Callers
Linda
Leslie lives
in
New Bedford
,
Massachusetts
, on the coast of
Massachusetts
, and calls all over
New England
. She is a frequent caller at the Cambridge VFW weekly dance (now temporarily
in Concord, Mass), Monday and Saturday dances in Concord, on Cape Cod ,
Jamaica Plain, Rehoboth, Greenfield, and other Massachusetts dances, as well
as all over New England. She has also called in
New York
,
New Jersey
,
Washington
,
DC
,
Pennsylvania
,
Maryland
,
Michigan
,
Louisiana
,
Washington
state,
Alaska
, and
California
. She counts NEFFA, DEFF, NOMAD, Champlain Valley Folk Festival, Snow Ball,
and EISTEDFODD among her festival appearances. Among her dance camp
experiences are Dance Awakenings near San Francisco, Star Hampshire, Dancing
Bears in Alaska, Ralph Page Legacy Week-end, Pinewoods American Week, CDS July
4th Weekend at Pinewoods, Slugs at Sunrise in Seattle, Washington;
Fiddling Frog in the Los Angeles area, Pine Woods First Week-end and Labor Day
Weekends, Ann Arbor Dawn Dance, and the Silkeborg Convention in Silkeborg,
Denmark, as well as the Tommerup Festival, also in Denmark. She was the
featured Contra dance Caller at the Lavender Country Folk Dance camps in l996,
1997, 2001, 2003, and 2007.
Linda
is known for her resonant voice, clear teaching, and most especially for her
enthusiasm! She is particularly skilled at guiding and encouraging
beginners--offering programs that stimulate participation and feelings of
success. She is comfortable working with all levels, and mixed levels. She has
even called for wheel-chair bound elders! Her workshops have included
programming ideas for callers, gender role-free, both beginner and advanced
levels, the Zen of Contra, odd formation contras,
beginner contra sessions, Becket formation, challenging contras,
triplet contras, beginner waltz and schottishe. She has called for many groups
at weddings, anniversaries, schools, religious groups, reenactment camps,
conservation groups, and other celebrations. She spends a great deal of time
planning her programs, so that they are as varied and interesting as possible,
and to stress the inclusive nature of the tradition. She is happy to work with
all types of bands, and emphasizes that her goals for the dancers are to
provide an experience that emphasizes success, encourages a sense of community
with the other dancers, and an appreciation for our rich musical heritage, as
well as the artistry of our musicians.
She
is now sharing her energy with NEFFA, the New England Folk Festival
Association as Chair of the Program Committee. This means dedicating many
hours to volunteer work, assuring that the Festival has a varied and exciting
Program of dance, song, and music, from beginner to more advanced levels of
participation and enjoyment.
Linda
started calling about 18 years ago at the encouragement of Amy (Richardson)
Larkin, Kerry Elkin, and Ruth Richards, fine local musicians--and to be ready
in case disaster struck and a caller did not show for the local dance that she
organized in
New Bedford
. She has continued to be an enthusiastic member of the dancing/calling
community since that time.
Jenny
Beer
dances and calls in
Philadelphia. She has been twirling and turning ever since 1973, including 7
lovely years in the Bay Area. She teaches English Country Dance regularly,
Scottish Country Dance occasionally, and leads community dances.
She taught contra & ECD at Swarthmore College for many years, and in
contrast, a group for elderly dancers. Her
workshops emphasize learning by *dancing*, dancing with whole body, mind, and
heart. Jenny plays piano and
recorder for English and Scottish Country dancing, and uses that knowledge to
make her dance sessions a richer experience for the dancers and more fun for the
musicians, too. A particular passion is giving new callers and musicians a
foothold (and at times a hand-hold too) to increase the variety and quality of
our community dances. She also
enjoys creating new dances from time to time.
Bob Isaacs was
introduced to country dancing in 1994 and was immediately attracted to its
social and physical benefits. He
started calling in 1999, and from his home base in
New Brunswick
,
NJ
has since been active calling regularly around the Northeast and occasionally
at weekends and camps across the country.
His most recent appearances in
California
were in 2007, where he was on staff at the BACDS American Week in Menodcino.
He is known for clear, enthusiastic teaching, and the ability to adapt
the teaching and dance selections to audiences of all levels.
Bob
is also one of the most prolific and respected choreographers writing contras
and squares today. Some of his
more well-known dances include The Cure
for the Claps, Turning in Turn,
United We Dance, Don’t Be Scared of Your Shadow, and
You're Among Friends. He is
one of the few writers to explore contra/square hybrids such as grid squares
and zias, which continue to fascinate experienced dancers.
A book with over 200 of his dances, Momentum
Contras, is expected to be published later in 2009.
He is also committed to continuing the calling tradition, and in
addition to one-on-one mentoring, regularly runs workshops for new callers on
calling and choreography.
Musicians
Raggedy Annes
Charlie Hancock, Anne Goess, Andy Eggleston
San Francisco Bay Area
Rhythm Rollers
W.B. Reid, Cathie Whitesides, Bob
McQuillen, Laurie Andres
Seattle, WA and Peterborough, NH
http://hankandcathie.com/rhythm-rollers.html
Guppies
Staff
|
Charlie Fenton, Programmer, San Francisco Bay Area
|
Robin Cohen, Camp Manager, San Francisco Bay Area
|
Jim Strope, Web Guy, San Francisco Bay Area.
|
Marty Brenneis, Sound Reinforcement, San Francisco Bay Area
|
|
|
|
Back to top
