An All Ages St. Paddy’s Dance will be held Saturday, March 15, at the Gerold Opera House in downtown Weyauwega.
The evening will kick off at 5:30 p.m. and will feature the comedy of Weyauwega-Fremont’s improv troupe Punchline and the Celtic folk music of The Crossing, a band from Chicago.
The family, multi-generational dance is being hosted by the Wolf River Area Optimist Club and Wega Arts.
Tickets will be $5 at the door with tickets $1 for children ages 10 and under.
Food and refreshments will be available.
The Crossing has been performing a mix of traditional Irish and Scottish, as well as original songs and tunes, since 1984.
The band creates music with intricate arrangements of traditional and orginal Celtic tunes – using guitar, pipes, fiddle, flutes, harp, keys, bodhrans and more.
While all members but one are natives of the United States (the cellist is from Norway), their roots are in the Celtic lands and their original songs fit with the old and living tradition.
The themes in their music vary from pure story-telling to accounts of hardship and victory, setting Celtic prayers and psalms to music, along with danceable jigs and reels.
The band’s members reside in inner-city Chicago, in the diverse Uptown neighborhood.
Part of a group that works closely with the region’s poor and homeless gives them perspective about the joys and struggles of daily life.
Spiritual themes are woven throughout their sets, and the overall mood is one of hope, joy and celebration that appeals to people of all convictions.
The instrumentation at a Crossing show keeps both the musicians and the audience engaged.
Most members are accomplished at not only one, but several instruments.
Tony, the group’s front man, is at home with guitar, bouzouki, bodhran, bagpipes and whistles, in addition to his seasoned voice.
Mark, the band’s “fluter,” also plucks the harp. Hilde’s main calling is cello. She provides a low-end to rhythms and melodies, but also fills out the sound with piano and contributes lead vocals.
Jennifer focuses all her energy on being the fiddler extraordinaire, and Eric is another jack-of-all-trades with melody guitar, bouzouki, bodhran (played with a hairbrush even) and djembe.
All members sing harmonies. The Crossing has been influenced in their sound by The Tannahil Weavers, Altan and The Chieftains.
Visit www.grrrrecords.com/crossing to learn more about the band and go to wegaarts.org for more information about events at the Gerold.
The opera house is located at 136 E. Main St.