Bob Kuiper

Bob Kuiper is an experienced multi-instrument performer and dance caller.  He has been leading barn dances since 1990.  His clear and easy to follow calling style is great for beginners and experienced dancers alike.   In no time at all, people of all ages at his dances are smiling and are dancing together in circles, squares, Virginia reels and two steps.    

Bob has delivered barn dance workshops in several Yukon schools and festivals, including Ecole Whitehorse Elementary School, Golden Horn Elementary School, Ecole Emile Tremblay, Ross River School, the Kluane Mountain Bluegrass Festival and the Woodshed Music Camp.   He and his band have also played for family barn dances many communities, including Whitehorse, Mount Lorne, Marsh Lake, Ross River and Haines Junction.  

Bob is motivated to call for and promote barn dances because they are an active and fun way to connect with family, people and community.  They promote both physical coordination as well as social development.  They foster cooperation through coordinated group moves.  They also expand social interaction.  Many dances are "mixers" where participants meet new people and partners as the dance progresses.  This encourages all members of the community to interact in a healthy, active and positive way, no matter what age or background.   At many barn dances that Bob has lead, people have come up to tell him how wonderful it was to finally have a chance to dance with their own children on the dance floor (often for the first time), and with other people in the community that they otherwise almost never see.  The dances bring people socially together in a physical activity that is invigorating, artistic and inspiring.  Introducing these activities to the schools is an important way to continue this dance tradition.