English Country Dancing

What Is English Country Dance?

If you seen any Jane Austen films, you’ve had a glimpse of this graceful dance form that appears in many of her novels including “Pride and Prejudice”. English Country dancing is easy to learn and highly social; you get to dance with a lot of different people and don’t need a regular partner.

You can escape the frenzy of the 21 st century and return to a more civilized and elegant era. The gentle aerobic movements are good for the body and the brain. English Country dance has many different formations - long or short lines, circles, squares, etc. It ranges in mood from light playfulness to delightful elegance, enthusiastically robust to gloriously stately. Dance movements flow in sync with beautiful early classical music from composers such as Purcell and Handel.

Most English Country dancing is done with informal attire in a relaxed setting to live music with a caller prompting the figures. English Country Balls are special events for experienced dancers only where more formal dress or period attire are required. Dances are rehearsed in advance so that during the ball dancers can maximize their enjoyment of the dances and the music.

For introductory lessons in English Country dance, contact Don Bell (donbell@nycap.rr.com, 518-273-5172). Dance lessons focus on learning dance figures with style and timing to the accompaniment of inspired recordings by the best English Country dance musicians.

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