Prescription for Winter Blues: Gotta Dance!

Sure this winter doesn't seem to know when to quit, but you'll get no sympathy from us unless you try to dance. Herewith a couple of suggestions for kicking up your heels, regardless of age, and keeping the blues and the blahs at bay: Grab your pardner for the hottest Honky Tonk Dance Party in New England on Saturday, February 7 at Mass MoCA's Hoedown for Hipsters, featuring the bluegrass-rockabilly-Dixieland-and-punk hybrid band The Defibulators.   Being at a Defibulators show has been likened to watching Hee-Haw on mescaline.  As the New York Times notes, "No yee-haws or any other hoots or yawps were held back...like a hoedown band from a Warner Brothers cartoon." There will be full-beverage service, as well as dinner selections from Lickety Split. Dance instruction, arranged by no-less than Jacob's Pillow (hello?! we don't mess around with amateurs up here, do we?), will begin at 8 p.m. for those who need a crash course in two-step. The DefibulatorsThe Hunter Center at Mass MoCA87 Marshall Street, North Adams; 413.662.2111 February 7, 8 p.m. Admission: $15 Galleries remain open until 7, so go early and see some art.

“Dance Intensity,” is two eight-week dance programs—hip hop and African dance—for kids on different days, so it's conceivable that any dancing fool, 12 and up, who can get to Hudson by 3:30 on a weekday, could do both.  Bryant Andrews (aka: Drew, the Hip Hop Guru) and Elena Mosley of Kuumba Dance and Drum will present classes during February and March for beginners and intermediate students who want to learn some new moves, strengthen their technique, and maybe even audition for a new dance team.Hip HopMondays; 3:30 - 5:30 p.m. Wear loose clothing and sneakers. African DanceSaturdays, 11 am - 12 noon Wear sweats, shorts, bare feet or inside dance shoes. No jeans. Participants must be available to attend each two-hour session. Free; registration required. Hudson Opera House327 Warren Street, Hudson; 518.822.1438