Roosters’ Jamboree Helped

Everyone Dance The Night Away

By Shannon Hicks

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.

Last Friday night the club presented something new: a country jamboree. On September 29, the gymnasium at Edmond Town Hall in Newtown sounded like an old-fashioned barn dance, as the Roosters presented over a dozen musicians, simple dance lessons, and great spirit for four hours, all free of charge. A large crowd turned out for the event, and by the end of the evening new friendships had been formed as strangers met and danced together just for the fun of it.

Rocking Roosters may have hosted the event, but the jamboree was not intended to be a club-level dance. Dozens of couples were able to enjoy dancing together, and all it took was a few minutes of the country and folk music being performed by musicians from all over the state for everyone to feel comfortable dancing.

Even those who didn’t know how to dance took a chance every now and then to try something new, and that was exactly what organizer Marty Maciag had been hoping for.

Mr Maciag, a co-president of Rocking Roosters, had emphasized in the weeks prior to the jamboree that the evening was just for fun. He did not want anyone to be dissuaded from attending because of a fear of not being a top-notch square or round dancer. Rocking Roosters may be a square dance club, he emphasized, but the club was merely hosting the multi-media event Friday night.

For those who had not done square or round dancing for a number or years, and even for those who had never tried the dance forms, guest callers were on hand. When Alan Brozek began to explain the steps that were needed for a simple square dance, the crowd responded with enthusiasm.

Not everyone who was at the jamboree was there to dance. That was apparent from the few small groups of people who were just as happy to sit in the seats along the walls of the gymnasium Friday night, just enjoying the music and conversation all evening. That was certainly understandable thanks to the lineup of talented musicians who showed up Friday night to take turns sharing their forte for the crowd.

A few teens popped their heads inside from time to time to see what was going on, but not many hung around long. A few of the younger generation danced outside in the parking lot, where the music could be heard, but none of the teens were brave enough to join the party.

Inside, though, at least 100 people were on the floor at one point. The scene of dozens of people of all ages and backgrounds working their way through a Virginia Reel, smiles on everyone’s faces even as steps were missed, was all anyone who had worked on putting together the evening could have wished for.

The musicians took turns enjoying the spotlight all evening. At one point, Annie Abercrombie asked if she could harmonize with the band for a few minutes. Once she was finished helping out on “I Overlooked an Orchid,” Ed Little, who had been singing up to that point, invited Ms Abercrombie to stick around and sing a few songs, too. That was exactly the kind of interaction that had been had been hoped for.

“When [Newtown benefactress] Miss [Mary] Hawley envisioned this building back at the beginning of the century, this must have been one of the things she had in mind then for the town,” Rocking Roosters co-president Martha Millet said Friday night. “This reminds me of what I did as a kid. We used to do this kind of thing with our parents, and we had a wonderful time.

“Yes, this must have been what Miss Hawley was hoping for.”