FiddleKicks Performer Bios

FiddleKicks performers

	Amy Dwyer “Tap dancing in 2nd grade was a long time ago for me - I really loved the shoes!” When Amy lived in Florida 26 years ago she took Appalachian Clogging lessons at the local adult school. In that place and time, you could go to a local bar and clog. It was great fun and you didn't have to make your husband dance with you! Amy has lived in this area for 16 years now. The church she belongs to sends a youth mission team to Appalachia to help "make homes safer, warmer, drier" with the Appalachia Service Project and Amy often has chaperoned groups there. When her church was planning their annual talent show to raise money for the trip Amy began thinking about how great it would be to have a clogging group perform. She looked online and found FiddleKicks. “Who knew I would find a clogging group right here in my own back yard!” She has been dancing with FiddleKicks since February 2002 and enjoys every minute of it!
	Annsley Hillman “Hey Ya'll!” Annsley is originally from Atlanta, GA. When she moved to Philadelphia she decided to pick up a winter sport. Knowing she loved live fiddle tunes, she thought she would try her hand (feet?) at clogging. She never expected to be in her second year of performing nor loving it as much as she does. She has found her passion among wonderful friends in Appalachian style clogging.
	Bill Quern is a dance musician and has played for FiddleKicks since 2003. His father filled the house with instruments for his 10 siblings to explore, so Bill developed into a multi-instrumentalist. Fiddle, banjo, concertina, mandolin, harmonica and bodhran became his selection as an adult. He has a degree in Fine Arts from MA College of Art where he studied performance, sculpture and instrument making. He plays for Contra and Square dances, English Country dances, teaches Morris dancing (at Saint Peter's School in Philadelphia) and Scandinavian dancing. He dances with Kingsessing Morris Men (7 time winners in the Philadelphia Mummer's Parade) and plays for English Rapper and Longsword dance teams. Other performances include; Enscaded Festival in Holland, on Chinese television, the New England Folk Festival, the Butterball Dance Festival, and the Heritage Dance Festival.
	Chloe Maryam Maher has been involved in the traditional dance and music community her whole life. Beginning with Scottish country dance, she has subsequently enjoyed English country, contra, clogging, rapper sword, and morris. Singing has also long been a hobby for Chloe, and she became an avid shape note singer while at Oberlin College, an activity that culminated in co-editing (with Charles Wells) and publishing Oberlin Harmony, a compilation of songs sung and enjoyed at Oberlin. Chloe has lately been enjoying playing piano for English, Scottish, and contra dances. She plays with many great musicians, but one of favorite groups is The Contraptions with Bill Quern and Nora Smith. She is on the board of the Country Dance and Song Society and is President of Germantown Country Dancers. Chloe likes to travel and is interested in religion and gender studies, particularly of North Africa. She also cares deeply about public transportation, public education, and libraries.
	Clare Maher As a 6-year old, Clare’s parents sent her to Scottish Highland dance classes in Chicago, IL. (Her mom didn’t like the idea of making numerous ballet, tap or Irish dance costumes.) Clare had great fun for the next 6 years, dancing more than just Scottish – such as the Mexican Hat dance, English waltz clog, Scottish social dances and a Cape Breton style “Irish Jig” with Vaudevillian fist-shaking. Clare studied cello for many years, and continues making music one of her favorite forms of recreation. After years of doing very little dance she got involved in American traditional music and dance, took up the fiddle, and played for and danced in local square, international and contra dances. She also attended many dance and folk arts weekends and camps, enjoying Appalachian and English clogging. Thus when she found Fiddlekicks, it didn’t take long before she was happily part of the group. She also enjoys English rapper sword dancing, and is a member of a local group that sometimes performs with Fiddlekicks.
	Donna Hunt has been an avid dancer for 20 years, enjoying the dance styles of Contra, Square, Irish Set, Cajun, Swing, and Waltz among others. She has always been interested in clogging but did not have time to pursue it. She moved to Philadelphia in 2003, met the FiddleKicks Cloggers, and got hooked! She joined the group in 2004. Donna is an accomplished dance caller/teacher and has taught numerous workshops including Contra Dance style, beginner Swing, Waltz variations, and Schottische variations. She is often seen dancing and calling at the Thursday Night Contra Dance at the Glenside Memorial Hall. Come join us! Donna lives with her wonderfully supportive husband, Chris (another avid dancer) and their non-dancing cat Eddie, in Oreland, Pa.
