For the first time, Fiddlefern Country Dancers will host a contra dance at Woodford Hall.
The public event on Saturday, August 23 features acoustic dance music from Scatter the Cats, intermission entertainment from Big Squeeze (Chuck and Ruth Merrill) and several local dance callers.
Contra dancing is an entertaining, increasingly popular social form of dancing for people of any age. It includes round dances, square dances and others, with live music and a caller leading participants through the simple dance forms.
Experience is not required, nor is a partner. Soft-soled shoes and comfortable clothing are advised.
Fiddlefern Country Dancers have hosted monthly contra dances between September and May in Owen Sound for more than 20 years, almost always the first Saturday of the month, at St. George;s Anglican Church Hall.
This special, pre-season dance and music event at Woodford Hall, with its excellent wooden dance floor, is the first of several such outreach dances the group plans leading up to its five-day regional music and dance celebration April 28 to May 3, 2015, in conjunction with the Boston-based Country Dance and Song Society's 100th anniversary.
With members across North America, CDSS promotes the joy music and dance bring to individuals and communities. Owen Sound has been selected as one of just two Canadian stops as part of the CDSS Centennial Tour in 2015.
Scatter the Cats have played concerts and dances throughout the region, including at Summerfolk, Grey Roots Pratie Oaten, the Owen Sound Celtic Festival, as well as numerous barn and community dance venues, for weddings and other celebrations.
Scatter the Cats members Will Henry, fiddle, and Dan McGee, clawhammer banjo and Irish flute, first began playing for dancers in the Grey-Bruce region as part of the Glenelg Full Moon Country Dance Band in the early 1990s.
Frank Francalanza, with dance calls, mandolin, Irish banjo, foot and hand percussion, Randy Martin, acoustic and electric basses and hand percussion, and Bob Robins, guitars and mandolin, now round out the quintet. The group plays traditional Irish, Canadian and American dance music, with a healthy dose of the band's own original dances tunes.
Scatter the Cats likes nothing more than playing a night of lively jigs and reels for a full room of eager dancers.
Doors open Saturday, August 23 at Woodford Hall at 7:30 p.m. just off Highway 26, about midway between Owen Sound and Meaford.
Dancing is from 8 to 11 p.m. Admission is $10 for adults, $7.50 students, $5 children and $20 for families.
For more information, please see www.fiddlefern.net or call 519-372-9151.
Source - Fiddlefern Country Dancers
