Pontiac Pride held its second annual square dance at the Shawville Lions Hall on Saturday night, bringing together both practiced and first-time two-steppers for an evening of fun in celebration of Pride Month.
To kick off the dancing, junior 4-H member Eloise Thompson took on the role of dance caller to some lively fiddle tunes, including classics like St. Anne’s Reel, played by fiddler Justin Bertrand and guitarists Andrew Jones and Marie Chapet.
Wendy Stephens of Wakefield and Michael Weekes, a friend of hers who came from Montreal, are not square dancers themselves, but the thought of a square dance as a pride event was enough to convince them to participate. “It’s something so different,” Stephens said.
“It’s all about community building,” said organizer and Pride member Emma Judd, referring to not just the LGBTQ+ community, but the broader Pontiac community. “It’s about telling people that we are here, and we’re not going anywhere. So let’s build the communities together.”
Judd said last year’s square dance was the group’s most successful event in terms of drawing in attendees from outside the LGBTQ+ community.
While Pontiac Pride organizes events throughout the year, the square dance holds special meaning for Judd, who grew up square dancing in Shawville.
While acknowledging that square dancing “can get a bad rap for being a little dated,” Judd believes it’s actually “one of the most perfect forms of couple dancing for Pride.”
Judd noted that in many square dance communities, there’s often a shortage of male dancers “so you end up with a lot of girls dancing as boys anyway.” That kind of gender role fluidity has long been part of square dance culture, making it “a really natural fit” for a pride celebration, she said.
Beyond the square dance, Pontiac Pride also hosts a queer-focused book club that meets every two months and a quarterly board game night, which Judd describes as “really fun and low-pressure” and a great way to bring “a lot of different people out.”
All Pontiac Pride events are by donation, which Judd said helps the group to keep putting on events without creating a monetary hurdle to participate in any of their activities.
