EDMOND—The high-energy Celtic song and dance group StepCrew capped off the 2014-15 Armstrong International Cultural Foundation concert series on April 23 in front of a packed house of 740 spectators in Armstrong Auditorium. It was the first Armstrong sellout since Broadway superstar and Oklahoma native Kelli O’Hara opened the series on September 15.

Backed by two guitars, drums, a keyboard and a fiddle, the five-member StepCrew eagerly poured its energy into Irish step-dancing, tap dancing and Ottawa Valley step-dancing. Gaelic singer and native Scot Maeve Mackinnon also performed throughout the show.

As the backdrop shifted from teal to orange to mauve, Irish dancer Cara Butler, tap dancers Christine Carr and Julie Fitzgerald, and Ottawa Valley step-dancers Jon and Nathan Pilatzke whirled about the stage to foot-stomping traditional Celtic and bluegrass music. Fitzgerald and Jon Pilatzke also managed to play the fiddle while dancing at a dizzying pace.

Throughout the night, performers solicited audience participation in the form of clapping along, waltzing in the aisles, and even dancing onstage. Dancers from the Muggivan School of Irish Dance, sponsored by Imperial Academy, emerged from the crowd and danced an impromptu jig with Butler—putting into action the master class they took with her earlier in the afternoon.

For one act, the Pilatzke brothers used a broom, Canadian flag, hockey stick and coat hanger to bow Fitzgerald’s fiddle. They also played the “chair game,” in which they sat in a row and danced in precise unison. Jon Pilatzke even walked into the crowd and vigorously bowed his fiddle while sitting in a rare empty seat on the front row.

Of the Armstrong experience, Butler said onstage, “The crew rocks. The food rocks. I just love everything about this place.”

“The crew here at Armstrong Auditorium is by far the nicest group of people we’ve ever encountered, and we’re Canadian!” said Jon Pilatzke, referring to his native country’s reputation for extreme politeness.

StepCrew is a group of award-winning dancers from renowned groups like Bowfire and the Chieftains, which performed at Armstrong on Feb. 27, 2012. It fuses three dance forms into one rhythmic show. Armstrong Auditorium was the fourth stop on StepCrew’s current 19-show U.S. tour, which concludes in mid-May. Armstrong last hosted the group on March 20, 2012.

The 2015-16 Armstrong International Cultural Foundation concert series begins on October 22 when famous violinist and Academy of St. Martin in the Fields music director Joshua Bell comes to town.