Saturday, August 22, 2009

dancing in the garden




Today there were two sign-up events for the Fiddle & Dance Project: one in Central Falls at the Back-to-school celebration and one in the Pawtucket community garden space on Barton & Nickerson Streets. Here we are dancing the Foula Reel to the live tunes of Kati and Chris on fiddle and guitar. Thanks all for a great afternoon!

Monday, August 17, 2009

what, how & why

Here’s What the Fiddle & Dance Project is about:

-empowering kids, parents, grandparents as learners, teachers & performers

-cultivating leadership among youth and adults in a diverse, under-served community

-strengthening ties within and across peer groups in the community


Here’s How:

-exploring, trying, learning, practicing & sharing fiddle tunes as individuals and as a group

-dancing to this music (eventually, to each other making this music) across generational lines


Here’s Why fiddling & dance:

-these tunes are Old, yet each player has the potential to breathe new life into them—to reinvent them and own them.

-this music is participatory, group-oriented and often purposeful (to get people on their feet, dancing!)

-community dance is about looking other people in the eye, smiling, & then moving together

-the process takes time, just as the goals do—just as building relationships do. Learning fiddling takes focus, commitment & overcoming frustrations—but the results are invaluable


Wednesday, August 12, 2009

Recruitment Events

Fiddle & Dance Project will have a sign-up table with information (and in some cases, music) at the following events:

August 22nd, 4-6 PM, PCDC Garden Celebration, corner of Barton & Nickerson Streets, Pawtucket, RI (with community dancing and live music from 5-5:30 PM)

August 30th, 12-5 PM, Labor & Ethnic Heritage Festival, Slater Mill, Pawtucket, RI
(with performances by Rachel and Community MusicWorks Fiddle Lab students from 12-12:30 PM)