Local

The ISU Ballroom Dance Club is hosting a Latin dance Saturday night that is sure to get even the most avid wallflower out on the dance floor.

Guest instructor Freddie Marsh-Lott from the Twin Cities will DJ the event and teach future swingers how to really get their groove on.

At 6:30 p.m. Marsh-Lott will give a free dance lesson on the Mambo No. 5 line dance before the main event gets under way at 8 p.m., according to an advertisement.

The salsa, tango, cha-cha, merengue and others will be included in the evening’s musical lineup at the Great Hall of the Memorial Union for $3.

For those who want a little more practice before tearing it up Saturday night, Marsh-Lott is also giving three dance lessons earlier in the day.

Beginning bolero starts off the sessions from 10 a.m. to 11:30 a.m., followed by intermediate rumba from 12:30 to 2 p.m. and intermediate cha-cha from 2:15 to 4 p.m.

Each lesson costs $5 and will also be held in the Great Hall of the Memorial Union.

If you can’t make it to the Latin dance, ISU Ballroom Dance Club’s staff advisor, Jean Olsen, suggests attending their free practice session every Friday from 7:30 to 9:45 p.m. in the Forker Building.

Olsen said the social ballroom dancing practice is open to anyone, and you don’t even need a partner to participate.

Regional

In the spirit of sharing their music with everyone possible, G. Love and Special Sauce have created Popcorn, a Web site that provides a free tape trading service to their fans. Even if you are not a fan of the Special Sauce, they also provide tape trading for many other bands.

The site specifically states it doesn’t condone unauthorized recording, but it does provide extensive information on how to record performances, what kind of tapes to use, how to list, trade and keep track of tapes. Popcorn can be found at http://users.ids.net/~kiselka/g-love/popcorn/html/intro.html.

An opportunity to test your taping skills awaits March 9 at the Val Air Ballroom in Des Moines, where G. Love and Special Sauce will be performing.

National

Ani DiFranco’s first solo tour in years will be an intriguing challenge after shedding her “Solo Folk Girl” image.

To help her with the tour, the Grammy nominee has called upon “two of her favorite acoustic musicians” to share the stage with her this spring.

Gillian Welch with touring partner David Rawlings and Iowa legend Greg Brown will be accompanying DiFranco for a couple of weeks in March.

The tour begins March 7 in Illinois and concludes March 20 in Winnipeg, Canada, according to Fleming Tamulevich and Associates News

With venue sizes averaging 1200-3000 seats, the tour is a great way for folk fans to see some of the finest musicians currently performing in the genre.

Stops near Ames include an 8 p.m. show at the Oscar Meyer Theater in Madison, Wisc. on March 8. Call 608-255-4646 for more information.

The following week they’ll be in Minneapolis at Northrop Auditorium. Call 612-989-5151 for info on the March 14 show.

In further Greg Brown news, the veteran songwriter recently finished a 60-minute documentary titled “Hacklebarney Tunes: The Music of Greg Brown.”

The video explores Brown’s roots by exposing significant places of his childhood, in addition to the typical format of “live” performances and interviews.

“Hacklebarney Tunes” includes interviews with Brown, his mother, his father, his uncle Roscoe, Garrison Keillor, Bo Ramsey, Bob Feldman and others.

Songs featured include “Early,” “Poor Backslider,” “If I Had Known,” “Canned Goods,” “Downtown” and “Hacklebarney Tunes,” as well as covers of “Two Little Boys,” “Pretty Boy Floyd” and “Lost Highway,” according to Fleming Tamulevich and Associates News.

VHS tapes can be obtained by sending a $23 check to: Jeffrey Ruoff Film/Video, Wright Theater Middlebury College Middlebury, Vt. 05753. Or send an e-mail to [email protected].