Cindy's Story
Cindy is a dynamic fiddler and stepdancer, born and raised in Canada's Ottawa Valley. From the time she was born, she was surrounded by a musical family of aunts and uncles. However, her biggest influence was her grandfather, Robert Buck, who played the fiddle for many square dances around The Valley. By the age of 6, she was stepdancing to fiddle music, and by the age of 12 she was starting to play her own fiddle. Cindy's sister Wendy was an accomplished stepdancer in her own right, having appeared on the "Don Messer's Jubilee" show. Through Wendy, Cindy was exposed to some of the finest fiddlers and stepdancers in the country, including legendary fiddler Graham Townsend, and iconic dancers Donnie Gilchrist, Gilles Roy and Buster Brown.
Cindy wanted to be unique, and so at 14 years, she figured out how to fiddle and stepdance at the same time. She blended a clog, jig and reel combination with double and triple timing steps, and performed her routine at the Canadian Open Old Time Fiddle contest in Shelburne, Ontario. No one had ever seen this done at a Canadian fiddle contest before, and it opened up a whole new career for Cindy. She criss-crossed the country winning over judges and audience alike. She appeared on "The Tommy Hunter Show" and many other CBC productions. She also won the National Talent Contest at the Canadian Country Music Awards, and toured across Eastern Canada full time with a Country Rock Band.
Later in her career, Cindy performed on CBC's "Rita MacNeil show" and CBC's Canada Day celebrations in Ottawa, which was live in front of 144,000 people at Parliament Hill. She appeared on national radio and performed with several Symphony Orchestras. She also performed at major Folk, Country and Bluegrass festivals, art exhibitions and special events throughout Canada and the U.S.
Throughout her busy performance schedule, Cindy has always been focused on teaching fiddle and step dancing, at home and abroad. Her life long goal has been to preserve traditional music. She developed and taught a fiddle music course for Fleming College at The Haliburton School of the Arts. For over a decade she taught at the historic Orangeville Fiddle and Stepdance Camp, and she was invited to teach workshops at many folk music festivals, including many years at "Mariposa in the Woods". It was through these camps and workshops that Cindy had an opportunity to teach and then eventually to work with some of today's finest musicians.
Cindy's high energy performances and her teaching skills have earned her a reputation as one of Canada's finest combination fiddle player/stepdancers. Although retired from stepdancing, Cindy still performs in her own style, building a rapport with her audience with spontaneity, fun and musical excellence. She has always enjoyed the stage, and working with others who share a common goal to keep traditional fiddle music alive!
