Full house for Maberly Quarterly square and contra dance

Craig Bakay | Feb 28, 2018

They had their dancin’ boots on at the Hall in Maberly Saturday night as a packed house do-se-doed and balanced their way around the room to some rousin’ fiddle tunes.

This is a semi-regular event but a lack of regular schedule doesn’t seem to bother anybody.

“It’s more of a Sort-erly Quarterly,” said Maike Polano, one of the organizers (at least she seemed in charge of the coconut crème). “It doesn’t always happen and there’s nothing official.

“But when we can pull it together, we do. I’m away for awhile but we’ll probably have another one in the summer.

“We usually have one in the fall . . . around Halloween, . . . and one in winter.”

The band is usually a one-off collection often organized by Teilhard Frost, perhaps better known as Sheesham of Sheesham and Lotus and Son and this was no exception.

They billed themselves as Bees and Flowers after an old Newfoundland fiddle tune by Rufus Guinchard (they made the name up on the spot but we’ll give it to them).

Besides Frost, the band included fiddler Doug Dorward (who hails from Dundee, Scotland originally), CBC Q radio host/Dardanelle Tom Power on guitar and his Dardanelles bandmate Eilia Bartellas also on fiddle.

Frost met Power when they were both playing at the Summer Folk Fest in Owen Sound and they’ve be collaborating ever since.

“I love this,” said Power. “It’s important for me to play some music and this is a nice chance to play for dancers, which I used to do all the time.”

As for Frost, his recent forays with Power et al don’t mean there will be no more Sheesham and Lotus and Son projects.

“Actually, we’ve got a tour of the Netherlands, Ireland and Wales coming up,” he said.

And, Frost said he’s just putting the finishing touches on a solo album, which should be completed sometime this week.

Caller Sarah Vannorstrand goes over her notes while the band — Doug Dorward, Emilia Bartellas, Teilhard Frost and Tom Power warms up at the Maberly Quarterly last Saturday night in Maberly. Photo/Craig Bakay