Tony McManus

Hanneke Cassel

Jen Schoonover

RSCDS Boston Branch Demonstration Team

This year's show highlights the pulse underlying Scottish music's dynamic traditions. By featuring the guitar, often considered a "rhythm instrument," it will give new insight to well-loved jigs, reels, and strathspeys. Also featured will be a percussive step dance style thriving in Cape Breton, Nova Scotia, and wildly repopularized in Scotland itself, loved as the long-lost cousin that it is. The step dancers will perform an arrangement of the "Scotch Four," a dance originally from the Hebrides now sometimes performed at weddings and concerts around Cape Breton. Some hard-shoe steps will also be performed solo as a complement for the elegant Scottish Country Dancing also featured on the program.

The Performers

A native of Paisley, Scotland, Tony McManus (guitar) is recognized throughout the world as the leading guitarist in Celtic music. He performs at premiere concerts around the world as well as at festivals in Dundee and Derry. Tony transfers the complex ornamentation normally associated with fiddles and pipes to his acoustic guitar and preserves the integrity and emotional impact of the music. Since his debut solo album in 1996 to his most recent release, Ceol More, Tony has developed and refined his approach to this ancient art. His work also includes collaborations with the best Celtic musicians around the globe, including Alain Genty, Alasdair Fraser, Dougie McLean and many others. Tony was a nominee for Musician of the Year by the BBC Folk Awards and Ceol More was named Live Ireland Awards' Album of the Year.

Reviews of Tony's recent CDs are all raves:

McManus's playing "proved not just technically brilliant but [it] radiated an inspired regard for the music . . . the word that came to mind for much of it was 'grace'." --The Scotsman.

Maker's Mark is "arguably his best album to date, and that's saying something." -Minor 7th.

"McManus's playing is rave-worthy. Loaded with flawless ornamentations, most of which should only be attempted on a very well set-up fiddle, his playing is wild and delicate, passionate and tender. " --Premier Guitars

Hanneke Cassel (fiddle) is a native of Oregon and a graduate of Berklee College of Music. A US national Scottish Fiddle Champion, she studied with Alasdair Fraser and Buddy MacMaster and is a member of two Boston-based fiddle bands, Childsplay and Halali. She teaches at numerous international fiddle camps including Valley of the Moon, Boston Harbor Scottish Fiddle, Sierra Fiddle, Blazin' in Beuley, and Harald Haugaard's International Fiddle School and has made guest appearances with Cherish the Ladies, Alasdair Fraser, Matt Glaser and the Wayfaring Strangers, Ensemble Galilei, Aine Minogue, and Joey McIntyre (from New Kids on the Block). Her fiddling has graced Symphony Hall (opening for Judy Collins), Lincoln Center, Kennedy Center, Mountain Stage and the Hatch Shell. Hanneke's discography includes solo albums - such as My Joy and most recently Silver - and ensemble and dance music albums. The Boston Globe describes her as "already a rising star in the Celtic skies ... her musical ideas are savvy and sophisticated, but her throaty, gusting style is deeply banked in the Scottish and Cape Breton tradition."

Dave Wiesler (piano) hails from Newark, DE, and has been playing traditional Scottish music for dances and concerts since 1993. He performs regularly with his band Thistle House and with fiddlers Hanneke Cassel and Mara Shea. Dave is also at home in a huge range of other styles of music and folk dance, including contra dance, swing, vintage dancing, blues, Viennese waltz, and English country dance. He has played at festivals and dance and music camps across the country, as well as in Canada, Scotland, and England, and he appears on over a dozen recordings, many featuring his own compositions, notably Cracks and Shadows (2001). Dave also plays guitar, sings, writes witty ceilidh songs and original tunes and is the stay-at-home dad of two young boys.

Matthew Petrie (pipes) comes from a family steeped in the Cape Breton music tradition. As a teenager, he studied piping with Stuart Campbell. Matt was a member of the Greater Boston Pipe Band, which played at many concerts including one for the "world's greatest rock band" U2. He also plays with the Scottish country dance band, Sprig of Ivy. He lives in Worcester with wife Laura, 8-year-old son Andrew, and 18-year-old nephew Jon.

Jen Schoonover (Artistic Director and Dancer) has created dance and theater works for groups in Boston, New York City, and Philadelphia. She has served as artistic director of Cape Dance Theater, a dance-in-community ensemble on Cape Cod, and is co-director, with Kieran Jordan, of Turnstyles Dance Project, an experimental dance group based in Boston that fuses modern and traditional dance ideas. Jen has performed Highland dance at Carnegie Hall, on Good Morning America, at the Kennedy Center in Bonnie Rideout's national touring show A Scottish Christmas, and is featured on the DVD of that show created by BMG. She is a founding member of Highland Dance Boston and has performed with Back Porch Dance Company, Peanut Butter and Jelly Dance Company, and the Allen|Body Group.

Kieran Jordan started Irish step dancing at age five. Born and raised in Philadelphia, she competed nationally for 14 years and began performing as a solo dancer during her high school years. She attended Boston College and completed an English major and Irish Studies minor, becoming active in the BC Irish music programs and the Boston traditional music and dance scenes. At this time, Kieran also began exploring Cape Breton step dancing as well as sean-nós (old style) Irish dance, and modern dance. She learned her first Cape Breton steps from Hanneke Cassel, and then took some private lessons with Melody Cameron in Mabou, Cape Breton. Over the years, she has collaborated on numerous performance projects with Cape Breton style step dancers such as Christine Morrison, Mary MacGillivray, Mats Melin, and Jen Schoonover. In 2005, Kieran earned her MA in Contemporary Dance from the University of Limerick, Ireland. In 2008, she was awarded an "Artist Fellowship" in Traditional Arts from the Massachusetts Cultural Council. Kieran teaches classes in Boston and offers workshops worldwide, including the annual Catskills Irish Arts Week in New York. She tours as a solo dancer with the group Triptych (with Laura Risk and Paddy League), and she is Dance Director for the WGBH production of "A Christmas Celtic Sojourn." Kieran has released two videos on sean-nós Irish dance: a documentary called Secrets of the Sole and the instructional video, Musical Feet! A review in the Boston Herald noted, that "when Kieran Jordan danced, her miked feet created a dazzling tumult of beat."

Pam Campbell and Christine Morrison have been dancing together for over 16 years. They first danced in the popular group Four on the Floor formed by their teachers Mary MacGillivray and Judy MacKenzie and consisting of Christine Morrison, Pamela Campbell, Dawn MacDonald, and Meghan MacDonald. Four on the Floor danced alongside the likes of Natalie MacMaster, Ashley MacIsaac, Beolach and regularly with fiddler John Campbell. They also brought their dancing annually to Cape Breton and have toured in Scotland. When dancing separately, they have quite different dancing styles, but dancing together they are in perfect unison, a driving force that leaves every audience on its feet. The daughter of fiddling legend John Campbell, Pam carries on the traditional Cape Breton style with grace and force. Christine Morrison currently teaches full time at DNE School of Dance in Chelmsford, MA. Her dance style is primarily Cape Breton with many Irish influences.

Demonstration Team of the RSCDS, Boston Branch, under the direction of Andy Taylor-Blenis, dances at private celebrations, festivals, and town fairs around New England. It performs each year at the New Hampshire Highland Games, the New England Folk Festival, The Boston Celtic Music Festival, as well as at our November concert. Its goal is to present original medleys of traditional dances, choreographed for energy, elegance, and audience appeal and to encourage others to share the joy of Scottish country dancing. Come join us!

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