Gene Murrow

Gene Murrow is a man of many faces--English country dancer and dance leader, teacher of dance and early music workshops throughout the U.S. and in Europe, musician, successful businessman, and arts manager. The dances Gene leads for CD*NY are favorites with "newbies" as well as folks with decades of experience, since he succeeds in approaching English country dances as works of art, striving "to make their richness of structure, musical form, texture, and affect enjoyable and appreciated by dancers of all abilities."

More often than not, Gene plays an active role at CD*NY's annual Playford Ball. Last April he was an M.C. for the sixth time, sharing the honor with Tom Amesse. At five other Balls, Gene has played in the band. He also calls and plays at CD*NY's English dances, and he is a member of MGM. MGM--Mary Lea, Gene, and Margaret Ann Martin--has played for the Brattleboro Ball, the Dance Flurry, the New York Playford Ball, the Fried-for-All, and the Brattleboro Labor Day Dawn Dance. They have released a CD, "Measured Obsession," of dances by Fried de Metz Herman and collaborated with Reunion on two CD's of Gary Roodman dances, "Old Friends" and "New Friends." Among Gene's other current projects are a collaboration with Bare Necessities and the Boston Centre as producer of a continuing series of CD's of English country dances, with Volume Eleven just out and Twelve on the way, and with Gary Roodman on another CD of his dances, "Band of Friends," released in 2007.

Gene discovered English country dancing in the summer of 1965 at Pinewoods, as an 18-year-old oboist subbing for his teacher at "Chamber Music Week." He got hooked then on both dancing and playing for dance, going on to work as a musician with such renowned teachers as May Gadd, Genny Shimer, and Arthur Cornelius, and musicians Phil Merrill, Pat Shaw, Marshall Barron, and Otto and Marguerite Wood. In Southern California in the 1970's, Gene played and danced with Mary Judson's ECD group "Carol Dancers," who numbered among them an eager high school student named Brad Foster. After dancing and being "in the band" for over 20 years, Gene started calling dances in the mid '80's.

In California, Gene founded the Sunset Morris Men, whose distinctive kit included sky-blue shirts, rainbow-colored baldricks, and sunglasses. Back East in the 1980's, he danced with the Bouwerie Boys, known for their daredevil dancing, sharp dressing, and May Day revels in Riverside Park.

That first summer at Pinewoods, Gene also taught a beginning recorder class, which led to his involvement with the American Recorder Society and his eventual election to three terms as President, from 1994-2000. Through that organization, which is similar to CDSS, Gene helped to promote the recorder as a serious instrument uniquely accessible to amateurs. In addition to oboe and recorders, Gene plays concertina, accordion, crumhorn, triangle, tambourine, pipe and tabor, and just about anything else that comes to hand. He holds a degree in music from Columbia University with studies at Juilliard, Class of '68. While a Columbia student, Gene played with the Paul Winter Consort, and in the early 1980's he performed with the New York Renaissance Band at the White House, for President Ronald Reagan. Gene is currently the founding Executive Director of Gotham Early Music Scene (GEMS), Inc, a service and advocacy organization for early music in New York. He serves on the board of directors of Early Music America.

Gene's involvement with Pinewoods has been continuous for over forty years. For CDSS, he has frequently chaired Early Music Week, English-American Dance Week, and English Dance Week and last summer taught at English-American Week at Timber Ridge. In summers 2000 and 2003, he offered a seminar on "English Dance Leadership Training in Music" at Early Music Week, Gene served on the Governing Board of CDSS for two terms.

Gene has represented the States at many balls and festivals abroad, including the Golden Jubilee of the Sidmouth International Festival in England, the Stonesfield Folk Dance Weekend, the Lichfield Folk Festival , the Southam Weekend, and the Tring Ball. In 2006 he toured Japan for ten days teaching English dancing at clubs and festivals.

In the States, Gene often travels for workshops and special events. This season, he led the December Stockade Assembly in Schenectady, NY, taught at the Winter Dance Week at the John C. Campbell Folk School, in Brasstown, North Carolina, and offered a workshop for the Germantown Country Dancers. In 2008, he will be leading five sessions at the Dance Flurry in Saratoga Springs, NY, and a weekend workshop for the Sun Assembly English Country Dancers on March 8-9 in Durham, North Carolina.

When asked what makes English country dancing special or unique for him, Gene gave an expansive reply: "The beauty of the music; the intimate relationship of the music to the dance; the experiencing of artistic vision as a participant; the accessibility of fine art to almost everyone; the social interaction among individuals and the creation of community; the connection with the past; the continuing evolution of the genre." See Gene's article on The Look of the Dance.

Send an email to Gene Murrow