Ever heard tell of "Old Christmas Day?" I hadn't, either. Apparently it took centuries for the West and East to see eye to eye about the day Christ was born. The Western world settled on Dec. 25, of course, while Eastern churches preferred Jan. 6. (They were both wrong. Historians tell us Jesus could not have been born in winter - but you knew that.) The latter day's still celebrated as "Old Christmas," "Little Christmas" or "the Feast of the Epiphany" in many parts of the world - including, it seems, the Appalachians, where the period between the two Christmases is devoted to dance-happy house parties. That's the tradition celebrated by husband-and-wife mountain music gurus Erynn Marshall and Carl Jones in their "Breaking Up Christmas and Appalachian Country Dance" program. They'll be joined by caller Charmaine Slaven, fiddler Tony Mates and guitarist Catherine Alexander; and, as folks might say up in the holler, it'll be finer'n a can o' snuff. They Law!

BREAKING UP CHRISTMAS, 6 p.m. Sunday, Prosperity Grange Hall, 3701 Steamboat Loop NW, Olympia, $5-$8, 276.237.6866