	Eileen Hayes has been dancing with FiddleKicks since 2003. She grew up in Rhode Island enjoying Irish music and dance, and later became involved in social dance when friends introduced her to contra dancing in 1989. She has also performed English ritual dances with Handsome Molly and Shandygaff Longsword of Princeton, NJ. Eileen notes that "Clogging feels like coming home. It’s wonderfully American and is danced to dynamic, joyful old-time music.” She loves to watch Irish step dance but old time music really moves her – to dance, especially to clog! She also enjoys exploring the other percussive styles that FiddleKicks has promoted!” Eileen also has been involved in organizing contra and other social dances in Highland Park and Princeton, NJ.
	Jan Smith joined FiddleKicks in 2006. Prior to dancing with FiddleKicks she studied Irish step dancing with Rosmarie Timmoney. Her favorite place to dance however is on Broad Street on January 1st where she has marched with the Goodtimers Comic Division for the last decade. She plays the cello and performs on piano and accordion with Aunt Jean's Band. She has been an active member of the Philadelphia Juggler's Club for ten years and clowns around in her spare time. Tango and contra dancing have been a big influence on her, and she's found wonderful teachers in all of these spaces.
	Kathy Talvitie made her dance debut at the age of five as a tap dancing starfish. Dancing and playing music have filled her life with joy ever since. Her path as a dancer has led her to ballet, tap, international and modern dance. For the past 20 years she has been active in the Delaware Valley Contra Dance and English Country Dance community as a dancer, musician and composer. In addition to playing guitar with the band Raise the Roof, she plays piano with Hold the Mustard and A Joyful Noise. “After playing for just one FiddleKicks performance I knew it was time to dust off those tap shoes."
	Libby Harman grew up in Atlanta and was first introduced to clogging in Mountain City, Ga. She has always been passionate about dancing, whether it be rock ‘n roll, international folk, salsa, swing, or jazz. Her love of the percussive nature of clogging led her to join FiddleKicks in 2003. (An added incentive was that her partner had become addicted to playing old time music on the banjo and mandolin.) By day, Libby works as a nurse practitioner in women’s health—her other passions are: mothering, human rights, quilting, playing tennis, gardening and doing sudoku puzzles.
	Meg Hawkins has been clogging with FiddleKicks since 2000. Seeing the group perform at Rose Tree Park in 1999, she was inspired to join by the rhythmic, energetic footwork, enthusiastic dance movements and great company. She has experienced Morris Dancing at college in North Carolina and Scottish country dancing in Kathmandu, Nepal and square dancing in Oxford, England. Clog dancing to live old-time music seems a natural combination of all good things, especially with a couple of English dances thrown in. In her other life she is an elementary school librarian.
	Pat McGrath, co-director, joined FiddleKicks in 1998. With extensive tap training as a child, it wasn’t long after joining the group that she began collaborating with Peggy to lead and develop FiddleKicks, especially artistically. Pat is always on the lookout for new dance forms and concepts that she can bring to FiddleKicks. Most recently Pat has expanded FiddleKicks repertoire with gumboot, body percussion and advanced Cape Breton dancing. Since joining FiddleKicks, she has studied dance at Augusta Heritage Center in West Virginia for Appalachian Clogging and Flatfooting, Pinewoods in Massachusetts, The Gaelic College of Celtic Arts and Crafts, Cape Breton, the Swannanoa Gathering and an independent study dance class at Penn State Abington.
	Peggy Leiby, co-director, was a founding member of FiddleKicks in 1996. Upon assuming a leadership role in 1998, she envisioned that FiddleKicks could be taken from its informal community dance roots to a quality performance troupe, whether in a concert setting or community hoedown. She has extensive experience in the Philadelphia folk dance and music community as an events organizer and dance performer in various forms of dance, and thrives in developing concepts for events and outreach programs. She brings skills of her past experience as a co-owner of a magazine publishing company to her passion and drive for traditional dance and music. Besides spending as much time dancing as she can, she helps to run Mostly Waltz, teaches waltzing and other couple dances, plays recorders in early music ensembles and for English country dances, handles bookings for Simple Gifts and manages phillydance.com.
	Rebecca Northrop grew up in a house filled with music and dance. Her folk musician father and southwest Virginia-born mother ran the North Elk Coffee House during her childhood. Departing from the folk tradition, Rebecca pursued a career in ballet and modern dance, dancing with Dance Matrix and the Russian Ballet Theatre of Delaware. After overuse injuries forced her to abandon that career, she decided to go to school for classical guitar. After picking up a banjo, however, she left her classical guitar behind for old-time music and Appalachian dance.
