Susan English, Dance Leader

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Susan English 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.

 

Susan has called monthly contra and square dances since 1990.  Her dance calling has taken her across the Midwest and as far east as the New England Folk Festival.  With her late husband, Bill Alkire, she co-founded the intergenerational program at Terpsichore’s Holiday and widely performed “Minuet to Macarena: The History of Couple Dance in 20 Minutes.”

 

At home in Wooster, Ohio, Susan calls monthly contra dances, old-time squares, and English country dance.  She leads dances for weddings, camps, Madrigal Feastes and for Homeschool, Civil War, and Jane Austen Balls.  Gender-free workshops in waltz, schottische, polka, hambo, salsa, and swing are part of her repertoire.

 

Susan advocates for traditional music and dance and travels widely as a board member of the Country Dance and Song Society of North America.  With her Ph.D. in higher education, Susan shares her energy and joy of teaching and learning with people of all ages and backgrounds. 

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