Dance Caller

I’ve been an English Country Dance caller for over twelve years now! It truly is a joy.

MY CALLING STYLE

I believe anyone can dance! English Country Dance is an extremely open, welcoming, community form of dance. If as a child you ever enjoyed folk dancing or square dancing at school, you’ll love ECD! You don’t need dance training or a wonderful sense of style or grace; if you can walk, you can dance.

I try to bring a sense of fun and joy to my calling, with the goal of creating a warm and supportive atmosphere. I love dances that make people laugh, and also dances that make folks feel they are experiencing something beautiful. And always the music is paramount…because by dancing, we can become part of the music.

I typically call without any reference to gender, as I find it’s generally more inclusive and easier for all, but if a group wishes to dance historical dances with more traditional (gendered) terminology, I can do that upon request.

I’m comfortable working with musicians and also recorded music, and am happy calling for beginners as well as dancers with years of experience.

MY EXPERIENCE

I call most regularly with three local groups:

Monrovia English Country Dance in Monrovia, California), a small twice-monthly dance class with a laid-back, friendly vibe that dances to recorded music.

The Historical Tea & Dance Society (HTDS) in Pasadena, California, which holds classes 2-3 times per month, plus a larger event with live music about once per month; and

Culver City English Country Dance in Culver City, CA, which holds classes twice a month with live music.

For HTDS, I program and call the annual Jane Austen Tea Social, an always-popular event with live music that draws about a hundred dancers. I’m also one of the callers at their annual Moonlight Summer Ball and their Saint Nicholas Holiday Ball.

I have also called events for the Southwest region of the Jane Austen Society of North America (JASNA-SW), and for the Beau Monde Regency Writers (now known as Regency Fiction Writers), and I’ve even called at a wedding!

I have been an ECD dancer for twenty-five years now, and have spent time researching both historical ECD practice and modern (20th & 21st century) ECD history. I’m particularly interested in the dance of the English Regency and Jane Austen’s England, and have done a fair amount of research there. I’ve given talks on Regency dance and the dance of Jane Austen’s England for the Historical Tea & Dance Society and for JASNA-SW, and taught online classes on Regency dance for the Regency Fiction Writers.

On the practical side, I’m the organizer of Monrovia English Country Dance, and on the committee of the Historical Tea & Dance Society, where I assist with dance programming, organizing, and publicity.

MY TRAINING

I had been an active dancer of ECD for about fifteen years before I started calling regularly, which was in 2014. I was unofficially mentored by the wonderful James Hutson and Annie Laskey, who were then the callers for Culver City ECD, and after that I learned a lot by simply calling, getting experience, and learning “on the job” for the next five years.

Then in 2019, I took a week-long callers workshop from Bruce Hamilton at Hey Days English Country Dance Week. This gave me a treasure-trove of information, and also put me in touch with many other ECD callers around the country as well as in Canada, the UK, and Australia.

In 2020 during the height of the pandemic shutdown, I took an intensive months-long calling class via Zoom from the great Brooke Friendly. The nine of us who took the class dug deeply into many areas of calling, and when I put what I learned into practice, I found I became I much better caller!

Then in 2023 I took a week-long callers class from master caller Joanna Reiner-Wilkinson at Pinewoods English Week, and in 2025 I took a callers workshop taught by both Joanna Reiner-Wilkinson and Brooke Friendly at Hey Days. Each time, I made new (and deeper) connections with other callers, and improved my skills and knowledge.

Many thanks to all my teachers over the years!!!

If you might be interested in me calling at your event, just reach out to me via my Contact Me page.