My first dance teaching experiences were in college, with historical dance -- which also meant doing a fair amount of research to keep from being bored by limited repertoire. The meshing of tune, choreography, and social interaction fascinated me (still does) and took me to the lively contra and country dance communities in the Delaware valley, where I cut my teeth as a contra and English Country dance caller, and collaborated on a ad-hoc series of couple dance 'playshops' (this is play, not work!). I now call regularly for ECD and contra in the Bay Area since moving to California from New York City, ten years ago.
In my calling, I hope to share a deep love for these dances and this music, in all their varied modes and moods. I also strive to create space for dancers to discover their own delight. Besides calling, what draws my attention these days are the twin delights of reconstructing old dances and composing new dances. I'm also concerned with the language we use in describing and calling these dances today, and with the social environment we create in contemporary dance communities.
While my first dance love is social dancing, I also greatly enjoy working as a dance team, having danced in several ECD demonstration and sword dance teams, with New World Sword and Ring of Cold Steel
Professionally, I'm a librarian, with a prior background in social history and museums / material culture; I'm currently the Library Director at the California Institute of Integral Studies.