Photos by Jerry Zolynsky

metro » o n the cover

Evan Lebow Wolf of Detroit dances
with his partner Cheryl Wong from
Dexter.

Members of the Square Dance Society Band: Lindsay McCaw, caller; Aaron Jonah Lewis, fiddle; Rachel Pearson, stand-up bass; Erik Alan, guitar;
and Hannah Lewis, banjo.

Detroit Do-Si-Do

Square dancing in the city is hot — and it’s hip.

Allison Jacobs
Special to the Jewish News

Tyanna Buie and Eli Gold, both
of Detroit, dance under the
outstretched arms of the other
dancers.

The Gaelic League is located at
2068 Michigan Ave. in Detroit.
To find out when the next
Detroit Square Dance Society
event will be held, “like” them on
Facebook: www.facebook.com/
Detroitsquaredance.
See some videos of the fun on
the JN website.

W

hen was the last
time you had a seri-
ously good laugh?
Can you think of a moment
where you just couldn’t stop
smiling? When you’re dancing
with the Detroit Square Dance
Society, those feelings just come
naturally.
Believe it or not, square danc-
ing is making a comeback in
Detroit and its suburbs, where
small groups of fanatics are gath-
ering regularly to enjoy a bit of
old-time song and dance.
Square dancing is a casual
form of partner dancing consist-
ing of endless amounts of arm-
linking, twirling and swinging
your partner. Most importantly,
it is one of the easiest ways to
simply let loose and get a fan-
tastic aerobic workout, do-si-do
style.
Take it from Aaron Jonah
Lewis, a 30-something Jewish
folk artist by trade. He and his
partner, Lindsay McCaw, started
the group when they moved to
Detroit several years ago.
While Lewis was born and
raised in suburban Detroit, he
spent most of his adult life in

Richmond, Va., where he was
first introduced to traditional
old-time music by a friend he
met during a Habonim Dror pro-
gram in Israel.
His first square dance encoun-
ter ensued after joining his first
serious band, where they were
asked to play at square dances.
Eventually, he worked up the
nerve to put down his fiddle and
give square dancing a go.
“It took me a few years before
I went ahead and danced a
square dance, and then there was
no going back,” Lewis says.
McCaw earned her square-
dancing chops while living in
southern Wisconsin, where folk
music and square dancing are
still very much a part of the
culture.
While attending house parties,
McCaw got the feel for calling
square dances. During tradi-
tional square dancing, the steps
are vocalized as the music plays,
but it takes skill and practice to
get it just right.
“It was a great way to get
started because it was very low
pressure,” she adds.
Once she had the basic con-

cept nailed down, she educated
herself on calling techniques
through various workshops and
trainings.
After many years spent around
the country and abroad, Lewis
and McCaw eventually decided
to settle in Detroit. Not long after
the move, the couple was intro-
duced to Rachel Pearson and
Ben Luttermoser, folk musicians
in the band Behind the Times,
who were also enthusiastic to
start a square-dancing group in
the city.
The foursome found a bit of
Irish luck at the Gaelic League, a
cozy spot off Michigan Avenue in
Corktown where there is ample
space for dancing (and not to
mention, superb bar service).
Along with Mick and Anna
Gavin from the Gaelic League,
the group has been hosting
square dances for about a year,
and they’ve developed a serious
following.

WHO IS GOING
DOSIDOING?
Who attends theses dances,
you might wonder? There are
both suburbanites and city-

dwellers, and they come from
an incredibly diverse age range.
Millennials, baby boomers and
seniors all agree that square
dancing is seriously fun.
Susannah Goodman, 29, of
Detroit has attended numerous
Detroit Square Dance Society
events and recommends them
to anyone. “It’s a raucous good
time, with smiles so wide and
tempo so fast you don’t realize
what a workout you’re getting
until the music stops and you
catch your breath.”
Jews, in particular, make up
a large portion of the group.
While Lewis feels this stems
from his Jewish connections here
in Detroit, he also considers it a
reflection of Jewish values.
“Jews, religious or not, want to
have some sense of community,
whether it’s with other Jews or
not,” Lewis says. “It’s a Jewish
value — to be taking care of each
other and looking out for each
other … celebrating together and
grieving together.”
And the great news about
square dancing? You can have
absolutely zero experience and
still fit right in.

continued on page 12

10 December 8 • 2016