From the Mic

Episode 12 - Wendy Graham

Episode Summary

Wendy Graham (Durango, Colorado) is a self-proclaimed “dance maniac.” Her passion for music, song and dance caught fire in 1991 on a Danish-American Exchange (DAE) youth dance tour to Denmark. Today, Wendy leads English and American community folk dances and teaches social couples dance across the country and around the world. In this interview Wendy shares some powerful stories about the formative experiences that shaped her love and dedication to community dancing (and also explains how she got so many pen pals!) She also offers some of her thoughts on the ever-shifting landscape of dance roles and calling terminology, including global positional calling, which we haven’t really discussed on this podcast very much. You’ll love getting to know Wendy!

Episode Notes

See the From the Mic website for great bonus content, including pictures and audio, transcripts, and more. Click here to download the transcript directly.

And the Country Dance and Song Society for information about Contra and English country dance across the continent

Sound bites featured in this episode (in order of appearance):

• Wendy calling the dance Courtesy Promenade by Richard Wilson at the Glen Echo Spanish Ballroom in 2014 with music by The Fabulous Glen Echo Open Band.
• Wendy calling the dance Another Nice Combination by Tom Hinds at the 2017 Christmas Country Dance School in Berea, Kentucky with music by Nathan Wilson, Alice White, Mara Shea, Dave Crandall, and Sam Bartlett
• Wendy calling a square dance at the Albuquerque, NM  contra dance in 2014 with music by The Thrifters

More about Wendy

• Wendy talks about some simple exercises she does to help dancers stay alert late into an evening of dancing! See her demonstrate these moves and share other insights into her approach to calling English Country Dance in this web chat series: "Five Things Inside the Dancing Mind of Wendy Graham."