(Click on the photo to Email Cliff)
Cliff graduated as
a Mainstream dancer in 1984 and has spent the years since wishing that he had
discovered the activity much sooner. Within little more than a year he was
dancing Plus and performing the occasional singing call as a guest at local
clubs. He continued to learn dancing through the A1 and A2 Programs and to
develop his calling to the point where he became confident enough to call club
nights, teach new dancers and eventually call Saturday night dances.
Cliff was the
founder caller for Humberside Steppers, a club over 30 years old, and has been
on the calling roster for several other clubs in Yorkshire and further afield.
His principal calling commitments these days are as calling partner at Harmony
Squares along with Gene Turner and as caller for White Rose Squares, helping
students and more experienced dancers to enjoy the Basic, Mainstream and Plus
programs. Cliff and Gene are ably supported at Harmony Squares by Jackie and
Sandra (who actually run the club, though they let the guys think it is them).
Cliff and Gene made their first tentative steps as recording artistes a few
years ago (though Cliff is slightly ahead, having made 1/7th of a
record while Gene wasn’t looking as he was away in Australia).
A member of the
Square Dance Callers Club of Great Britain (SDCCGB), Cliff was elected to its
Council, served a year as PRO and is currently its Membership Officer. He is
also a member of the Northern Area Regional Callers Assembly, currently on its
committee as Treasurer and has been involved with the Committee of Grand Square
– United Kingdom for many years. All of these positions are part of Cliff’s
attempts to give back to Square Dancing some of the fun he has derived from it
and he tries to encourage, mentor and train other callers in the hope that they
will experience some of that same enjoymen
Cliff has called in
Germany, the USA and Guernsey as well as in many areas of the mainland UK and
was a caller at the 50th and 60th Anniversaries of the
British Association of American Square Dance Clubs (BAASDC) and SDCCGB, as well
as being a staff caller at Grand Square – UK Festivals in 2007, 2009, and 2014.