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A Postcard from The StepCrew's Cara Butler about the Step Dancing Show at On Stage At Kingsborough on May 20

Greetings from Toronto!! And Ireland! And Scotland! And Vancouver! And Nova Scotia!! Believe it or not, The StepCrew will be flying in from ALL these wondrous places to perform for you in Brooklyn on Saturday night May 20 as part of On Stage At Kingsborough. We could not be more excited for the show and can’t wait to see how you all react to our three different styles of dance. That’s right! We have Irish step dancing, tap dancing and a very rare and unique form of Canadian step dancing called Ottawa Valley step dancing. 

Photo: Wik Heerma

We started this journey together about ten years ago. I met Jon and Nathan Pilatzke touring with the six time Grammy winners The Chieftains. We had one day to work out new steps and choreography. It was the first time Irish and Ottawa valley step dancing met on the big stage. Though nerve-racking at first, the three of us quickly realized the synergy of the two styles was like magic! We could interpret the same rhythms and dance the same step, but in completely different ways. Some steps worked better than others, of course, but it was great to learn from each other and see what we could do. And now we have a whole crew! Tap is the thread that connects Irish and Ottawa valley, so it made perfect sense to include this style when we created the show. Our singer from Scotland specializes in Puirt, which literally means mouth music and is specifically sung for dancing. Our band features three Champion fiddle players and the most in-demand musicians on the road today. We are a lucky gang and a very happy one too. Every time we hit the stage our goal is make sure the audience leaves happy. We want everyone to feel the love we have dancing together and who knows, the show is so high energy you may end up dancing with us!

Photo: Roddy McWah

On our last tour we were blessed to have the amazing production team at Armstrong Auditorium (Edmond, OK) video our entire show live. We just received the final footage and will spend the next couple of weeks editing for a fall release commemorating our ten-year anniversary. The summer will see us at festivals in Canada, teaching and working on tours for next year. Jon, Nathan and I will join The Chieftains in Japan this November, and no doubt we will come home with more new steps! You can follow our “steps" on Instagram, Facebook and twitter! We hope to see you there and see you on Saturday too! 

Sincerely,

Cara Butler, The StepCrew 

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