FiddleKicks Performer Bios

FiddleKicks performers

	Annsley Hillman “Hey Ya'll!” Annsley is originally from Atlanta, GA. When she moved to Philadelphia she decided to pick up a winter sport. Knowing she loved live fiddle tunes, she thought she would try her hand (feet?) at clogging. She has found her passion among wonderful friends in Appalachian style clogging.
	Bill Quern is a dance musician and has played for FiddleKicks since 2003. His father filled the house with instruments for his 10 siblings to explore, so Bill developed into a multi-instrumentalist. Fiddle, banjo, concertina, mandolin, harmonica and bodhran became his selection as an adult. He has a degree in Fine Arts from MA College of Art where he studied performance, sculpture and instrument making. He plays for Contra and Square dances, English Country dances, teaches Morris dancing (at Saint Peter's School in Philadelphia) and Scandinavian dancing. He dances with Kingsessing Morris Men (7 time winners in the Philadelphia Mummer's Parade) and plays for English Rapper and Longsword dance teams. Other performances include; Enscaded Festival in Holland, on Chinese television, the New England Folk Festival, the Butterball Dance Festival, and the Heritage Dance Festival.
	Cassandra Morabito joined Fiddlekicks in 2008. She has studied Ballet, Pointe, Tap and Jazz. While at Barnard College she took Tap under Joe Jeff, as well as Ballet Technique using the Twyla Tharp method. While at Harvard University, she studied Ballroom Dance and Yoga. Cassandra continued to study Ballroom Dance and Latin Dance while in Graduate School at the University of Pennsylvania. Currently, she performs Tarantella with The Holy Savior Club Dance Troupe, most recently at the 2007 Columbus Day Parade in Philadelphia, and teaches adult Ballet, Pilates and Jazz. She also teaches with her dance partner Austin Joyce at The Blue Bell School of Dance, youth ballroom dance, and private wedding preparation classes. She socially dances Argentine Tango, Zydeco, Cajun, Ballroom and Waltz. She is the Artistic Director for The Mermaid Playwrights Theater in Chestnut Hill, Pa where she has also recently directed six one act plays.
	Chloe Maryam Maher has been involved in the traditional dance and music community her whole life. Beginning with Scottish country dance, she has subsequently enjoyed English country, contra, clogging, rapper sword, and morris. Singing has also long been a hobby for Chloe, and she became an avid shape note singer while at Oberlin College, an activity that culminated in co-editing (with Charles Wells) and publishing Oberlin Harmony, a compilation of songs sung and enjoyed at Oberlin. Chloe has lately been enjoying playing piano for English, Scottish, and contra dances. She plays with many great musicians, but one of favorite groups is The Contraptions with Bill Quern and Nora Smith. She is on the board of the Country Dance and Song Society. Chloe likes to travel and is interested in religion and gender studies, particularly of North Africa. She also cares deeply about public transportation, public education, and libraries.
	Jan Smith joined FiddleKicks in 2006. Prior to dancing with FiddleKicks she studied Irish step dancing with Rosmarie Timmoney. Her favorite place to dance however is on Broad Street on January 1st where she has marched with the Goodtimers Comic Division for the last decade. She plays the cello and performs on piano and accordion with Aunt Jean's Band. She has been an active member of the Philadelphia Juggler's Club for ten years and clowns around in her spare time. Tango and contra dancing have been a big influence on her, and she's found wonderful teachers in all of these spaces.
	Kathy Talvitie made her dance debut at the age of five as a tap dancing starfish. Dancing and playing music have filled her life with joy ever since. Her path as a dancer has led her to ballet, tap, international and modern dance. For the past 20 years she has been active in the Delaware Valley Contra Dance and English Country Dance community as a dancer, musician and composer. In addition to playing guitar with the band Raise the Roof, she plays piano with Hold the Mustard and A Joyful Noise. “After playing for just one FiddleKicks performance I knew it was time to dust off those tap shoes."
