English Country dancing is the direct ancestor of contra dance and is still very much alive today, with newly composed dances entering the repertoire all the time.
Compared to contra, ECD offers much greater variety in musical styles, dance formations, and dance styling. It can also be more challenging than contra, and dancers who dance both ECD and contra find that their contra dance skills improve thanks to the skills practiced in ECD.
Click on the image to read a short history of English Country dancing.
The music for English Country dance is as varied as the dances. For many of us who love ECD, the music is an important reason why. You'll hear some of the same jigs, reels, and waltzes that you hear at a contra dance plus many more, ranging from classical compositions of Purcell and Handel to bawdy pub tunes.
There are three ECD groups in the Houston area; see the group listings below.
Dance Videos
There are many videos of English Country dance on the web. You might start with the Introduction to ECD video made by a station in Vancouver. Paul Ross's Childgrove channel on YouTube has many excellent videos, and the Lambertville Country Dancers maintain a long page with links to hundreds of videos.
Experienced English dancers might enjoy this bit of ECD humor: A Reading from the Books of Barnes, a skit performed at Pinewoods English Week in 2002. (The Barnes books are collections of ECD tunes.) How many dance names can you recognize?
Animations
Keith Wood of Brisbane, Australia has created animations of many English Country dances (and a few contras) at the Dance Kaleidoscope website. Use the dropdown menus to find a dance.
George Williams of Santa Barbara has animated over 1600 dances—old and new ECD, contra, and squares. The animations are on YouTube; see his site for an index: upadouble.info.
Web Chats
The Historical Tea and Dance Society of Pasadena, California presents 5 Things: An English Country Dance Web Talk, an occasional series of chats with ECD callers and musicians from the US and UK. Prior weeks are available to watch on their Facebook page (FB account not required). Facebook | Website
We know of three groups in the Houston area sponsoring public English country dances. For each group
no group membership is required,
no prior dance experience is required,
no partner is required, and
all dances are taught and called.
In all cases, the schedule may change due to holidays, pandemics, and other conflicts, so double check before driving.
HATDS English Country Dance
HATDS English dances are usually held on a Sunday afternoon but are not yet back on a regular schedule. A donation, currently $10, is requested to cover hall rental.
Dancers from HATDS ECD before a demonstration at the Cinco Ranch Public Library.
Clear Lake Dance
Meets at Serenity Movement Studio, 1314 FM 646 #5, Dickinson, TX 77539, usually every 1st and 3rd Friday from 7:00 to 9:00 PM. Email clearlakeecd@gmail.com or see their Facebook page for details and to check their schedule.
The Society for Creative Anachronism sponsors a free dance on most 2nd and 4th Thursdays from 7:00-9:00 pm at the Trini Mendenhall Community Center, 1414 Wirt Road, Houston, 77055.
Dances include early English Country dances, 16th Century French branles (round dances), and 15th and 16th Century Italian dances.
For more information or to be added to the email list, contact
Charlene Charette at charlene281@gmail.com
Houston dancers at the Saturday evening dance at Set for Spring 2016 in Dallas. Photo by Paul Williams.
I know of no better image for the ideal of a beautiful society than a well executed English dance, composed of many complicated figures and turns. A spectator located on the balcony observes an infinite variety of criss-crossing motions which keep decisively but arbitrarily changing directions without ever colliding with each other. Everything has been arranged in such a manner that each dancer has already vacated his position by the time the other arrives. Everything fits so skillfully, yet so spontaneously, that everyone seems to be following his own lead, without ever getting in anyone’s way. Such a dance is the perfect symbol of one’s own individually asserted freedom as well as of one’s respect for the freedom of the other.
~ Friedrich Schiller, from Kallias, or On the Beautiful.
