Bella’s Bartok

Maybe you had a bad day, maybe you thought it was unredeemable. Maybe you have a cold and you don’t feel like moving around. Maybe you’re tired, and you think you’re just going to have a quick drink and head home. Maybe you fancy yourself someone who watches a concert quietly from the back, attentively listening. Maybe you’re a mother who’s only here because your daughter needed a ride. Maybe you’re a seventy-year-old man who walks with a cane.

In a few seconds, it’s not going to matter who you are.

When the Balkan-inspired, circusy sound of Bella’s Bartok hits your ears, you are no longer in control. You are out of your seat and you’re bouncing up and down, and soon your arms are flailing and you’re smiling and screaming. Your bad day, your cold, your fatigue have all vanished, and it’s not even the end of the first song.

Bella’s Bartok makes everyone dance, regardless. From living rooms to concert halls, alleyways to weddings, the band’s energy makes getting up and moving irresistible. Without fail, someone from the audience comes up after every single show and says the same thing: “I couldn’t help it.”

“I was just checking out the first song, but then I couldn’t help it.”

“I was only here to drop off my daughter, but then I just couldn’t help it.”

Even, memorably, the seventy-year-old man, cane in hand: “I haven’t danced in thirty years. Couldn’t help it.”

Bella’s Bartok are six music-making extra-ordinaries from Northampton, MA. They dare you to come see them and try to stay in your chair.