As banjos and fiddle instruments fill the air with Southern Appalachian mountain tunes, tap and swing dancers move to the beat of the traditional music.

These sounds and sights describe Rhythm in Shoes, a performance group that plays traditional Appalachian music and performs urban dance styles that originated from the same place.

But after playing for 23 years, RIS will be disbanding next July, making their performance from Nov. 5 through Nov. 7 at 8 p.m. in the Kennedy Union Boll Theatre their last at UD.

"We've toured for 23 years, being active in the old time music scene, a subculture of people who are united with this traditional music and dance," said Rick Good, RIS performer and artistic director.

"It is a strong storyline for the Dayton area, because so many people moved up here from the Appalachian states to work at the machine factories. Their music became part of the culture of Dayton."

The reason for RIS disbanding is the changing of the times both culturally and economically, Good said.

Good, along with his wife Sharon Leahy, who works at the Learning Teaching Center at UD, started RIS in 1987.

Since then, they have toured in 47 states along with Canada, Japan and Ireland in order to fulfill their company's mission: to engage the world in music and dance.

They produced a show that is specifically about the Appalachians and which also features the urban elements of music, tap and swing, and banjo dance, Good said.

"We have performed at UD annually for more years then we can count," Good said, "I've been a musician all my life and have been playing gigs at UD since I was a teenager."

RIS will perform this week as part of UD's art series.

Eileen Carr, director of the art series, said UD works to present performers and artists that students may not be familiar with.

"RIS really celebrates American traditions, but they do it in such a great way; nothing preachy or boring, just a wonderful time," she said.

Carr selects only dozens of performers to invite to come to UD from hundreds at the Association of Performing Arts Presenters Conference in New York City.

She selects performers from national groups such as RIS, to international musicians such as a French pianist who played at UD last month.

"I wish that more students would take advantage of the performances," Good said. "Maybe if more students knew what they were missing, they won't miss it."

Tickets for the last RIS performance at UD are $5 for UD students, $8 for UD faculty, staff, alumni and non-UD students and $14 for general admission.

Call the Kennedy Union Box Office at (937) 229-2545, or go to http://artsseries.udayton.edu to purchase tickets.

"We are not presenting mainstream commercial successes," Carr said. "We present high quality but not stuffy performances, on the edge, accessible and entertaining, and that's what RIS represents."