Carol Martinez

In 1988, a friend of my husband's suggested a Round Hill contra dance to us, so out of sheer curiosity, Peter and I made our way to Greenwich, Connecticut. We'd never heard of contra dancing, and certainly had no idea of the effect that evening's discovery would have on our lives! During the dance, I noticed a flyer for Country Dancers of Westchester in White Plains. English country Dance....now what could *that* be?

When we first joined CDW, the evenings were co-taught by Fried de Metz Herman and Christine Helwig, so I had the extraordinary good fortune of having both of them as my regular instructors. At that time, the beginning dancers always spent part of the evening in a separate room learning the basics. Anxious as I was to "graduate," I quickly became a dance gypsy and attended Christine Helwig's New Haven dances, as well as the series organized by Marjorie and Ed Potter in Norwalk, and, of course, Pinewoods Camp. It was such a joy to discover this new world--to learn to dance, to enjoy the beautiful music, and to interact with a wonderful community of new friends. I think the memory of that is part of what makes it a real pleasure today to dance with and to teach less experienced dancers.

My formal teacher training, which began in 1994, was acquired in two apprenticeships, one at CDW, with Fried Herman and Gene Murrow as my mentors, and the other at CD*NY, with Beverly Francis and Paul Ross. I also attended Gene's "English Dance Leadership Training in Music," at Pinewoods Early Music Week, and Bruce Hamilton's dance leadership weekend in New York.

Gene's music course opened yet another door, as one of its requirements was a beginners' recorder class. When I returned home from Pinewoods and found myself practicing recorder for two hours a day, I knew I was hooked. I then started taking lessons with CD*NY dancer and fine musician Wayne Hankin. Now when I prepare an evening's dance program, my recorder is always close at hand to help me see that the sequence of tunes is pleasing and review how the dance figures fit the music.

I've taught at CDW (where I've also been one of the MCs of the Celebration of Spring Ball for the last six years), CD*NY, North Jersey English Country Dancers in Wayne, Columbia County Country Dancers in Stockport, evening parties at the Fried-for-All in Lenox, Massachusetts, CD*NY's True Brit, the Woodstock Spring Fling, the Westchester County Sierra Club, and the New York Society for Ethical Culture. In Spring 2003, I'll be Mistress of Ceremonies at CD*NY's Playford Ball, sharing the podium with Paul Ross. I currently belong to CDW, CD*NY, CDSS, and the American Recorder Society. I'm a past Treasurer and the current Publicity Chairperson of CDW.

Speaking into a microphone has not been a new experience, because in my other life I'm a United Nations interpreter, Spanish and French into English. Of course, there my words come a bit "after the phrase" instead of before a phrase of music. And our beautiful English Country Dance tunes are much gentler on the ear than a UN debate!

Write to Carol at MartinezPC@aol.com