Old-fashioned 'barn dance' big success

Old-fashioned square dancing and line dancing was resurrected last Saturday night before a packed house at Waterwheel Farm in Colesburg. Potter County's own Natalie Phelps qualified for a state grant to seek out veteran square dance callers and preserve the pastime. Here, guitarist Harry Erhard shows off his calling skills as front man for the country band, Common Ground. Photo by Jennifer Swain

Turnout was outstanding for the "Waterwheel Barn Dance" in the small Potter County village of Colesburg.

"We had no idea this many people would come," said a delighted Natalie Phelps, the organizer of Saturday night's event at Waterwheel Farm.

Phelps finds herself at the heart of an effort to preserve one of the Appalachia's most colorful and timeless traditions: square dancing.

What started as a personal quest to learn more about the rich history and technical aspects of that rural custom took on a sense of mission for her. Phelps discovered that many of the best callers and dancers have retired and, in an alarming

number of cases, have died without passing along their skills and techniques.

With a financial boost from the Pennsylvania Partners in the Arts, she set about to rescue the tradition. Working out of farmsteads in Potter County and Tennessee, she sought out callers, instrumentalists and dancers to document their knowledge so it can be passed on to future generations.

Phelps shared what she has learned over the past year on Saturday with a night full of square dancing and line dancing.

Waterwheel Barn Dance was part of the celebration of the Northern Tier Cultural Alliance "Year of the Barn" preservation effort.