THE TRIO NOR’EASTER is one of 20 bands performing at the 26th Annual DownEast Country Dance Festival taking place Friday and Saturday at Mt. Ararat Middle School in Topsham.
Everything from fiddles and flutes to banjos and ukes will rattle the rafters at Mount Ararat Middle School and the Orion Performing Arts Center in Topsham when the 26th Annual DownEast Country Dance Festival takes place from 7:30 p.m. to midnight Friday and 10 a.m. to midnight Saturday.
“The mainstay of the festival is traditional New England country dancing — or ‘contra dancing,’ as it is more popularly known,” said Lynn Plumb of the festival’s planning committee. “But attendees can choose from a whole spectrum of other dance styles as well as music activities.”
The two-day festival kicks off on Friday with an evening of contra dancing in the Mount Ararat Middle School gym. Providing the music will be the Franklin County Fiddlers at 7:30 p.m. followed by Nor’easter at 9:15 p.m., with callers Kim Roberts and Linda Leslie, respectively.
Saturday is workshop day, offering beginner-friendly contra dance sessions as well as classes in English and Scottish country dancing, Irish set dancing, French Canadian step dancing, English morris dancing, French bourees and other international dance styles from France, Israel, China and beyond. The art of couple dancing will also be covered with sessions in waltz, swing, tango and hambo.
Those looking to expand their musical horizons can learn how to play the bones or bodhran or pick up new techniques in fiddle, mandolin, piano or guitar. Also offered will be sing-along sessions as well as workshops in yodeling, round singing, harmonizing and vocal improvisation.
In the auditorium, a Young Fiddlers Extravaganza will take place from 1-3 p.m., shocasing the talents of string players from kindergarten up through high-school-age in four ensembles: the Pineland Fiddlers, the Oyster Creek Fiddlers, the Franklin County Fiddlers and the Maine Folque Co-op Fiddlers. A number of mini-concerts are also on the roster, featuring everything from Scottish to French to old-time Southern music. There will also be a selection of special activities for children and families, including arts and crafts and folk dancing.
In the evening on Saturday, dancers will have a choice between contra dancing to the bands Barefoot and Nor’easter (with Bill Olson and Linda Leslie calling), carousing at an international folk dance party or indulging in some sultry Argentine tango dancing.
Admission prices for the DownEast Country Dance Festival range from $12 to $32, depending on the number of sessions one attends, with discounted tickets offered to full-time students age 11 to 21, and free admission to any child age 10 or under if accompanied by adult.
Mount Ararat Middle School and the adjacent Orion Performing Arts Center are located on Rte. 201 in Topsham. More information on the 26th Annual DownEast Country Dance Festival is available by calling (207) 563-8953, or visiting deffa.org.
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