	Sarah Gowan was raised in a household where art, music, dance, and performance were as much a part of daily life as breakfast. Some of her earliest memories are of the lively old-time fiddle music and spontaneous clogging sessions in the yard of her great-grandmother's house nestled in the Smokey Mountains of Asheville, North Carolina. A performer at the age of six; she studied piano, cello, singing, and ballet. She fell in love with the stage when, in a local production of Oliver!, she was given a one line solo because she could sing louder than the rest of the 80 kids in the cast. In her teens, Sarah rediscovered the traditional music of her youth, leading her to international, square and contra dancing. Sarah also performs with Mixed Pickles Vintage Dancers, plays guitar and English concertina with several dance bands, teaches traditional couple dancing, and composes the occasional tune. She lives with her two terrific teenagers, Garrett and Emma, who almost never complain about the clogging, squeezeboxes, and banjos, although the cats often do.
	Sarah Thomas joined FiddleKicks in 2005 when she was ten years old. She performs various dancing styles in the troupe’s repertoire, including Appalachian Clogging, English Waltz & Sword, South African gumboot and Cape Breton. Sarah came to FiddleKicks after five years of classical ballet. She also enjoys playing the violin in the Main Line Youth Chamber Orchestra, cooking, and soccer. Sarah has been homeschooled since kindergarten.
	Sharon Charles has been dancing with Fiddlekicks since 2005. Her interest in clogging was sparked when she participated in some free-style clogging during a vacation in Tennessee. When she came home, she discovered Fiddlekicks online and has been dancing with the group ever since. She has taught aerobic dance and exercise for 17 years and has always loved music and movement, and especially enjoys playing the rhythm with her feet. She plays the fiddle and the piano, and teaches private keyboard and piano lessons. She is also a registered yoga teacher, and enjoys hiking and mountain biking.
	Susan Anderson is an active dancer, singer, musician, as well as organizer in Philly’s international folk dance community. As the leader of the International Folk Sounds orchestra, she sings and plays many instruments including gaida (bagpipe), balalaika, violin and tambura. She is currently President of the Folk Dance Council of the Delaware Valley, a docent at the Elmwood Park Zoo and on staff at Mainewoods Dance Camp. Susan performs with Svitanya, a women’s a cappella ensemble that specializes in the music of Eastern Europe, and runs the weekly Beaver Folk Dance group group. “FiddleKicks is a blast!!”

Regular guests
We tailor our shows to best meet the needs of an audience and participants by choosing from a pool of guest artists to present the most suitable entertainment.

	Bill Dooley has been a perennial favorite in the Philadelphia folk music scene since the 1970s. In addition to his skills on guitar, banjo, and harmonica, he is a warm, engaging singer with “A talent for reaching into his vast repertoire of traditional and vintage songs to pull out an unknown gem.” (City Paper). Bill is highly regarded for his arrangements of jazz and popular standards for solo guitar as well as Hawaiian “slack-key” guitar. He is an adept songwriter, skilled old-timey musician, and is known for his unique repertoire of songs and tunes “from the hills and Bob Wills to doo-wah-ditty and back to the city.”
	Bob Butryn is a professional musician and dancer who specializes in sax, clarinet and flute in addition to being a theatrical social dance performer. He has a B.S. in Music Education from Temple University. Bob’s main project is a music and dance show called "Crazy Rhythm, Fancy Feet". This diverse show includes dance routines of tap, swing, disco, the Charleston, a Fred & Ginger style foxtrot, salsa, and a routine that mixes swing, hip hop and break dancing. Also included in the show are musical performances on sax, clarinet and flute as well as humorous skits and singing. In addition to performing and teaching nationally, Bob is a member of the New Music group Relache.
