We are justifiably proud of our musician, Walter Willans.  Over many years he has provided not only the music but has contributed largely to the ambience of our dances. His inimitable style of rendering strict tempo music within the genre of the dances has made no small contribution to the enjoyment of the dance. On special occasions Walter has entertained us with his piano accordion in roaming minstrel style performances. TWIN TOWNS SERVICES CLUB ACKNOWLEDGED THE CONTRIBUTION MADE BY WALTER WILLANS OVER THE LAST 25 YEARS!! What the promotions people at Twin Towns Services Club wrote about Walter in their May 2011 newsletter to their members: "25 years ago, Walter Willans JP, did a gig in the old anchor room, which resulted in him  being given a permanent Monday weekly engagement by the then new stage promotions manager, Mr. Paul Kelleners. A British born multi-instrumentalist, Walter has devoted his life to the arts of music and  ballroom dancing. Commencing with piano and accordion studies at the age of 7. He gave  his first concert performance at the age of 9, and played for his first social dance at age 14. Known as the 'Dancing Musician', Walter began ballroom dancing to partner his daughters for their medal exams in the early 1970's and has himself become a very competent dancer in a variety of styles.  To his musical credit, he has also spent several years as a member of a 24 piece brass band, ten years conducting the 'Queensland Accordion Orchestra' of which he was the foundation president, and has appeared with International artists on television."  A day of celebration was set aside by Walter's many friends to express their gratitude for the service Walter has rendered so faithfully and reliably over the last 25 years. Click here to see the huge collection of photos of familiar and new faces who enjoyed Walter's company and music on this very special occasion.   As can be seen above Walter certainly did start his musical career early in his life. In fact he was an accomplished musician by the time he reached the age of 13 years old. This is evidenced by the newspaper cuttings, below, showing the impact that Walter made upon the city of Rockhampton upon his arrival from England as a lad. We, who sequence dance, know only too well how good it feels dancing to Walter's music. By comparison, we also know how it feels to dance to the music of inexperienced dance musician's music. Walter's strict tempo music always provides a clear beat, an appropriate lead in time, and depending upon the dancers' disposition and fitness, an appropriate number of integral sequences for the particular dance. With Walter's music, termination only occurs at the end of a dance sequence, not in the middle.  The genre of Walter's music invariably matches the dance style.  Click on the following links to listen to short samples of Walter's rendition of  Kiss Of Fire on Dance Master 2 to really appreciate this point.