing during his college career. This was the beginning of a lifelong love of traditional dancing and music. He toyed with playing the Irish tin whistles; he volunteered at the Philadelphia Folk Festival. But it seemed his heart belonged to the dance.

Jim became a dance caller and also wrote many, many contra and english country dances. He self-published a small collection – To Live Is To Dance – of his early contra dances. Living in the Philadelphia area, he naturally called dances there most often and was a member of the coordinating callers group in the Philadelphia Area Traditional Music and Dance (PATMAD) association. He also enjoyed traveling to call dances (or just dance) in other parts of the country and abroad.

Jim also loved swing dancing in all its forms – jitterbug, lindy, west coast. He was a co-founder and board member of the Philadelphia Swing Dance Society for several decades. In addition, Jim was a longtime member of the Country Dance and Song Society (CDSS).

At some point in the early 1980’s, Jim founded the Heritage Dance Association and ran the Heritage Dance Festival, which included many forms of traditional or cultural dancing, from 1984 to 2006.

Jim is survived by his longtime partner, Jean Anderson, as well as his sister Carolyn and brother Tom.

Jim’s life and love for traditional music and dance will be celebrated with an evening of contra dancing this fall. The program will be an evening of Jim Kitch dances and is being planned in coordination with the Thursday Contra PATMAD group. The date and location are still TBD. Please check the PATMAD schedule for details. All are welcome!

Donations to PATMAD and/or CDSS, in lieu of flowers, will be greatly appreciated.