The Prairie Chicken Dance Tour - Freehand Books

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The Prairie Chicken Dance Tour

  • Publication Date: September 27, 2021
  • ISBN: 9781988298870 / 1988298873
  • 6" x 9"

The hilarious story of an unlikely group of Indigenous dancers who find themselves thrown together on a performance tour of Europe.

The Tour is all prepared. The Prairie Chicken dance troupe is all set for a fifteen-day trek through Europe, performing at festivals and cultural events. But then the performers all come down with the flu. And John Greyeyes, a retired cowboy who hasn’t danced in fifteen years, finds himself abruptly thrust into the position of leading a hastily-assembled group of replacement dancers.

A group of expert dancers they are not. There’s a middle-aged woman with advanced arthritis, her nineteen-year-old niece who is far more interested in flirtations than pow-wow, and an enigmatic man from the U.S. — all being chased by Nadine, the organizer of the original tour who is determined to be a part of the action, and the handsome man she picked up in a gas-station bathroom. They’re all looking to John, who has never left the continent, to guide them through a world that he knows nothing about. As the gang makes its way from one stop to another, absolutely nothing goes as planned and the tour becomes a string of madcap adventures.

The Prairie Chicken Dance Tour is loosely based — like, hospital-gown loose — on the true story of a group of Indigenous dancers who left Saskatchewan and toured through Europe in the 1970s. Dawn Dumont brings her signature razor-sharp wit and impeccable comedic timing to this hilarious, warm, and wildly entertaining novel.

Praise for Dawn Dumont

“The sassy, spirited humour just keeps barrelling along. There is nothing quite like laughter to erase intolerance and embrace cultural differences, and this is one of the best antidotes to racism on bookshelves to date.” ST. ALBERT GAZETTE

“Intelligent and worthwhile.” WINNIPEG REVIEW

“Dumont’s talent for comedy shines in a great deal of snappy, wry wit.” QUILL AND QUIRE

Leacock Medal for Humour, 2022 (short-listed)

News & Events

The Prairie Chicken Dance Tour reviewed in CAROUSEL magazine
The Prairie Chicken Dance Tour and The Party Is Here take home Alberta Book Publishing Awards
Athabasca Library selects The Prairie Chicken Dance Tour for their One Book, One Community 2022
Five Freehand titles nominated across four 2022 Alberta Book Publishing Awards categories
The Prairie Chicken Dance Tour shortlisted for two Saskatchewan Book Awards
Dawn Dumont on Word on the Street Lethbridge's Fall Reading Series
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