A folk way of life

By KAYLEY MENDENHALL, Chronicle Staff Writer

Rab Cummings started folk dancing when he was attending college in Missoula 14 years ago.

And even though his wife isn't as into it as he is, the spirit of those dances has never left him.

"During the swing dancing, she gets totally ill," he said. "For me it's enjoyable. For her it's not as enjoyable."

But, he said, she still attends the events and brings their kids to play while Cummings takes part in the action.

He has learned to call the dances and is vice president of the Bozeman Folklore Society, which holds contra dance -- or traditional folk dance -- events in Bozeman twice a month.

Plus, he's one of the founders of the Winter Green Dance Weekend, which took place in for the third year in a row in Bozeman this past weekend.

"Folks are coming from all around. Missoula, Billings, Helena, Idaho Falls, flying in from Arizona," Cummings said Friday. "We advertise it nationally, mostly through the CDSS, or the Country Dance and Song Society. They are a group that has been in the United States for 80 years or so."

The three-day event includes workshops on calling and steps, community meals and lots and lots of dancing.

"I like the social interaction with the people," said Glenda Barnes, another member of the group. "I like the traditional part of it. This originated as New England country dancing. I like the music, particularly the liveliness of the music. And the exercise. You dress lightly, very lightly."

Bozeman dancers, she said, meet other dancers by traveling to dance events all over the country. Cummings and Barnes always look forward to meeting up with those friends again.

"If you go to enough of these things you start meeting these people and see them at events all around," Cummings said. "We get to catch up with old friends. It's very social, we get to dance and eat together."

In fact, Cummings said, because he has two small children it is difficult for him to travel to dance events these days. That's part of the reason he helped start the Bozeman dance weekend.

The weekend-long event is different than the monthly contra dances in town because musicians, callers and dancers are brought in from out of state to teach new techniques.

"These are people and these bands are the quality that they fly all over the country for dances," Cummings said.

More than 100 people paid close to $100 to participate in the event held at Whittier School, Barnes said. Some stay in homes of local dancers and others camp out in motel rooms in Bozeman.

"It's pretty neat, considering, at least half of those people come from out of town," Cummings said. "People can't get enough."

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