Credits

Membership Officer 2016 - 2024, Public Relations Officer 2015, Member Since 1985

Bio

Cliff graduated as a Mainstream dancer in 1984 and has spent many of 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 35 years old, and has been on the calling roster for several other clubs in Yorkshire and further afield. Latterly his principal calling commitments were 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 have always been 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 1/7 th 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.

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 50 th and 60 th 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.

Unfortunately, a recent need for emergency surgery has left Jackie with care needs which make travel difficult, and which Cliff feels that he cannot meet as an active caller. He therefore took the decision to retire from calling but remains involved in the activity through his membership of the committees. He is inexpressibly grateful to Gene for stepping into the gaps.

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Cuer's Rep 2015 - 2016, Ordinary Member 2010 - 2012

Bio

Matt started Rounds after a trip to Australia in 2006. While learning he also began Square Dancing and with his wife and parents set up Whirl & Twirl Round Dance Club. Matt learned to cue/teach under the mentoring of Teresa Hart, with additional help from the GSI Cuer & SDCCGB Cuer Schools, which featured Martin Prufer. After moving on from Whirl & Twirl in 2016 Matt set up a new club near Sheffield called Matt's Twirlin' 2 Steppers.

Matt also cues at Saturday night dances/weekends and in 2012 cued at the Spring Jamboree in Munich after gaining his ECTA Cuer's Accreditation.

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Training Director 2002 - 2017, Vice President 1980 - 1987, Public Relations Officer 1978 - 1979

Bio

Paul began to square dance in 1975 and very soon picked up a microphone to begin his calling career.  He first served on the callers club council in 1978 as the PRO and then as the Vice President from 1980 till 1987.

He joined Callerlab in 1983 and in 2000 he became an Accredited Caller Coach and took on the Training Director role until it was disbanded.

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Ordinary Member 2003 - 2004

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President 2007 - 2009

Ordinary Member 2016 - 2017, Membership Officer 2003 - 2015

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President 2011 - 2021

Bio

Simon has been calling since 1996 and calls for a number of clubs in the Home Counties area.  He has called at all levels and continues to call Mainstream through A2 on a regular basis.  He is a regular on the Saturday Night circuit together with his wife Trudy and they are also both recipients of the Harry Preston award.

He served on the GSI UK Committee from its inception in 2004 until 2017, holding the position of Joint Chairman of GSI UK alongside Trudy, from 2009.  Simon was also part of the support calling staff for the 2007, 2009 and 2014 GSI UK Festival events as well as being a featured caller in The Netherlands, Germany and the Czech Republic.

He also helped organise the Joint 60th Anniversary Celebrations (BAASDC and SDCCGB) in Nov 2013.

Simon has given Callers Club a very strong base on which to build. Under his direction caller training has evolved into a positive and sustainable package to be used to help new callers. His support for squares and rounds has been exemplary and despite the difficult years of the pandemic he continued to encourage others to be positive and engaging.

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Vice President 2011 - 2021

Bio

Trudy has been calling since 1996 and calls for clubs in the Home Counties area.  She calls Mainstream through A2 on a regular basis. She was a joint recipient of the Harry Preston award in 1998, with Simon and is recognised as one of the UK's leading female callers, working the Saturday circuit and calling regular Hoedowns.

She held the position of Joint Chairman of GSI UK (with husband Simon) from 2009 to 2017, having been involved since its inception in 2004, appearing as the support calling staff for the GSI Festival 2007, 2009 and 2014 events.  She has also been a featured caller in The Netherlands, Germany and the Czech Republic.

Trudy was also part of the organising team for the Joint 60th Anniversary Celebrations (BAASDC and SDCCGB) in November 2013.

Trudy provided callers club with a vast professional knowledge and regularly contributed her exceptional organisational skills. From the start of her calling career she has helped champion the role of women as square dance callers and has become the perfect role model.  

