Rocking Roosters Are Trying Something New: An Old-Fashioned Jamboree

By Shannon Hicks

What on Earth is a Buzz Step? A Walk Around? Allemande, Weave The Ring, Wrong Way Grand, Left Hand Star, Half Sashay, or Rollaway?

September is Square Dance Month, and these are all basic square dance steps. For nearly 40 years the Rocking Roosters Square Dance Club of Newtown has been celebrating the official dance of Connecticut with twice-monthly square dances, lessons for members and the public, demonstrations and open house events, and appearances in full costume at Newtown’s famous Labor Day Parade.

While the interest in square and round dancing continues to grow in towns across the country, the Roosters have decided to try something new this year. In addition to two recent open house events, the club will sponsor its first-ever Newtown Country Jamboree next week at Edmond Town Hall.

The most important thing club co-vice president Marty Maciag wants people to know about next week’s big party, however, is that it is not for club level dancers only. The event is being created and organized around Newtown residents who are friends of regular dancers or anyone who may be interested in learning a little bit about square or round dancing. Mr Maciag says this is the first time the Roosters have presented a jamboree.

What will make the shindig grander than the club’s recent open house events is that this will not be an evening of lessons, nor will there be a membership drive going on. There will, however, be lots of live music, a casual atmosphere, and a boatload of fun for anyone who wants to visit the town hall’s gymnasium next Friday night.

Newtown Country Jamboree 2000 will run from 6:30 to 10:30 pm in the gymnasium at 45 Main Street in Newtown. Everyone is welcome. Dress is casual, but due to the recently varnished wood floor of the hall, soft-soled shoes will be absolutely mandatory. There is no admission charge, but any donations will be accepted on behalf of Rocking Roosters.

“We’re getting good feedback so far. There are a lot of fliers out there, information being distributed through other local organizations, but the big thing we want everyone to know is that this is for the townspeople. That’s the thrust of this event,” Rocking Roosters co-vice president Martha Millett reiterated this week. “This is not necessarily what club-level dancers should expect for one of their dances.

“Hopefully there will be something for everyone,” she continued. “But this is not a formal square dance. The Roosters just happen to be sponsoring the evening.”

The jamboree will have opportunities for participants to try — or help others with basic steps in — western square dance, two-step, polkas, contras, waltzes, barn dancing, and round dancing. For those who have no inclination to get out on the dance floor, there will be plenty of live music to enjoy.

Among the musicians who will be at the jamboree next Friday night is Roger Sprung, a longtime Newtown resident and a well-known bluegrass musician. Mr Sprung has been teaching out of his home studio for a number of years, sharing what he has been doing for 53 of his 70 years: The enjoyment of bluegrass music.

Mr Sprung has won World Champion 5-String Banjo Player status a number of times. A legend himself, the banjo player’s early influences were no less than five-string legends Tom Paley, Pete Seeger, and Billy Faier.

While Mr Sprung predominantly performs bluegrass music, a derivative of country music that relies on traditional instrumentation and musical styles, he is credited with creating something called “progressive bluegrass.” Progressive offers traditional bluegrass sounds with non-related song material (for bluegrass, anyway) and instruments including horn pipes, reels, contra dances, and pop tunes.

“You use… anything,” Mr Sprung told The Bee in 1997. “That, to me, is progressing.”

Mr Sprung appears regularly at the annual NOrtheast Music And Dance (NOMAD) Festival in Newtown, a major three-day event which celebrates music forms and styles from around the world. The world-class banjo player is also the house musician for Newtown United Methodist Coffee House, a monthly event featuring live music in the community room of the Sandy Hook-based church.

With Mr Sprung next week will be two of the members of Mr Sprung’s band, The Progressive Bluegrassers: Lou Murray, from Cheshire, and Richie Hawthorne, from Pawling, N.Y.

“We’ll be performing probably as a square dance band,” Mr Sprung said this week. “Really, whatever Marty [Maciag] needs, we’ll be there to help him out.” Several members of Bristol Old-Time Fiddlers are also expected to be appearing Friday night.

John Mello, who Mr Maciag calls “a great guitar player and singer,” will be among the musicians keeping attendees’ toes tapping, as will harmonica and banjo player Dan Civitelli, and guitarist and singer Fred Bosquet.

The dances themselves will also be led by some familiar names. Danbury resident Bob Paris has been with Rocking Roosters and calling its dances for years, as has Alan Finkenaur. Both men will take turns calling and cueing the squares and rounds.

Don’t know the first thing about square or round dancing? Not a problem, assures Mr Paris.

“It sounds complicated, all these steps and the timing that’s involved, but it isn’t,” promises the longtime caller. “It’s like computers in that once you learn the basics you can go on from there. Square dancing is the same way. Once you learn the basic steps, you can go on to dance with a local club or other clubs, and you can continue learning new steps as you go.” A few Rocking Roosters members will be at the jamboree to partner with the newcomers so that dances go smoothly.

“You don’t need a lot of grace or coordination to do all of these dances,” Marty Maciag, who has been dancing for about five years, says. “I’ve seen people who are almost flat-footed, and they can square dance.

“We’d like more people to come out and join us, but I’m not going to twist your arm,” he continued. “I’m just going to make a suggestion: If you have any interest at all in dancing or good live music, just come out and give it a try next week. You might be surprised at how much fun you will have.”

“It’s a nice idea, and it’ll be an interesting thing to have all the different square dance people, folk people, the bluegrass people, and people just curious about everything — it’ll be sort of a mishmash,” Roger Sprung commented earlier this week. “It’ll be a great mixing of people who like an old-time gathering. It should be real nice.”

For further information, contact Marty Maciag at 426-4817.