PORT ANGELES — This Saturday’s community contra dance, an event open to people of all ages and experience levels, features a new band with a fitting name: Power House.
The lead fiddler is 14-year-old Kate Powers of Sequim, while her brother Ethan, 17, is the guitar man and her sister Phebe, 12, plays the spoons. Their mother Gayle Powers, spokeswoman, manager and driver, promises a night of old-time, Irish and Celtic music at the Black Diamond Community Hall, the spacious place about 2 miles south of Port Angeles at 1942 Black Diamond Road.
Carol Piening will serve as the dance caller, keeping people moving with tips and prompts. Contra, an American folk dance, incorporates square-dance moves like the swing and do-si-do, while people progress through parallel lines, dancing with one person after another.
“Kate likes to play foot-stomping, vibrant, emotionally moving music,” Gayle Powers said of her daughter.
The teenager is also known for her performances with the Young Fiddlers and with the Port Angeles Symphony Orchestra. In Power House, Kate and her siblings play with backup guitarist Chris Burt and Don Betts, bassist Kristina Tormala, backup fiddler Dennis Schosboek and Bill Woods on the bodhran.
Admission Saturday night is $8 for adults and $4 for youth 17 and younger, and that will include the introductory-refresher workshop at 7:30 p.m. Dress is casual at these dances, and couples, singles and families are invited.
For more details about Port Angeles’ community contra dances, typically held the first Saturday of the month at the Black Diamond hall, see www.BlackDiamondDance.org or phone 360-477-7222.