SQUARE DANCE
FRIDAY 6pm

Come out and shake a leg to one of Virginia's hottest string bands, Ragged Mountain String Band, with Hannah Johnson hollering out square dance calls. Never square danced before??? No problem, Hannah will teach you everything you need to know. No partner??? We got ya, there will be lots of fun folks who are eager to dance with you. Can't tell your left foot from your right???? No worries, we're just here to have a good time!

RAGGED MOUNTAIN STRING BAND

Since their formation in 2012, Ragged Mountain String Band has engaged audiences at countless concerts and festival stages like the Festy, the Richmond Bluegrass Festival, and Red Wing, where they play as the festival's square dance band. With four full-length albums to their name, the five-piece outfit specializes in Appalachian string band music while playing barn-burning breakdowns, swinging rags, and classic Stanley Brothers tunes--harmonies and all. Although they appeal to roots music and string band lovers, RMSB doesn’t confine themselves to any one genre. At a show you can hear them cover a range of music from the Clash to the Grateful Dead to Taj Mahal. You can catch RMSB every Tuesday at the Whiskey Jar in C’ville.

Hannah Johnson hails from the Shenandoah Valley of VA. She fell in love with old time music as a teenager attending fiddlers' conventions in the region, and promptly took up the fiddle, banjo, and guitar, learning from local old timers and musicians near and far. Her passion for music and longtime love of dancing led Hannah to start calling square dances. Her calling repertoire and style are heavily influenced by friends and mentors Ellen and Eugene Ratcliffe of Monterey, VA, with whom Hannah apprenticed in 2016-2017 through the Virginia Folklife Program. The Ratcliffes grew up dancing and calling in Highland County, VA, and are still the driving force behind the local square dance scene. Hannah calls the traditional Highland County big circle dances, featuring playful figures like Birdie in the Cage and Chase the Rabbit, Chase the Squirrel, as well as the 4 couple square dances that many people are familiar with. Though she still lives in her same old home town and remains dedicated to her local traditions, Hannah has traveled the world playing in old time bands, swapping tunes, dances, and songs along the way.

Come and learn how to two-step and waltz with Kristen Gremillion!

KRISTEN GREMILLION

Kristen Gremillion, LMT is a Movement and Healing Arts Practitioner from New Orleans, LA. She teaches folks how to 2-step, waltz, and more in private lessons, classes, workshops and at small and large scale events from Louisiana to Colorado - and now in Virginia! Learn more about Kristen and her work at www.nolamadic.com

RAMONA & THE HOLY SMOKES

Based in Central Virginia and with family roots in South Texas, Ramona and the Holy Smokes represent a new generation of honky tonk music. With powerful female vocals that cover an emotional range from determined to comic to vulnerable, and a talented backing band steeped in classic country and western styles of the 1950s, 1960s, and 1970s, the band’s repertoire includes lush emotional ballads, quintessential two-step dance numbers, gritty country-rockers, and a unique blend of honky tonk and traditional Mexican styles that the group describes as “Mexi-tonk.” Drawing on the Mexican-American heritage of lead singer and songwriter Ramona Martinez, recognized by Wide Open Country as one of the "15 Latino Artists Shaping Country Music," Ramona and the Holy Smokes are simultaneously rooted in the traditional sounds of country music but unafraid of pushing boundaries and highlighting the connections across border cultures. Their self-titled debut LP offers the group the opportunity to explore this diversity of sounds, leaning into an authenticity and resiliency in songs that chart life’s ups and downs from the perspective of a female voice seeking to maintain a sensitivity & sense of wonder in a twenty-first century world filled with emotional highs & lows.

For tweens, teens and all kids who love to dance! Imagine dancing to your own beat and music, in your own style, fully feeling the freedom of your own personal dance party. Now imagine yourself on the dance floor surrounded by other kids dancing to the rhythm of their own beat. THAT is SILENT DISCO! Two chances to dance!