Callers and Musicians for Sunday's English Country Dance
Nancy Yule
music by Alan Thomson, piano; Julia Harman, violin; and Eric Walentowicz,
flute - saxophone.
Paul's Ross' influence on our dances can be traced back more than a decade to
the time
Nancy Yule was an apprentice caller at the Westchester English Country Dances.
He has much to share as a caller, in addition to being a kind and insightful
mentor.
Alan Thomson returns with his band member Eric Walentowicz. Julia Hartman will
join them instead of Mark Bagdon, who has an injured shoulder. We are lucky
Paul recruited Julia for our dance; she plays regularly for many of the English
CD series in the NYC area.
Meet the caller and musicians by reading about them below.
You will also find details about the dance below.
Paul Ross, caller
Paul has been dancing English country dance since 1971, when he joined the
University of Chicago Country Dancers under the direction of Pat Talbot. She was
an inspired teacher and leader, who taught us English and Scottish country
dancing, morris, gamalpolska, and hambo. When Pat left, Paul took over the
calling. I knew so little then--and am still learning all these years later.
In 1981 he followed his girlfriend (and now wife), Faina, to New York City and
promptly joined the country dance scene here, dancing at Duane Hall and serving
on the New York Dance Activities Committee, the precursor of CD*NY. His teachers
were the master callers of those years: Genny Shimer, Christine Helwig, Fried
Herman, Sue Salmons, Bertha Hatvary, and others, and he had the privilege of
dancing to Phil Merrill's and Marshall Baron's playing.
In 1993 (more or less), Paul became an apprentice caller in Westchester,
studying under Christine and Fried. Fried, in particular, has been the major
influence on my dancing and on my understanding and vision of what ECD is. To
help preserve that vision and the dances that Fried created he founded The Lenox
Assembly in Lenox, Mass., in 2009, a dance weekend co-led with Robin Hayden that
is dedicated to the art of dancing well. You may see some of the results of this
effort on his Childgrove YouTube channel, http://www.youtube.com/user/childgrove
Paul comes to us from New York City.
Alan Thomson, piano
Alan Thomson, being the multi-genre pianist many have come to know, is an active
performer at numerous festivals, dances, and concert settings involving
Classical, Jazz, Swing, traditional Contra, English country dance, and musical
theater. He's happy to be back playing again at one of his favorite English
dance settings.
Alan lives in the NY Capital District.
Julia Hartman, violin
Julia Hartman is a classically trained violinist with a consuming enthusiasm for
English country dance music. She is a graduate of the CD*NY musical
apprenticeship program, in which she trained under pianist Cynthia Shaw. Julia
plays for English dances regularly in New York City, Long Island, NY; Staten
Island, NY;
and Ridgewood, NJ. She also plays for contra in NYC.
Julia is coming from New York City with Paul Ross.
Eric Walentowicz, flute and saxophone
Eric Walentowicz is a seasoned Classical and Jazz player on flute and saxophone
in the Albany area. He adapts to any style of music immediately and English
country dance music is no exception.
Saxophonist/composer, Eric Walentowicz, started playing professionally at age
13. He majored in studio music and jazz at the University of Miami and North
Texas State University. His teachers have included Ed Calle (w/ Miami Sound
Machine/Julio Iglesias), Rick Margitza (w/ Miles Davis/Maria Schenider), Gary
Campbell (Florida International University, CoAuthor of Paterns For Jazz), Gary
Keller (University of Miami, Sonny Stitt Transcriptions), Andy Middleton (Dave
Holland, etc.) , Bob Franceschini (Currently w/ Mike Stern), Dave Tofani (Steely
Dan etc.) and Clemente Barone (Detroit Symphony Orchestra).
Eric has worked as a musician in New York City, Detroit, Miami, Dallas, and the
Capital District and as a staff musician for Norwegian Cruise Lines. He has
played gigs with the Dallas Jazz Orchestra, The North Texas State One O'Clock
Jazz Lab Band, the Platters, Portable Rainbow at the Burlington Jazz Festival
and several Miami-based Latin bands. He has appeared locally with the Tim Olsen
Group, Terry GordonQuintet, Ted Perry Quartet, Rob Cenci Quintet, Joe
FinnQuintet, Mike Lamkin Trio, Pete SweeneyTrio/Quartet, Mike Wicks Sextet, Peg
Delaney, Anne Corea and Co., Jeff Gonzales Blues Band, Rob Cohen Trio, Made in
the Shade, Karen Lawrence Band, Groove Syndicate, and with his own EW
Trio/Quartet/Quintet.
Visit his WEB site at alba...@hotmail.com
Eric lives in the NY Capital District.