The Moore County Concert Band will perform its second concert of the 2012-2013 season on Sunday, March 24, at 2 p.m. in the Grand Ballroom of the Carolina Hotel in Pinehurst.

David W. Seiberling, musical director, has chosen "dance" as the theme of the performance.

The program will open with "Suite of Old American Dances," by Robert Russell Bennett. Each movement of this work is based on a dance from the beginning of the 20th century.

The first movement, "Cake Walk," is a strutting dance with a march rhythm played during competition to win a cake. Another popular American dance tune is "Blue Tango," composed by Leroy Anderson. The instrumental version, as recorded by the composer, reached No. 1 on the Billboard charts in 1952.

Dance tunes from Spain, France and Russia will be included in the program. "Pepita Greus" is a paso doble, which means double step in Spanish. It is a lively style of dance modeled after the movement of a bullfight. Paso doble has been made famous on "Dancing with the Stars."

Three movements of the "Ballet Parisian" by Jacques Offenbach will be performed by the band. The final dance is the can-can, which shocked some audiences of the time. Perhaps the best known work of composer Reinhold Gliere is the "Russian Sailor's Dance" from the ballet "The Red Poppy." This work was created in 1927 with a modern revolutionary theme.

Patrons can imagine acrobats as the dancers during the high energy circus march titled "They're Off!" The composer, Frederick Jewell, ran away from home in 1892 at the age of 16 to join the Gentry Brothers Dog and Pony Show as a euphonium player. He eventually directed the Ringling Brothers and Barnum and Bailey Circus Band.

The contemporary piece "Ghost Dances," by Roland Barrett, is challenging for the band, particularly the percussion section. The practice of ghost dances is incorporated into the belief system of some Native American tribes. Proper performance of the dances would reunite the living with the spirits of the dead to bring peace.

No program about dance would be complete without a medley of tunes from "A Chorus Line." The original production ran 6,137 performances and won nine Tony Awards. The 1975 musical was written by Marvin Hamlisch, who died in 2012.

The concert will conclude with John Philip Sousa's popular march "The Washington Post." It is indeed a dance tune because the music was a suitable accompaniment to the two-step - a new dance introduced in its time.

The Moore County Concert band is a volunteer organization of more than 70 musicians of all ages and walks of life. Concerts are scheduled four times a year. The public is invited at no charge.

Seating is available on a first come-first served basis. Patrons should arrive early for the best seat selection.

For more information, visit www.moorecountyband.com or call (910) 235-5229.