Larry Edelman - Dances of Jerry Goodwin workshop sampler

Larry Edelman led a workshop session on dances he learned from the calling of Jerry Goodwin, originally from West Virginia but living and calling in western Pennsylvania when Larry studied with him in the 1970s. Some of the dances were ones Jerry had learned from his father. In his introductions to the dances, Larry spoke about this tradition and the importance of seeing ourselves (callers, musicians, dancers) as links in a chain. Some of these comments will be described more fully in the syllabus that is being prepared to accompany the dances from this weekend.

This is a sampler of that workshop, providing short clips of the different dances presented:

00:00 Birdie in the Cage
00:42 Promenade the Outside Round
01:24 Schottische for two couples
01:39 Split the Ring and Cut Off Six
02:21 Swing in the Rear

This was recorded on November 19, 2011, at the John C. Campbell Folk School, Brasstown, NC. Additional support for the weekend, including for this videotaping by John-Michael Seng-Wheeler, was provided by Country Dance and Song Society (CDSS). The weekend brought together six well-known callers and some 70 square dance enthusiasts from around the country to explore different traditional and modern styles.

Musicians for this session were Claudio Buchwald and Steve Hickman, fiddles; Jim Morrison, guitar; and Sam Bartlett, banjo.