Families learning to play fiddle tunes and dances will have a chance to share what they've learned with the public for the first time this Saturday. With fiddles and lessons provided at no charge to families, students from struggling neighborhoods of Pawtucket and Central Falls have participated in the Fiddle & Dance Project, a program launched two months ago in Pawtucket's Woodlawn neighborhood.
Each week, students ages 7 through 18 and parents have met with a Fiddler-in-Residence at the Woodlawn Community Center to learn the basics of traditional fiddle tunes. All students involved had never played a violin before taking part in the project. "I'm looking forward to seeing families share and take pride in the work they've done to get to this point," says Fiddler-in-Residence, Rachel Panitch.
After the fiddling performances, the afternoon will take a participatory turn: audience members will be invited to dance with students and families to the fiddling and drumming of musicians Rachel Panitch, Carole Bestvater and David Davignon.
For additional information on Fiddle & Dance Project, contact Rachel Panitch at or visit www.fiddleanddance.org. Performance and dance begins at 3:00pm on Saturday at Woodlawn Community Development Corporation, 210 West Ave., Pawtucket.
ABOUT - The Fiddle & Dance Project seeks to cultivate leadership in an under-resourced community across generational lines, by dancing together, and by learning and reinventing traditional styles of fiddle music. Beginning in the fall of 2009, based at the Woodlawn Community Development Corporation in Pawtucket, in a neighborhood with 77% of households considered low-income, students learn to play the violin through traditional fiddle tunes in a free program. The program includes access to an instrument for the year, weekly small-group lessons and special events for families each month such as performances and community dances. New England contra dance music is participatory, open to reinvention by each new player, and created to get people dancing together. The dancing is a mix of long lines, circles, and squares — but partners are always changing. Rachel has been playing, teaching and dancing in Rhode Island since 2006, and performs actively with bands around the state including the Bourbon Boys, winners of the 2009 Best Bluegrass Music Award from Motif Magazine. She recently completed a fellowship with Community MusicWorks, which serves as incubator for the Fiddle & Dance Project, sharing a belief in the power of music for social change.