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Canadian Dance Troupe Stepcrew Brings International Show To Boerne

Dance troupe Stepcrew is coming to Boerne next week. You may remember the Riverdance phenomenon in the mid 1990s. A young Canadian man saw that and thought, "Wait! We’re already doing that!"

“When we grew up I didn’t even know Irish dancing existed," said Nathan Pilatzke, a dancer and founding member of Stepcrew. "We were just learning this dance which was from our area.”

But he said they’re not just another Riverdance.

“We try to compare and contrast three styles of dancing: We feature tap dancing, Irish step dancing, and this lesser-known form of Canadian step dancing known as Ottawa Valley step dancing," Pilatzke said.

Now they’re bringing it to Boerne’s Samuel Champion High School on Monday as part of the Boerne Performing Arts program. Pilatzke said he is looking forward to it.

"I’m very excited to come and see it. I love San Antonio for sure," he said.

I asked him whether the music they use came off a tape playback.

“Oh no, no, no. We have a live band, for sure," Pilatzke said. "Some of the best musicians we could find in Canada."

I then asked what kind of music people could expect to hear.

“We have some Scandinavian numbers in the program, some original compositions. Our singer is from Scotland; she sings in Scots-Gaelic as well as English. It’s a real international mixture. American tunes as well," Pilatzke said.

Music is important to the show, but Pilatzke said Stepcrew’s dancing takes center stage.

“We really all love what we do," he said. "I think our characters come across on stage a bit, so you might enjoy meeting us from that, and we’ll definitely talk to you in the lobby after."

“So you have a personality, too?” I joked.

"We try not to hide them!" he said.

Jack Morgan can be reached at jack@tpr.org and on Twitter at @JackMorganii