“Many of the dances we do are included in the ballroom repertoire, but they are quite different stylistically. This is what waltz was before it became ‘ballroom dance’. You can do a fast ballroom waltz to our waltzes, but the tempo is 120-170 beats per minute [40-57 mpm], much faster than the usual ballroom waltz at American Ballroom dances. Even our swing dances have a more folk dance appearance to them; few of the dancers can actually do Lindy, although anyone proficient at it is wildly popular! All dances have live music: however the ensemble is usually is a trio (sometimes a duo) including varying combinations of keyboard, fiddle/violin, viola, guitar, mandolin, clarinet, and accordion. The musical repertoire is common to the folk dance setting: contradance, English Country Dance, Scandinavian folk dance. You will almost never hear selections from the ballroom repertoire. Many of the pieces played each night are actually composed by the musicians or their peers–members of the folk dance circles. The results are some heartbreakingly beautiful tunes that will be completely unfamiliar to the ballroom set.” — Richard
