Callers and Sessions 2025

 

Gene Murrow                                                         

Gene Murrow has been an English country dancer and musician since 1965, and has taught and called at clubs, workshops, festivals, and balls throughout the United States as well as England, Scotland, Ireland, Europe, and Japan. In 2004 he was honored as the featured country dance caller and teacher at the gala 50th anniversary of the Sidmouth International Festival. He has toured England several times for calling engagements, and has appeared at the Eastbourne, Lichfield, Whitby, and Southam Festivals. He made three tours of Japan to teach English dance, including the Folk Dance Federation of Japan national teacher workshops. As a dance musician, he has made four CD recordings, and is the Producer of the series of English dance recordings featuring the Boston-based band Bare Necessities.

Gene approaches the English country dance as a medium in which dancers and musicians alike participate in the realization of works of art. His dance workshops strive to make their richness of structure, musical form, texture, and affect enjoyable and appreciated by dancers of all abilities.

 

 

 

 

Geoff Cubitt

Geoff is well known as a caller for American Squares and Contra and English Ceilidh.  He has called at national dance festivals including Whitby, Chippenham, Eastbourne and Sidmouth, and is well respected by his peers.  He has considerable experience as a dancer himself, particularly in Appalachian clogging.
His experience as a dancer stands him in good stead when calling, as his sympathy with those on the floor means that he is helpful to beginners as well as extending the expert dancers.

 

 

 

 

 

 

Georgia Delve

Georgia specialises in the Regency and wider Georgian periods, and for Lichfield this year will focus on making Regency dancing accessible to us all. A professionally trained dancer, ballet teacher, and historical dance caller, she has danced on historical projects for TV and film, and choreographed for stage productions in the UK and abroad. Georgia is passionate about keeping historical dance alive and accessible for everyone. She has been booked at Chippenham and Halsway, and she makes her teaching enjoyable, informative, and tailored to the abilities of the dancers present.

 

 

 

 

 

 

Hilary Herbert                                                                                                                                    

Hilary Herbert has been dancing and calling for many years and enjoys a variety of dances: easy, moderate,
or complicated. She particularly likes dances that make you think.She is well known nationally as a caller / teacher of a wide range of new and old dances in the Playford, traditional English and American styles, including ones of her own composition, published in four volumes (with CDs) as "Hilary's Humours".

She is a regular performer on the English festival, week-end, holiday and evening dance circuits and has also ventured across the channel. Her patience and humour are well known throughout the country and she enjoys sharing her wealth of experience with others. She resides in north Lancashire, the county of her birth, but always enjoys her regular visits to the rest of the country.
 

 

 

 

Lynne Render

Lynne Render is a dancer and caller from Loughborough in Leicestershire. She is a regular caller at local clubs and also calls for dances,
ceilidhs and workshops at clubs and festivals throughout the country.

Lynne calls for dancers of all abilities and has worked with many well-known bands. She has called at Sidmouth, Chippenham, Eastbourne, Whitby, Lichfield and Bromyard festivals, at Casterton. Southam and other dance weekends and is a regular caller for The London Barndance Company at Cecil Sharp House and the Alcester contra series. She also used to call at the Peeping Tom ceilidhs.

Lynne likes to call a mixture of American and English dances and is always on the lookout for interesting nicely-flowing dances to add to her repertoire. She firmly believes that a clear explanation will enable the less-experienced dancer to enjoy a good dance. During the Covid pandemic she began writing dances suitable for people dancing in their own homes as part of online (Zoom) events. Although this will never be a substitute for real dancing, the dances she wrote were well received and hopefully gave people enjoyment at the time!

Lynne enjoys a wide range of dancing herself through social dance and ceilidhs and still loves to watch Appalachian clogging although no
longer joining in!

 

Amy Burton

Amy has been calling since the age of 13, now 25 she has called at Chippenham and Sidmouth folk festivals.

Amy has also run callers' workshops with the Camping and Caravan Folk Dance Club. She enjoys writing dances and loves calling contras.