Dancers add excitement to evening of music

Toes tapped and hands clapped last night when “The Roots of New England Music” brought the musical sounds of the Northeast to the Maine Center for the Arts. Divided into four sections, the show presented the Scottish, Irish and French Canadian musical techniques that formed the styles of New England traditional music. A final segment included Les Danseurs d’la Vallee St. Jean, a 16-member dance troupe performing clogs, gigues and quadrilles in the Acadian style.

The evening began with fiddling by Cape Breton native Joseph Cormier, who played mostly Scottish Highland dance numbers and medleys. Accompanied by pianist Edmond Boudreau, Cormier’s music alternated between being as entrancing as a well-told tale and as satisfying as a lively jig danced with a skillful partner.

Playing diatonic accordians, Quebecois musician Philippe Bruneau delivered a variety of cheery styles, including a waltz, a “gentle” polka, a stepdancing melody and folk tunes. His music and personality roused the audience, especially when, from his seated position, he placed his hand on his hip, shook his head, and said, “It’s a shame we cannot dance, because this music’s for dancin’.”

Jerry O’Sullivan gave an impressive performance on the Uillean or Irish pipes, which he draped across his lap while pumping out tunes that were sad, sentimental and winsome. O’Sullivan played both contemporary and traditional Irish airs and reels that were surprisingly rich for a solo performance.

The most exciting component of the evening came last, with the Acadian dancers, whose precise foot work and vigorous leg movements brought the audience to its feet with applause. The careful choreography of their symmetrical formations, which resembled line dances and square dances, brought an energy to the stage that was missing from the previous acts.

In the final moments of the show, each musician returned to the stage for an en masse jam session in which they passed melodies from one peppy instrument to the next.

The evening was emceed by Bau Graves, artistic director of Portland Performing Arts Inc., which organized the show. “We’ve been blessed by the presence of this remarkable music,” said Graves, who offered long-winded introductory talks before each performance. The 2 1/2-hour evening would have flowed more smoothly without Graves’ tedious commentaries and with better-organized technical transitions on stage. But the nearly 500, mostly middle-age and older people, who gathered for “The Roots of New England” were pleased with the traditional music.