	Ellie Grace: Singer, multi-instrumentalist, songwriter, and percussive dancer, Ellie grew up traveling across North America performing professionally as part of her family band and now carries on her family's musical tradition, touring and teaching nationally and internationally (frequently with her sister, Leela)! Ellie has done extensive recording and studio work and several years ago released a celebrated CD with her sister. Not long ago, Ellie left Columbia, Missouri, where she was running her own school of music and dance and headed east to her new home in the mountains of Western North Carolina. Recent years finds her performing as a member of The Dirk Powell Band, being on faculty as a percussive dance instructor at the University of North Carolina at Asheville and touring overseas. website
	Jo Wright is the Director of Alive & Kicking, based in Exeter, Devon. Formed in 1989, A&K performs music and dance at folk festivals and events throughout the UK from the Appalachian Mountain region of the USA. Based on the traditional steps of Appalachian clogging, A&K have developed their own distinctive and exciting style of Appalachian clog dance, using dances choreographed by members of the team. In 2003 the group visited Philadelphia as guests of FiddleKicks, who made a return visit to the UK in 2004. Since then, Jo has returned to the USA regularly as a guest performer with FiddleKicks in Maryland, Ohio, Pennsylvania and West Virginia. Back at home, Jo provides foot percussion for the Old Porch Band, an Exeter based string band performing American and UK music, and also performs solo flatfooting and Cape Breton step dancing at folk clubs in the area.
	John Devine & Steve Hickman are seasoned dance and performance musicians from VA & WV in the Washington, DC area. Both have been members of popular traveling bands and are in great demand as a performance duo. These folks know mountain, old time, folk, and swing music AND how to work together to create a spirited and "with it" sound. Steve is an unsurpassed fiddler renowned for his driving energy, superb hambone, and great humor. John plays crisp back-up guitar that invites dancing, toe-tapping and singing along.
	Matt Brown is a talented performer of traditional Appalachian music. He has a varied solo show in which he sings and plays banjo, fiddle, and guitar. He is a musician with the percussive dance ensemble Rhythm in Shoes and has made guest appearances with Uncle Earl and the Wilders. In addition to performing, he teaches private lessons, workshops and at dance and music camps nationwide. He has learned from some of the best in the genre including Bruce Molsky, Dirk Powell, Paul Brown, Ginny Hawker and Tracy Schwarz. His debut album, “Lone Prairie,” features Paul Brown and Beverly Smith and has been highly acclaimed. He has an instructional recording of fiddle tunes, Old-Time Fiddle Lesson Vol. 1 that was released in June, 2007. His upcoming recording, "My Native Home," will be available in 2008.
	Rik Bourne plays fiddle, melodeon, harmonica and guitar. He is a member of folk music trio, The Coyotes (with Bill Dooley and Wendi Bourne), and is also the musician for The Kingsessing Morris Men. When not playing with his regular groups, Rik can be found playing at square dances with his wife, Wendi, and as a dance musician in other bands. Rik’s performances include The Philadelphia Folk Festival, The Philadelphia Mummer’s Parade, and a Tour of England with the Kingsessing Morris Dancers.

	Rusty Neithammer started playing old-time music on the fiddle while in college in the 1970’s, after hearing it on radio station WXPN, at the Philly Folk Festival, and at some southern fiddle contests. Over the years, he also took up the mandolin and guitar. Soon after college, he was drafted to dance with the Mill Creek Cloggers. Rusty’s playing has been strongly influenced by the fiddling and banjo playing of Tommy Jarrell. Besides playing in various band configurations for Fiddlekicks, Rusty plays fiddle with the Bow Rockers, an old-time band based in the Philadelphia area. He also plays guitar with the Cliffhangers, who have recently released a series of CD recordings.
	Tom Schaffer has been playing guitar, bass, or fiddle in the old-time music scene regularly for close to forty years, playing dances, jamming and joining up with many many pickup bands at down-south festivals. There have also been some forays into more organized settings, as guitar player with power trio, the Sly Dogs alongside Mark Simos and Michael Gallagher; and with The Amazing Rhythm Kings including Bob Carlin, Ernest Tedino and Sol Kohen. Tom has also been found occasionally in collusion with The Hix, The Sandia Hots and The Piedmont Pepsteppers.Recently retired from teaching, there's more time for music now; in addition to FiddleKicks appearances, Tom currently plays bass with Run Of The Mill Stringband and with The Bow Rockers, both solid old time dance bands.
	Wendi Bourne plays guitar and sings. She is a member of swing bands Girls from Mars and Swing City as well as The Coyotes. She is the coordinator for a week-long music & dance “camp”, Swing Week at Augusta. She has been playing for square dances with Rik since their marriage in 1978. She has taught guitar and voice at numerous music camps, and has performed at The Annenberg Center, The Philadelphia Folk Festival, Bethlehem Musikfest and at swing dances up and down the east coast.