ECDA: Fandango Memories

Memories of Fandangos Past

English Country Dance Atlanta has been producing Fandango!, its annual dance weekend, since 1995. Below is a list of the caller and band for each year, starting with the most recent.

2024

Registration Opening Soon!

2023: Gene Murrow & Alchemy

Eric Martin (violin), Karen Axelrod (piano), Rachel Bell (accordion)

WEEKEND WORKSHOPS:
Texture and Shape:
Dances that employ variations of layout and footwork.

Gesture and Line
Contemporary dances illuminating the Baroque (late 17th, early 18th-century) concept/aesthetic of "gesture" (short expressions), contrasted with "line" (long phrases with a definite arc). In researching this concept, it became apparent that a great many of our favorite dances-- historical and modern-- use this formulation!

Fandango 2023 Videos

2022: Bruce Hamilton & Goldcrest

Daron Douglas (violin), Dave Wiesler (piano, guitar), Paul Oorts (mandolin, accordion, cittern)

WEEKEND WORKSHOPS:
Oiling the Gears:
Sometimes a fresh approach to common figures can make all your dancing easier and more fun. We will use mostly simple/ familiar dances to try out the changes, and we'll also do some dances just because Bruce wants to show them to you.

Fandango 2022 Videos

2021

Covid Cancelled

2020

Covid Cancelled

2019: Joanna Reiner Wilkinson & Alchemy

Karen Axelrod (piano), Rachel Bell (accordian), Eric Martin (fiddle)

WEEKEND WORKSHOPS:
Around the Corner:
This workshop explored a variety of dances that feature corner figures including longways and set dances, a variety of meters, old favorites, and recent compositions.

Going in Circles:
ECD workshops are an opportunity to work on technique - not only new figures, but how to dance them well. This workshop focused on circles, and how every dancer plays a part in creating satisfying circles in dances. This workshop also reviewed the more challenging ball dances.

What's New?
As a fun end to the weekend, we danced new and recent additions to the ECD canon. Requests welcomed!

OTHER DANCES FROM THE WEEKEND:
The Minor Spaniard | Hudson Barn | Sapphire Sea |

2018: Brooke Friendly & Roguery

Anita Anderson, Dave Bartley, Jim Oakden, Shira Kammen

WEEKEND WORKSHOPS:
• Unpublished Impropriety
• Dancing the Whole Dance: The Fine Companion | De Novo

SATURDAY EVENING BALL:
Marjorie's Sou'wester | Flora and Phaon | A New Leaf | The Chocolate Equation | The Potter's Wheel

2017: Tom Amesse & Bare Necessities

Kate Barnes, Mara Shea, Earl Gaddis, Jacqueline Schwab

WEEKEND WORKSHOPS:
• The Music Will Tell You What to Do
• Making Connections
The Bishop | Corelli's Maggot | Mr. Isaac's Maggot

2016: Joseph Pimentel & Goldcrest

Daron Douglas, Paul Oorts, Dave Wiesler

WEEKEND WORKSHOPS:
• English Dances from the Goldcrest Collection
• Advanced English Country Dances
Winter in Brasstown | St. Margaret's Hill | Mile of Smiles

2015: Brad Foster & Foxfire

Daron Douglas (fiddle), Karen Axelrod (piano)

Weekend Program

WEEKEND WORKSHOPS:
• The Art of Reconstruction
• Modern Treasures

SELECT SATURDAY NIGHT BALL VIDEOS:
Saint Margaret's Hill | Whiskers | The Fandango | Shandy Hall | Key to the Cellar

2014: Joanna Reiner & Bare Necessities

WEEKEND WORKSHOPS:
• Maintaining Symmetry & Shape
• Circles & Squares
• Chris Sackett and Brooke Friendly Gender Neutral Dances

SELECT SATURDAY NIGHT BALL VIDEOS:
Wa' is Me, What Mun I Do? | Dick's Maggot | Foxfire

2013: Bruce Hamilton & Bare Necessities

SELECT SATURDAY NIGHT BALL VIDEOS:
Jacob Hall's Jig | Easter Morn | Candles in the Dark | Elverton Grove | Hoffedd Miss Hughes

2012: Joanna Reiner & Karen/Naomi/Anna

Karen Axelrod (piano), Naomi Morse (fiddle) and Anna Patton (clarinet)

WEEKEND WORKSHOPS:
• Making it Your Own
• Modern ECD Favorites

2011: Scott Higgs & Joyful Noise

Barbara Greenberg, Daniel Beerbohm, Kathy Talvitie

2010: Gene Murrow & Joyful Noise

Barbara Greenberg, Daniel Beerbohm, Kathy Talvitie

WEEKEND WORKSHOPS:
• Remembering Fried Herman
A survey of some of Fried's best dances, from the early publications in the 1970's through late masterpieces like "In the Sere," with elucidation of Fried's particular preferences in movement, music, and pedagogy. For over 40 years, Fried and Gene had periods of close agreement and collaboration as well as sharp disagreements, all of which helped shape Fried's legacy of teaching, recordings, and dances, and informed Gene's appreciation of her work in context.

• Nat'l. Kynaston and a Person of Quality
Thousands of English country dances were published in the 17th and 18th centuries by John Playford, his successors, and competitors. With very few exceptions, none of the tunes or figures was attributed to the composer or choreographer. A major exception was Nathaniel Kynaston, to whom John Walsh devoted several editions of his annual collections of country dances from 1711 to 1718. Kynaston, in turn, promoted the dances of an anonymous contemporary, identified only as "a person of quality" in Walsh's collections. Both exhibit a distinctive "voice" in their creations and in the reconstructions by Tom Cook and Andrew Shaw that have made both popular.

SELECT VIDEOS
Fandango 2010 Overview | Bloomsbury Market 1703 | Farewell Dance Selections | Red and All Red | Leah's Waltz