Welcome To
SHINDIG PRODUCTIONS
Square Dance Music for Callers and Dancers
Shindig Productions was founded by Geoff Ward.
Geoff lives near Johannesburg, South Africa with his wife Margaret but was born and raised in Chaddesden, Derby, England.
They have 3 sons David, Neil and Andrew and all 3 are involved in music in one form or another, They also have 2 fantastic grand children Riley and Kayleigh. Geoff grew up in the 50s and 60s and his music inspiration was Buddy Holly and later The Shadows and The Beatles. He played guitar in those days and joined a band called The Kords, who performed in local pubs in and around Derby.
He and Margaret were married in 1970 and in 1976 they left the UK to live in South Africa, it was there that they were first involved in Square Dancing. In 1985 a work colleague was starting a club called "The Shindig Squares" and asked if they would like to join and help him. They had to learn all the Square Dance steps from a Caller Lab book as there was no one in South Africa to ask or show them what to do.
They progressed slowly from Basic to Main Stream to Plus listening to Wagon Wheel records or any other music they could get from America as there are no Square Dance Callers in South Africa. Eventually they mastered Plus and in 1992 they decided to travel to Cincinnati to attend their very first Square Dance Convention. What an occasion it turned out to be they couldn't believe how many people were there, they think it was about 20,000 dancers. The atmosphere was great, the vendor stalls, the dresses and shirts, the music of course and the good news was their Plus dancing skills were just fine.
The Square Dancers they met were so friendly and made them feel welcome. It made their holiday one of the best they've ever had. Since that first Convention they have attended 3 more, Portland, Orlando and Anaheim. During the 1990s they attended a Barn Dance and thought that with their Square Dance and Music skills, they could do that and so they became "The Shindigs", Barn Dance Entertainers.
For the next 15 years "The Shindigs" toured around South Africa giving Barn Dances and entertaining people with their Country Music, Square Dance demonstrations and later, Line Dancing. Like all good things it came to an end in 2005, they stopped touring and moved into a Retirement Village called Alan Woodrow Park where they are still entertaining the residents today with their style of singing and dancing, they also teach Line Dancing and produce a very successful Annual Variety Show.
"Shindig Productions" now gives Geoff the opportunity to continue creating music for Callers and Dancers, which he hopes they will enjoy.
In 2010 Margaret and Geoff recorded 14 of our Favourite Country Songs, you can listen to any of the songs by clicking the link here.
We hope you enjoy them as much as we did recording them.