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President 2002 - 2006, Vice President 2001

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Treasurer 2004 - 2014

Bio

Started dancing with the Rustlers SDC in 1994.  In approximately 1999 he started to do the odd singing call on club nights.  Gradually over the next few years became more involved until in 2006 Colin started to share club nights with Bert Spinney, the Rustlers club caller.

He was the temporary Treasurer for a good many years.

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Ordinary Member 2013 - 2014

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Cuer's Rep 2017, 2010 - 2014

Bio

I started dancing quite by accident at the tender age of 5 when I was dragged into a demo’ square to make up numbers during “Expo Steam” in Peterborough. I subsequently learned to do it properly at Shirts and Skirts in Ipswich, dancing with my parents.

When an American couple (Jim & Ruth Price) were stationed at Bentwaters I took the opportunity to learn to Round Dance with my parents and my younger sister and we graduated as a family in 1979. About this time I met Paul and he learned to square dance with Suffolk Promenaders while I carried on with Rounds and gradually began cueing the odd record on club nights (usually “New York, New York”). Some time later Paul learned to Round Dance under the teaching of Jan Farnell and he graduated as well. Out of the blue in 1984 I was approached by Buttons & Bows SDC and asked to teach their club to Round Dance. Using hastily sourced second-hand equipment and with a limited repertoire Red Rose RDC was formed and we began teaching to a class in excess of 20 couples in Kentford near Newmarket.

To help me with my cueing I joined the Callers Club of Great Britain. I assisted with the introduction of a “Cuer’s Section” and became the first Cuer’s Representative. I also established the British Cuer and Teacher Accreditation scheme with help from Susie & Gert-Jan Rothscheid (Cuer’s Rep for ECTA).

Over the years I have had the honour of cueing at Festivals, Conventions, Jamborees and dance “Specials” throughout the U.K. and Europe, in particular at European Conventions in the U.K. and Germany.

Nowadays Paul and I try to dance as often as possible although a full diary of 

cueing bookings makes this difficult at times.

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Cuers Rep 2001 - 2009

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Vice President 2010

Lynn began calling in 1982 running his own club from 1986. Called regularly up to A2 at clubs and conventions he had also recorded his own square dance records.

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News & Views Editor since 2007, Secretary 2007 - 2024, Librarian and Archivist 2006 - 2007, Librarian 2002 - 2005, Secretary 2001 - 2004, Member Since 1984

Bio

Susie has been the Secretary for the Callers Club for many years.  Susie started dancing in the early '50s when just a teenager.  Her newsagent was the Caller Jack Smith who was the first Secretary of the BAASDC.  They met at Oakwood SDC which was held in Oakwood Sports and Social club.  Susie attended some of the weekends, lots of Saturday dances where she fell in love with all the boys and met her first husband John Heath. They married in 1958 soon after he finished his National Service in the R.A.F.As soon as their two children were old enough to go dancing - about 10 years old - they found themselves a club and started dancing again.  First, they found a local Folk Dance Club where they did the occasional squares.  Then they heard about the Harlow Folk and Square Dance Club where Ian McConnell was the caller.  Very soon it became clear that a group of them wanted more Square dancing so Susie found the hall in Much Hadham, where she and John lived, and they helped Ian to start Country Roads SDC.

They also started to dance regularly at Curliques SDC at Great Chesterford.  For their New Years Eve Party 1983/4, the caller offered those who wanted to have a go, a loan of some records to practice with. So Susie did and got hooked.

Susie joined Callers Club in 1985.  Attended a year's school with Pete Skiffins, meeting Bi-Monthly.  She realised the library needed attention so offered to take it on.  Ted Ivin the Secretary at that time, suggested she might like to come to a Council Meeting and somehow, innocent as she was, she found herself in 1986 being proposed as Secretary to replace Ted.

Susie's first Calling experience was with Market Squares at Romford every Wednesday night.   This started off OK but then unpleasant internal politics caused a parting of the ways. In the meantime, she had also started calling at Tudor Squares on a Monday and here she was well supported and have been ever since.

