Susan English, Dance Leader

​

Susan English immersed herself in international folk dance and synchronized swimming at the University of Michigan, then taught her first dance class on a rooftop in China in 1980.  She returned to China in 2017 on a $50,000 cultural exchange grant from the U.S. State Department featuring the Country Dancers of Berea, Kentucky.

 

In the 1980s, Susan discovered competitive swing and contra dance in Washington, DC, then experienced the rhythms and flow African dance during her Fulbright year in Cote d'Ivoire.  Susan has called monthly contra and square dances since 1990, using dance to facilitate personal growth and build a sense of shared community.  

 

Susan and her late husband, Bill Alkire, founded the intergenerational program at Terpsichore's Holiday, taught at Wheatland Traditional Arts Weekend and multiple years at Cumberland Lakes Dance Camp, Michigan Dance Heritage, and Recreation Leaders Labs in several states.  Together, Susan and Bill taught social dance and choreographed and performed "Minuet to Macarena: The History of Couple Dance in 20 Minutes." 

​

At home in Wooster, Ohio, Susan provides special dance experiences for weddings, camps, retreats, barn dances, for Madrigal Feastes and for Homeschool, Civil War, and Jane Austen Balls.  She is artistic director of the Madrigal Dancers, an intergenerational performing group.  With her Ph.D. in higher education, Susan shares her energy and joy of life through teaching and lifelong learning with people of all ages and backgrounds. 

​