	Kristy Mc'Neill strapped on her first pair of tap shoes at age 5 and tapped her way through her school age years. College left little time for hobbies and after a seven year hiatus, her friend convinced her to take an adult tap class. One class was all it took to remember how much she loves making noise with her feet! She’s been tapping ever since and joined FiddleKicks in 2009 after watching them perform at Allens Lane Art Center. During her free time away from dancing and playing transportation engineer, she enjoys going to Phillies games, watching college football (Go Irish!), scrap booking and hanging out with her family and friends.
	Peggy Leiby, co-director, was a founding member of FiddleKicks in 1996. Upon assuming a leadership role in 1998, she envisioned that FiddleKicks could be taken from its informal community dance roots to a quality performance troupe, whether in a concert setting or community hoedown. She has extensive experience in the Philadelphia folk dance and music community as an events organizer and dance performer in various forms of dance, and thrives in developing concepts for events and outreach programs. She brings skills of her past experience as a co-owner of a magazine publishing company to her passion and drive for traditional dance and music. Besides spending as much time dancing as she can, she helps to run Mostly Waltz, teaches waltzing and other couple dances, plays recorders in early music ensembles and for English country dances, handles bookings for Simple Gifts and manages phillydance.com.
	Rebecca Northrop grew up in a house filled with music and dance. Her folk musician father and southwest Virginia-born mother ran the North Elk Coffee House during her childhood. Departing from the folk tradition, Rebecca pursued a career in ballet and modern dance, dancing with Dance Matrix and the Russian Ballet Theatre of Delaware. After overuse injuries forced her to abandon that career, she decided to go to school for classical guitar. After picking up a banjo, however, she left her classical guitar behind for old-time music and Appalachian dance.
	Sarah Gowan was raised in a household where art, music, dance, and performance were as much a part of daily life as breakfast. Some of her earliest memories are of the lively old-time fiddle music and spontaneous clogging sessions in the yard of her great-grandmother's house nestled in the Smokey Mountains of Asheville, North Carolina. A performer at the age of six; she studied piano, cello, singing, and ballet. She fell in love with the stage when, in a local production of Oliver!, she was given a one line solo because she could sing louder than the rest of the 80 kids in the cast. In her teens, Sarah rediscovered the traditional music of her youth, leading her to international, square and contra dancing. Sarah also performs with Mixed Pickles Vintage Dancers, plays guitar and English concertina with several dance bands, teaches traditional couple dancing, and composes the occasional tune. She lives with her two terrific teenagers, Garrett and Emma, who almost never complain about the clogging, squeezeboxes, and banjos, although the cats often do.
	Sarah Thomas joined FiddleKicks in 2005 when she was ten years old. She performs various dancing styles in the troupe’s repertoire, including Appalachian Clogging, English Waltz & Sword, South African gumboot and Cape Breton. Sarah came to FiddleKicks after five years of classical ballet. She also enjoys the violin, piano, cooking, and soccer. Sarah has been homeschooled since kindergarten.
	Susan Anderson is an active dancer, singer, musician, as well as organizer in Philly’s international folk dance community. As the leader of the International Folk Sounds orchestra, she sings and plays many instruments including gaida (bagpipe), balalaika, violin and tambura. She is currently President of the Folk Dance Council of the Delaware Valley, a docent at the Elmwood Park Zoo and on staff at Mainewoods Dance Camp. Susan performs with Svitanya, a women’s a cappella ensemble that specializes in the music of Eastern Europe, and runs the weekly Beaver Folk Dance group group. “FiddleKicks is a blast!!”

