Country Dancers of Rochester

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.

Sue Batt

Sue Batt is an experienced caller of Scottish country dance.

Kathy Whitfield

Kathy Whitfield has been stepdancing for over 35 years, the first ten of those in competition, where she competed in numerous feiseanna (Irish dance competitions) and reached the Championship Level. Having watched many interested students leave Irish dancing because they wanted a less intense experience than that provided by competitive schools, as well as many adults frustrated by the tradition of excluding adults from stepdance instruction, she opened Rince Na Saor in 1997 as a means for students of all ages to study Irish dance in a more relaxed, recreational environment. She lives in Greece with her husband, Art, and has two sons, Kevin (34) and Brendan (27).

In the past few years, Kathy has added more traditional styles of Irish dance to her repertoire, including Old Style Stepdancing, and Country Set Dancing.