We enjoyed the St Paddy’s Day dance at the Big Yellow Merville Hall

by Keith and Heather Nicol

    On Saturday, March 18 we attended a contra dance at the Big Yellow Merville Hall for St Paddy’s Day.  The Funtime Fiddlers seem to attract a large following since we had also attended their Robbie Burns Dance in January and in both cases they had to set up more tables and chairs for the 100 plus people that showed up. What we really appreciated about the evening was the wide range of ages that attend from young children to teens to adults. You change partners during lots of the dances and people don’t necessarily come as a couple or paired up. 

Heather heading to the Big Yellow Merville Hall

The dances are either circle or line dances  and June - the dance caller- had a great way of explaining the steps needed to do each dance.  The night usually starts with a 15 minute warm up period  when June goes over the basic steps that most dances will use. So don’t feel that you have to be a Fred Astaire or Ginger Rogers to attend since learning the dances is easy to do on the spot.  The Funtime Fiddlers play a range of lively jigs and reels as well as waltzes and polkas in between sets. If you are looking for a family friendly event or want a chance to learn some new dances we recommend checking out the next contra dance in Merville since they offer several throughout the year.

The Funtime Fiddlers played lively jigs and reels

  Merville is located on the old island highway just 12 km north of Courtenay, B.C. For more information on the next contra dance contact:  seabankmars@shaw.ca  or www.mervillehall.ca  

The contra dances attract a wide range of ages