In 1989 Susie met Simon Kelly and he joined the staff of Tudor Squares and so New City Squares in Milton Keynes became their second club.  Susie and Simon were married  in 1993. 

Susie does all the usual Secretarial jobs to keep the Council running smoothly and have worked with seven different Presidents and many more hard-working Council officers during the last quarter-century.

Training new Callers and keeping the regular callers educated has been her greatest aim during her term in office.

In an endeavour to inspire our membership to attend Callers Schools, in 2003 Susie took the initiative in asking the newly formed GSI organisation to run a school and festival in the UK. After some negotiation, with Walt Burr speaking to them in American, the UK eventually hosted our first school and festival in 2007. We followed this swiftly with another in 2009 having more than satisfied the US GSI Leaders that the UK GSI organising team could fulfil their criteria in running the event professionally and economically, with the least cost to them.

Simon and Susie now call for five square dance clubs, running weekend workshops when necessary to give dancers more experience or to get to the next programme.

Their great pleasure is in their regular Caller's practice sessions which they have led on a monthly basis for about ten years now. Susie says, "It is so exciting to see the progress new callers make and hugely satisfying when they take off on their own and start new Clubs".

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President 2010, Vice President 2006 - 2009

Bio

Keith regularly called up to level A at club and weekends, while also having the opportunity to call at conventions in North America. With over 45 years of calling experience he served as the Vice President for four years before taking on the presidency. 

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PRO 2002 - 2004

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Vice President 2002 - 2004, Ordinary Member 2001

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Cuer's Rep 2022, Presently Chair of RDC (Formerly Vice Chair and Treasurer of RDC)

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Judi began Square Dancing with Wandering Stars when she finished University, and became involved with Rounds initially at Intro sessions with Alan & Joyce Sherriffs during the Funstitute holidays. 

She was encouraged to try cueing at the Outlaws and Sweeping Broomes SD clubs, and following interest from local dancers formed the Scarlet Ribbons RDC in 1991.

Following the formation of the Cuers section in Callers Club she had access to the resources needed to improve her dancing, cueing and teaching.

In 1995 she attended the Goss seminar in Germany, with a number of other Cuers; and was accredited as a Cuer and Teacher, receiving the Harry Preston award. 

Since then she has worked to increase the depth and breadth of her skills, while trying to give back to the activity by mentoring and helping to train less experienced Cuers. She enjoys choreography, cueing & teaching as well as attending dance events around Europe.

In 2020 she and her partner Michael were honoured with induction into the RDC Hall of Fame. During the pandemic, with a lot of help from friends, she set up a Round Dance online learning website which allows non dancers and beginners the opportunity to try Rounds in their own homes.

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President 1990 - 2001, Training Director 1978 - 2002

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PRO 2012 - 2014

Bio

Granville was recently co-opted onto the council in the position of Public Relations Officer.  Granville and his wife Wendy learnt to square dance in Harrogate, graduated in 2000 and eventually danced through to C2. However, they now live in Surrey and only dance up to A2 at local and weekend dances.

Granville started calling Mainstream for Tudor Squares in late 2009 having attended caller schools in both 2008 and 2009. In addition, he now calls for a U3A group in Hemel Hempstead and for his own club, Hogsmill Squares, which holds it’s club night on a Tuesday and a beginner’s night on a Monday, plus numerous dances, hoedowns and parties each year.

He calls regularly the CALLERLAB Basic, Mainstream and Plus programmes and believes new dancers to be the lifeblood of square dancing – in just over a year his own club attracted over 50 new regular dancers. As PRO he will be using every opportunity to advertise the presence of square and round dancing in this country and also, more importantly, the need to recruit, train and nurture new callers and cuers.

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Secretary 2005 - 2006, Editor 2000 - 2001

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Vice President 2005

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PRO 2005 - 2009

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Treasurer 2001 - 2003