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BlastYou are in: Essex > Young People > Blast > Ye-ha Cowboy  Ye-ha CowboyBy Rachel Thorpe The gingham is out, I’ve donned my checked shirt and dungarees, a stalk of corn is in my mouth and a bale of hay is resting outside the door. You’ve guessed it, it’s time for me to learn how to barn dance!  Me and my lovely dance partner, Dave I went along to see The Bucksaw Bucket Band, an Essex based group. The band has gone through many line-ups since it began almost 30 years ago. When I saw them, the line-up included John Kennet (the resident caller), Martin Simmonds (an original member and the bass player) and Colin O'Neal who accompanied on the banjo. They instructed us in a number of square and circle dances, many of which involved energetically running around holding hands with members of the positive sex, or as they would technically label it ‘promenading your partner’. However, some of the dances such as ‘Strip the Willow’ were much more complicated and so caused much hilarity. Cue the comical facial expressions, stepping on toes and general all round confusion.  Two of the girls get in the swing of it Another favourite was a dance which resembled the Hokey-Cokey very closely. However, at one point, the females had to enter the circle and my partner (who was, just to clarify, male) decided to join in completely by accident. The teasing will probably continue into next year at least. I especially favoured the dance where you had to bash knees with your partner, although I did come away rather bruised. I also learnt a right and left arm swing, a star, a routing labelled ‘OXO’ and plenty more besides.  Me and my stylish hat However, The Bucksaw Bucket Band do a little more than just teach you how to barn dance. The night included the chance to pick a prize from the band’s bucket by correctly guessing the TV theme tune that they played. They also gave us a chance to show off our own dancing skills in a ‘Strictly Come Dancing’ section in the middle of the evening. They also played some performance pieces throughout the night to help us get into the thigh-slapping, dosey-doeing mood.  Colin on his banjo The Bucksaw Bucket Band may have come a long way from their humble beginnings in 1976, but that didn’t mean that they’d lost any of their enthusiasm. I had an absolutely fantastic night. In fact, I think barn dance was my favourite of all the dances that I’ve learnt. It’s just a shame that almost three days later I’m still finding bits of straw in my teeth. last updated: 12/10/07 SEE ALSOYou are in: Essex > Young People > Blast > Ye-ha Cowboy  |
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