Bruce finds continued delight in the many aspects of English dancing -- the motion, the music, the person-to-person interactions, the choreography, the variety, the beauty, the physical and mental challenges -- and he loves showing those to others. His classes in dancing and calling get good reviews. Bruce also teaches Scottish country dancing, and is currently President of the Country Dance and Song Society.

Charlie Hancock (Berkeley, CA) plays piano and accordion for contra, English, and Scottish country dancing. He has played for BACDS dances, camps, and balls for 14 years, with occasional gigs further afield, including Pinewoods and the Portland (OR) English ball. He is also a member of Bay Area folk ensemble Euphonia, and has recorded with Sylvia Herold, Holly Tannen, and Cathie Whitesides.

Cellist and clinician Renata Bratt is president of the International Association for Jazz Education String Caucus, chair of the 2007 American String Teachers Association Alternative String Styles Steering Committee and vice-president of the Kuumbwa Jazz Center Board in Santa Cruz. She writes articles and has been interviewed about improvisation and fiddle styles for Strings Magazine, ASTA and the Suzuki Music Association. Her latest CD, "Jazz Trio 2006", with violinist Martin Norgaard and pianist Bert Ligon is now available on Fat Chance Records. Her new CD, "Great Big Taters, fiddle music on cellos" has just been released on Open Path Music. She wrote "The Fiddling Cellist," “Celtic Grooves for Two Cellists, 47 Irish and Scottish Tunes” and the arrangements for Dix Bruce’s “BackUp Trax: Old Time & Fiddle Tunes for Cello”  for Mel Bay Publications. She has taught classical styles, jazz improvisational and fiddling techniques at national string workshops for children and adults (including the Mancini Institute, The Mark O'Connor String Conference, Valley of the Moon Scottish Fiddling Camp, IAJE, ASTA, MENC and Suzuki institutes and conferences), been an invited recitalist at the Spanish Embassy in Rome, and is a past president of the Suzuki Music Association of California. Ms. Bratt received her Ph.D. in Music from the University of California at San Diego.

Jon Berger is a treasure of tunes, fiddle artistry, and then some. He has played for morris, English country, and contra dances since 1976 and is a regular musician at Bay Area and North Bay English country dances. A former musician for Berkeley Morris, he now plays for Apple Tree Morris in Sebastopol, as well as in in Flashpoint and Midnight Smørgåsbord. He is well-known for his powerful music, and his ability to maintain a connection between the music, the dancers and the dance (not to mention his sense of humor and grand singing voice). Jon is a former member of the trio "Cyderman's Fancy" and the Celtic rock band "Tempest."

Noel Cragg came to the attention of the folk dance community in 2000 when he began playing box for Mayfield Morris and Sword. In no time he was snatched up by Bufflehead Northwest Morris, and he's since taken up dancing with Deer Creek Morris. He's much in demand as a pianist for English Country Dance events throughout the Bay Area. Noel earned degrees in musicology and computer science at Oberlin College and Conservatory, where he performed in many early music and baroque ensembles. Noel wasted his youth playing the oboe and piano, and in adulthood he plays a mean espresso machine.

Erin Vang holds degrees in horn performance from St. Olaf College and Northwestern University and has studied with Boris Rybka, Kendall Betts, and Dale Clevenger. She freelanced in the Chicago area for seven years, including performances with the Lyric Opera of Chicago, the Ravinia Festival Orchestra, Symphony II, and Symphony of the Shores, and tours of Korea and Germany with the Chicago Chamber Orchestra. Since moving to the San Francisco Bay Area, she has been appearing with the Oakland East Bay, San Jose, Marin, Monterey, Berkeley, Napa Valley, and Santa Rosa Symphonies; Symphony Silicon Valley, Sacramento and Women's Philharmonics, Festival and Pocket Opera companies, and the Foghorn Quartet. Erin and various beasts from the brass family have also been known to show up at Bay Area English country dance events and for several years perpetrated tuba for Bufflehead Northwest Morris.