DESCRIPTION:
"House on the Hill Medley", performed by Tony DeMarco & Siobhan Butler (www.dancefiddle.com) with Jesse Winch in concert at the Institute of Musical Traditions (www.imtfolk.org), Rockville, Maryland, USA on September 25, 2013.

Two of America's leading Irish performers, sean nós (old style) dancer Siobhán Butler and fiddler Tony DeMarco, combine in an exciting new duo consisting solely of fiddle and percussive dance. Together they have been featured on nationally televised program TG4 in Ireland, as well as The Grand Ole Opry in Nashville, Tennessee. Tony, a Smithsonian Folkways artist, and Siobhán, founder of Sean-Nós New York, bring a refreshing perspective to ancient arts that is captivating to both the eyes and ears.

Tony DeMarco has been performing and teaching Irish fiddle music for more than 30 years, and is now one of leading living exponents of the New York/Sligo fiddle style. The late Paddy Reynolds, Andy McGann and Martin Wynne were very influential on Tony's playing, as was the music of New York/Sligo fiddlers of the generation prior, including Michael Coleman, James Morrison, Paddy Killoran, and James "Lad" O'Beirne. Tony's album The Sligo Indians, released in 2008 on the Smithsonian Folkways label, is tribute to this style and the musicians that shaped his music. His landmark The Apple in Winter album with Brian Conway, now available on Compass Records, is a highly regarded example of the old Sligo-style twin fiddle music from New York. Tony's popular A Trip to Sligo tutorial, co-authored with Miles Krassen, is scheduled to be re-issued soon.

Siobhán Butler is an internationally recognized percussive dancer who has performed with acts such as Celtic Crossroads, Kieran Jordan, and Cherish the Ladies. Born in Cambridgeshire, England, Siobhán fell in love with Irish dance and music and began Irish dancing at age eight. After a successful career in competitive Irish step dancing, Siobhán now focuses her time dancing the old style, sean-nós dancing. Siobhán is influenced by several different percussive dance styles, also having training in tap, flamenco, flatfooting, and cape breton dances. Her mission as both a teacher and a dancer is to reunite Irish music and dance. For Siobhán, dance is not only a physical interpretation of the music, but it is also another rhythmic layer of the music. Using her technical, Irish step dance background mixed with her knowledge of traditional, improvised dance styles, Siobhán brings a completely unique point of view to dancing.

Sound: Nate Belasco, Dave Eisner, Dave Richardson

Camera: Jim Ralph, Tim Twomey, Ralph Lillie

Editing: Ralph Lillie

© 2013, Institute of Musical Traditions