Banjo Dance

An expansive work… a testament to 20 years of staying the artistic course. As pleasurably simple as it is entertaining, as rousing as it is inspirational.
Cincinnati Enquirer

The traditional music and dance of the Southern Appalachians evolved from a coming together - some might say a collision - of British Isles and African cultures during the turbulent birth of our nation. What came of this union is a body of uniquely American traditions that expresses the joy and the sorrow; the heights and the depths of human experience.

Flatfooting, clawhammer banjo playing, fiddling, square dancing, sacred harp singing, story telling, honky-tonk songs, balladry, clogging (both traditional and modern) are the elements of old-time music and dance that we have grown to love and made our own.

It could be said that Banjo Dance has been a work in progress for more than twenty years. The Southern Appalachian traditions represented here became a part of Dayton, Ohio cultural life with the post war migration of blue collar workers and their families from Kentucky, West Virginia and Tennessee. We present them to you as wild flowers picked from the field and carefully arranged for the stage. Like many of the best things in life, they are simple but not easy. We hope it is a celebration of your spirit, as well as ours.

Pappy is a featured dancer in the show and strongly recommends it as high quality entertainment. Our next scheduled performances of Banjo Dance are November 5 - 7, 2009 at the University of Dayton’s Boll Theater, November 14, 2009 at the Kent Folk Festival and November 20 & 21, 2009 at the Aronoff Center for the Arts, Jarson-Kaplan Theater, in downtown Cincinnati.

Energetic and effortless… captivating stories about life from the mountains to the factories of the North flowed through the ninety minute program.
Dayton Daily News

watch video excerpts from Banjo Dance

Contact:
Maggie Cooper - General Manager
400 E. 5th Street, Suite A
Dayton, OH 45402
(937) 226-7463
maggie@rhythminshoes.org