English Country Dances are taught and prompted at each dance by some of the best ECD callers in the Los Angeles area. Dance programs are compiled by the callers, using a variety of dances from the 1600s to today, mixing simpler and more complex dances in different shapes or sets (circles, squares, two-couple, three-couple, longways sets).

Our current roster of callers includes:

James Hutson co-founded the Culver City English Country Dance series (with Annie Laskey) in 2006. He was Dance Master for the first Los Angeles Playford Ball in 2001 and was dance leader for several subsequent Playford-to-the-Present Balls. He has also conducted workshops in ECD at various festivals throughout the region, and has led ECD programs for the Bay Area Country Dance Society, the Historical Tea and Dance Society, and the Jane Austen Society of North America. He has been the dance leader at the annual Jane Austen Evening in Pasadena for several years. Contact James at 310-479-7263.

Renée Camus started English country dancing at Pinewoods when she was 8 years old, and decided then that it would be part of her career. After receiving a masters degree in dance history, she founded and directed a dance company dedicated to preserving historical social dance called Centuries Historical Dance, and produced the DVD Dancing through the Centuries: Dawn of a New World, serving as writer, director, narrator, choreographer, and dancer. She taught various styles of dance around the Washington, DC area, including tap, Irish step dancing, ballroom, and ECD, and has taught at many dance camps around the country, including Pinewoods, Berea, Cumberland, Terpsichore’s Holiday, Flying Cloud Academy’s Vintage Dance Week in Cincinnati, and the Newport Vintage Dance Week in Rhode Island. She started writing her own English country dances in 2018, and has amassed at least 12 so far, available on her website. Her dance As You Were won first place in the 2022 May Heydays dance-writing competition, and her dance Wink was published in the Spring 2024 CDSS Newsletter. She designed and maintains the Culver City ECD website you’re currently reading. Contact Renée at camusr6@gmail.com or through her website.

Todd Brun met English country dancing in 1997, and was delighted with the acquaintance. He became a caller in 2014, and is known for bringing enthusiasm, humor, and even puns to his calling. He most often dances and calls with Monrovia ECD and the Historical Tea & Dance Society in Pasadena, and he enjoys attending eance weeks and weekends such as Hey Days, Fall Frolick, and Pinewoods English Week. When he creates a new dance, it generally has a pun in the title.

Ric Goldman calls Contra and English Country dances coast to coast and overseas, delighting in all the wonderful dance communities he encounters. He loves combining simple and sophisticated dances into programs that challenge and entertain both newcomers and experienced dancers alike. His clear, concise, yet warm and approachable teaching style brings a feeling of form, flow, and fun for dancers of all levels, with a repertoire that extends from the usual favorites into many hidden gems: lesser-called and experimental dances. He’s a patient teacher with a great sense of humor. Contact Ric at 650-906-8707 or letsdance@rgoldman.org.

Jacqui Grennan of Los Angeles, CA, has been dancing since 2009 and has spent many evenings and weekends dancing and calling ever since. Jacqui likes to put together dances that are varied in movement and in pace that will be enjoyable for newer dancers and for those who have been dancing for years. She is noted for her clarity in calling and her ability to adjust to the dancers on the floor. She sees herself as the host of a party and gets great satisfaction from seeing the dancers and band having a good time during the dance. From 2015 to 2017, Jacqui was a Board Member of California Dance Cooperative (now SCCDC) and the organizer of the 3rd Saturday contra dance series. Contact Jacqui at jacquigrennan@gmail.com or at her website at www.jacquigrennan.com

Cara King first discovered English country dance in Santa Barbara in 1997, and was instantly hooked. She later danced in Pittsburgh, Princeton, and Philadelphia, but became even more involved when she moved to Pasadena in 2003. She regularly calls for Monrovia ECD and for the Historical Tea & Dance Society in Pasadena. As a caller, she particularly values fun dances, great tunes, and a warm and supportive atmosphere. Cara is a budding ECD choreographer, with eleven dances to her credit so far. She’s also fascinated by the history of dance in Jane Austen’s England, and has lectured on it for the Southwest chapter of the Jane Austen Society of North America, and taught online classes on the subject for the Regency Fiction Writers.

Victor Lindsey hails from south Orange County and has been calling for 3 years, for San Diego ECD, Culver City ECD, Victorian Tea & Dance Society in Pasadena, and Orange County ECD in Anaheim. His clear and concise teaching gets beginners going quickly, and his love of some of the more complex dances presents exciting challenges to experienced dancers too. He loves working with the more traditional dances of the 1600-1700s, as well as modern dances of the last 60 years. He started English Country Dance 6 years ago when his wife, Diane, got him hooked on it, and couldn’t wait to get more involved. They are frequent visitors to the Fall Frolick dance camp in the Bay Area.

Frannie Marr began contra dancing in 1998 when she went looking for a new form of dance to bring back to the elementary school where she was teaching. She quickly fell in love with the music and dance scene and became an organizer as well as a caller of contra, English country, and square dances. Frannie is known for choosing wonderful dances and her clear, precise walkthroughs, which make her easy to understand and follow. Can you tell she was a kindergarten teacher? Frannie’s joy of dance is so present in her exuberant calling, you’ll think you’re at a dance party. Which is exactly where you’ll be when you arrive at the any dance she’s calling.

Chris Page learned to call English country dance in San Diego in 2008, and found people still wanted him to call when he moved up to Los Angeles a decade later. He also calls contra. You can contact Chris at chriscpage@gmail.com.

Judee Schumacher-Pronovost lives in Riverside and has been calling English country dances since 2000. She founded the Orange County English Country Dancers in Anaheim, which meets monthly, and she calls regularly for the San Diego English Country Dancers. Judee proudly taught Andrew Jackson to dance in a History Channel special, and in 2009 called dances at Brocket Hall in Hertfordshire, England, where the 1995 production of Pride and Prejudice was filmed. She frequently acts as guest caller and has called at events such as the Gualala Patriot Days Ball, the Jane Austen Society of North America balls, the Playford ball in Los Angeles, and the San Diego May Ball. Judee is a kindergarten teacher, and regularly presents dance to the Orange County music teachers at Orff Schulwerk workshops. Contact Judee at judithpronovost@mac.com.

Lindsay Verbil is a caller whose warmth, enthusiasm, and clarity empower dancers to feel capable, confident, and connected to the music and to each other. Her teaching style is focused and precise, while her good humor and sense of fun create a welcoming and joyful space. A dancer herself, as well as a musician, organizer, and co-host of the web series “5 Things,” Lindsay brings together a tangible love for all facets of the dance experience.

Annie Laskey first danced English country dance at the Renaissance Faire in Southern California in 1979. She rediscovered the dancing twenty years later through a musician friend, and has been an enthusiastic dancer ever since. Casual participation in a caller’s workshop in 2001 put her on the road to being a caller, and she now leads dances regularly in the Los Angeles area, with occasional gigs out of town. She is a past member of the local board for ECD & Contra, the California Dance Cooperative (now SCCDC), and also served four years on the board of the Country Dance and Song Society (CDSS) national dance organization. Along with James Hutson, she founded Culver City English Country Dance.