Artist Roster
We tailor our shows to best meet the needs of an audience and participants by choosing from a pool of guest artists to present the most suitable entertainment.

	Bill Dooley has been a perennial favorite in the Philadelphia folk music scene since the 1970s. In addition to his skills on guitar, banjo, and harmonica, he is a warm, engaging singer with “A talent for reaching into his vast repertoire of traditional and vintage songs to pull out an unknown gem.” (City Paper). Bill is highly regarded for his arrangements of jazz and popular standards for solo guitar as well as Hawaiian “slack-key” guitar. He is an adept songwriter, skilled old-timey musician, and is known for his unique repertoire of songs and tunes “from the hills and Bob Wills to doo-wah-ditty and back to the city.”
	Ellie Grace: Singer, multi-instrumentalist, songwriter, and percussive dancer, Ellie grew up traveling across North America performing professionally as part of her family band and now carries on her family's musical tradition, touring and teaching nationally and internationally (frequently with her sister, Leela)! Ellie has done extensive recording and studio work and several years ago released a celebrated CD with her sister. Not long ago, Ellie left Columbia, Missouri, where she was running her own school of music and dance and headed east to her new home in the mountains of Western North Carolina. Recent years finds her performing as a member of The Dirk Powell Band, being on faculty as a percussive dance instructor at the University of North Carolina at Asheville and touring overseas. website
	Jo Wright is the Director of Alive & Kicking, based in Exeter, Devon. Formed in 1989, A&K performs music and dance at folk festivals and events throughout the UK from the Appalachian Mountain region of the USA. Based on the traditional steps of Appalachian clogging, A&K have developed their own distinctive and exciting style of Appalachian clog dance, using dances choreographed by members of the team. In 2003 the group visited Philadelphia as guests of FiddleKicks, who made a return visit to the UK in 2004. Since then, Jo has returned to the USA regularly as a guest performer with FiddleKicks in Maryland, Ohio, Pennsylvania and West Virginia. Back at home, Jo provides foot percussion for the Old Porch Band, an Exeter based string band performing American and UK music, and also performs solo flatfooting and Cape Breton step dancing at folk clubs in the area.
	Laura Robertson
	Steve Hickman & John Devine are seasoned dance and performance musicians from VA & WV in the Washington, DC area. Both have been members of popular traveling bands and are in great demand as a performance duo. These folks know mountain, old time, folk, and swing music AND how to work together to create a spirited and "with it" sound. Steve is an unsurpassed fiddler renowned for his driving energy, superb hambone, and great humor. John plays crisp back-up guitar that invites dancing, toe-tapping and singing along.
	Rik Bourne plays fiddle, melodeon, harmonica and guitar. He is a member of folk music trio, The Coyotes (with Bill Dooley and Wendi Bourne), and is also the musician for The Kingsessing Morris Men. When not playing with his regular groups, Rik can be found playing at square dances with his wife, Wendi, and as a dance musician in other bands. Rik’s performances include The Philadelphia Folk Festival, The Philadelphia Mummer’s Parade, and a Tour of England with the Kingsessing Morris Dancers.

	Rusty Neithammer started playing old-time music on the fiddle while in college in the 1970’s, after hearing it on radio station WXPN, at the Philly Folk Festival, and at some southern fiddle contests. Over the years, he also took up the mandolin and guitar. Soon after college, he was drafted to dance with the Mill Creek Cloggers. Rusty’s playing has been strongly influenced by the fiddling and banjo playing of Tommy Jarrell. Besides playing in various band configurations for Fiddlekicks, Rusty plays fiddle with the Bow Rockers, an old-time band based in the Philadelphia area. He also plays guitar with the Cliffhangers, who have recently released a series of CD recordings.
	Tom Schaffer has been playing guitar, bass, or fiddle in the old-time music scene regularly for close to forty years, playing dances, jamming and joining up with many many pickup bands at down-south festivals. There have also been some forays into more organized settings, as guitar player with power trio, the Sly Dogs alongside Mark Simos and Michael Gallagher; and with The Amazing Rhythm Kings including Bob Carlin, Ernest Tedino and Sol Kohen. Tom has also been found occasionally in collusion with The Hix, The Sandia Hots and The Piedmont Pepsteppers.Recently retired from teaching, there's more time for music now; in addition to FiddleKicks appearances, Tom currently plays bass with Run Of The Mill Stringband and with The Bow Rockers, both solid old time dance bands.
	Wendi Bourne plays guitar and sings. She is a member of swing bands Girls from Mars and Swing City as well as The Coyotes. She is the coordinator for a week-long music & dance “camp”, Swing Week at Augusta. She has been playing for square dances with Rik since their marriage in 1978. She has taught guitar and voice at numerous music camps, and has performed at The Annenberg Center, The Philadelphia Folk Festival, Bethlehem Musikfest and at swing dances up and down the east coast.