For most of us, square dancing brings back uncomfortable recollections of gym classes, where, clad in gym shorts and T-shirts, we would stand awkwardly and worry about sweaty palms, waiting for the P.E. teacher to press play on the cassette player.
Old-time string duet Sheesham and Lotus are looking to change that by holding the first of what they hope to be a series of square dances this Saturday night on Wolfe Island.
The official biography of Sheesham Crowe and Lotus Wight, the old-fashioned and mannerly dopplegangers of Kingston residents Teilhard Frost and Sam Allison, says they met in a culvert on their way to Alabama before making their way across the Mason-Dixon line to play music in Canada.
While that part about the culvert might be fiction, the real story of Frost and Allison’s career isn’t too far off from the made up tale of Sheesham and Lotus.
“We were playing in an old-time string band in Toronto, and we toured the Southern states for 10 years or so,” Frost said. “Our other band ended and we just kept playing together.”
The two ended up in Kingston when Frost’s partner—this part is real life, he specifies—got a job here, and Allison decided to make Kingston home as well. Watching Sheesham and Lotus on stage is a little bit like a trip back in time. From their clothing to their speech, everything has an old-time feel—though exactly what time that is, is hard to pin down. Allison and Frost fit into their roles with a natural ease, and it can be hard to know at times, even during Frost’s interview with the Journal, where Frost ends and Sheesham begins. Part of that comfort in character comes from not only a nostalgia for things of the past, but an identification with those things.
“It’s a blurry line,” Frost admits. “[The characters are] based on ourselves and we just play up the old-timey self. It gives us a chance to live in the way we’d like to live. Our perspective on ourselves and Sheesham and Lotus is from a different time and place.”
Frost said that feeling can be hard to switch off.
“We always ham it up and really put on a show. And then we walk off stage and stay in character,” he said. “It feels good to be able to speak in that old way, to say ‘Yes sir,’ and ‘Yes ma’am.’ ”
Sheesham and Lotus’ interest in playing square dances isn’t new for them—rather, it’s something that’s been with them the whole time they’ve been playing together, waiting for an opportunity. During their time with the string band in Toronto, they often toured as a square dance and contra dance band.
“We play all these old-time fiddle tunes, and those tunes are made for dancing,” Frost said. “I probably know about a thousand fiddle tunes, that have no words, and are just for dancing. They need a place.”
Fiddle dance tunes are different from the songs Sheesham and Lotus play in concert. Not only do they not have lyrics, they’re often played in reel time, and the focus is on providing a strong beat to follow.
“Those songs are supposed to hypnotize people, and move them to dance,” Frost said.
Part of the fascination of a square dance comes from audience participation. In many ways, dancing changes the perspective of the show. The audience members become performers, following the directions of the musicians and the caller, who sings out verses containing instructions for the dance.
The caller this weekend will be Martha Cooper, a 30 year-old dance caller from the Ottawa area. Though square dancing may be an old-time relic, it’s not just for the elderly anymore, Frost said.
“We’re all fairly youngish people at this dance,” he said.
Frost said the average age at the square dances Sheesham and Lotus have hosted has been anywhere from three to 85 years old.
“People are looking to connect with each other, and this allows them to do that.”
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Sheesham and Lotus’ old-fashioned square dance is this Saturday at 6:30 p.m. at St. Margaret’s Hall on Wolfe Island. Tickets are $10 for adults and children are welcome for free. The ferry to Wolfe Island runs on the hour, every hour.
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