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History of Illowa Community Folk Dance
For 17 years, Illowa Community Folk Dance has brought the experience of an old time barn dance to the greater
Quad Cities (Illinois and Iowa). Missing the enjoyment of the dances in Michigan and New Jersey, where they had been
active participants, Drew and Maura McGrath Nagle began a series of dances at Prospect Park in Moline.
The dancing, from the beginning, has included American Contras, Squares and Circles from all regions and historical
periods and British country dances - historical, traditonal and contemporary.
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Our organization
All who come to any dance are part of the group. There is no formal organization. Some participate
in every dance over many years, some come once, most come back. We maintain a mailing list and e-mail list to share
the information. Various people pitch in to help by inviting others to come, by welcoming new dancers, by bringing refreshments,
Though Drew Nagle calls mosts of the dances, others are welcome to call when they choose.
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| O'Malley's Luck playing at October dance |
Musicians, Bands, and Dance Leaders
Our Bands
Fire in the Belly - Lottie Trudell on pennywhistle; John Kinser on bodhran;
Chris Dunn on guitar; and Joe Nobiling on fiddle, banjo and mandolin.
Just for Fun - Linda Slack on fiddle, mandolin and guitar; Lila Gehner
on banjo; Yvonne Price on harmonica and rhythm instruments; Jean Duncan on bass, Sandy Koseter on guitar and Chris Clark on
guitar, mountain dulcimer, autoharp, banjo uke and tin whistle.
The Barley House Band - "Our motto is 'Irish roots, American branches,'
" Kristi Ruud: bodhran, whistle, low whistle, dulcimer and harp; Tena Hess: flute.; Krista Rittenhouse: vocals; Michael Romkey:
fiddle, mandolin, guitar.
Lost in the Weeds - Joe Nobiling and Pat Walke on many instruments,
primarily fiddle and banjo
The Gilded Bats - are an Iowa City area old-time string
band, Bill Bryant - guitar, vocals; Andrew Epstein - banjo, vocals; Chris Clark - washtub bass player; Norbert Sarsfield -
fiddle, guitar, vocals
Band Tympath Yr Ynys Craig - translated it means The Rock Island Folk-dance
Band. It means for us a pulling together several of our favorite musicians in combination to play Welsh and Cornish music
for this dance.
The Rock Consort - a small ensemble from Rock Island High School to
play the hits of 1651 and other historic British dance music. The tunes featured are Elizabethan - to Regency.
Our organizer, caller and teacher - Drew Nagle
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