10×10 Shaker Songs & Dances

Shaker Quartet

Dance and Sing like a Shaker!

Join us at TREEHOUSE children’s boutique and family clubhouse on North St. for some good old fashioned Shaking!  This is an interactive and engaging program, truly hands-on and feet-on, featuring 10 easy-to-learn Shaker songs, including the famous Simple Gifts, the call-and-response style song Followers of the Lamb, and also other unique Shaker songs such as A Good Resolution, which has Shaker-written words but is sung to the tune of Yankee Doodle.

Shakers sung their songs in unison and without instruments. A trained singing voice is not required, so participants will be able to quickly learn the simple, short, repetitive songs and sing along easily and enthusiastically. We’ll also try out some of the traditional Shaker dance steps and movements, such as marching and stomping, bowing and bending, and yes, even shaking  (to literally and symbolically shake out the Devil!) Shaker songs and dances emphasized their principles and lifestyle, including gender and racial equality, pacifism, simplicity, stewardship and respect, all important topics for their time, as well as for our world today.

HSV staff will lead the session in traditional Shaker style costume/clothing, and this will be an opportunity for kids and everyone to play dress-up, too! We’ll have on hand a variety of other Shaker style costume/clothing from the HSV Discovery Room for participants to wear (they go on easily  over their street clothes); all shapes & sizes, for children and adults, boys & girls.

Presented as part of

This year’s 10×10 Upstreet Arts Festival is Presented by