Contra Dances Callers
Susan English (OH)
Susan has called monthly contra and square dances since 1990, using dance to facilitate personal growth and build a sense of shared community. 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.
Wendy Graham (CO)
Self-described "dance maniac," Wendy Graham's passion for music, song and dance caught fire on a youth dance tour of Denmark in 1991. Today, Wendy leads English, American, Community, and couples dance(Frankie Manning's Lindy Hop and Latin dances in particular) in her current hometown, Durango, Colorado, throughout the country as far away as Alaska, and abroad in England and Denmark.
Wendy proudly served on the Country Dance and Song Society (CDSS) board and is a Lifetime Contribution Award committee member. She is currently serving on the Lloyd Shaw Foundation board.
Cis Hinkle (GA)
Cis Hinkle has delighted dancers since 1985 with her skilled teaching, welcoming manner, playful enthusiasm, and masterful selection of dances. She is in great demand at music and dance festivals all over the US, England, and Denmark. When not on the road, Cis teaches t'ai chi classes in her native Atlanta, Georgia.
Donna Hunt (PA)
Donna has been calling virtual contras since April 2020 when the pandemic hit Philadelphia. Mt Airy Contras was one of the pioneers in virtual contras and continues to produce 2 dances a month. Donna is known for her clear, concise instructions to minimize teaching time and maximize dance time.
Michael Karcher (WA)
With Seattle's dreamy raconteur Michael Karcher calling the sweetest dances, your evening of contra magic is in good hands.
Becky Liddle (ON)
Becky Liddle did not discover contra dancing until 2015, but has embraced it with gusto: She is president of Toronto Contra Dance, and in April was among the first to take contra on-line, co-hosting what has since become "All Hands In" virtual contra dance. She's been calling on-line frequently during the pandemic.
Suze St. John (AZ)
Suze* only started calling contra in 2015, but as a Musical Theatre actor, director, and choreographer, as well as a recently retired high school Dance and Drama teacher, she knows how to communicate dance moves to a wide range of people. Suze has called at all of the regular dances throughout Arizona and has become quite active in the online contra community: attending dances and workshops, and adapting and calling dances. She has also become a guru of all things Zoom!.
*rhymes with booze, choose, cruise, dues, fuse, lose, news, shoes, twos, Hughes, woos, queues, hairdos, and Santa Cruz (English is so weird!)
Janine Smith (MD)
Janine Smith calls contra, square, ceilidh, and family dances in the Washington, DC area. She shares her humorous (OK, sometimes goofy) and infectious passion for music and dance with dancers from Glen Echo, MD to Seattle, WA. She specializes in Singing Squares and in generally whoopin' it up real good. She is one of the "Hot Square Babes", a quintet of female callers who threw a monthly Square Dance Party in College Park, MD, from 2004 – 2010, (and now semi-annually), and is a founding member of the DC Square Dance Collective.
Katie Zukof (IN)
From Bloomington IN, caller Katie Zukof has a reputation for delighting dancers with clear calling, calm energy, and fun dances that make dancers' hearts and soles rise (much like the fantastic breads her brick-oven bakery produces).