Details
If you’re new to English Country dance, just show up about 20 minutes before the dance and we will teach you the basic patterns (and be sure you have an experienced partner to help you learn). Our admission fee is sliding scale – you can pay more than the suggested prices to provide additional support to this dance series, or less if that’s what works for you. Click here to see our current COVID policy. Very occasionally we have to cancel a dance on short notice, so we urge you to check our web site before you travel.
Caller
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David Smukler
David Smukler leads evenings of contras and squares, English country dances, family dances, school programs, and special events such as weddings, festivals, etc. He has also presented workshops on numerous dance related topics. His taste in dances is eclectic, and he presents a wide variety of dances. His repertoire includes plenty of New England contras, as well as an assortment of squares, singing calls, mixers, old chestnuts and freshly minted dances. He has a special fondness for English country dances, and his English programs also blend old favorites with new gems.
David grew up singing folk songs with his mom and began dancing contras in New Hampshire as a teen. In 1981 he was drafted to call for his local dance and has been calling ever since. David calls contras and squares, English country dances, and family and community dances, and is also a choreographer.
David is a retired inclusive early childhood and childhood educator who has also taught for years at the college level in a teacher preparation program. He has frequently used dance and song in his teaching, both with children and adults, sometimes to the great surprise of his students. A teacher through and through, David believes that people can always learn and grow. While welcoming change and evolution, David has enormous respect for the value of folk traditions and is the author (with David Millstone) of Cracking Chestnuts: The Living Tradition of Classic American Contra Dances, published in 2008 by CDSS.
Bands
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Barbara Seppeler
Barbara Seppeler (piano)
Pianist, music teacher and choral director Barb Seppeler, fell hard for the beauty of the English Country Dancer repertoire, and she has made it her own with deep understanding and delicacy.
Jean, Scott & Henry Smith
A trio that plays for both Irish step dancing and English country dance.