Danny Walkowitz

As Professor of History at New York University, Daniel Walkowitz often focuses his gaze on the past. The historic character of English Country Dancing enhances its appeal for him, as it does for many dancers. Danny is fusing his scholarly and dancing lives in his current work, a book in progress entitled City Folk: Cecil Sharp, English Country Dancing and the Invention of the American Folk Dance Movement, 1900-1950.  When research takes him to England, Danny dances at Cecil Sharp House in London. As a CD*NY dance leader, he often sparks his teaching with historical tidbits about the dances, sharing information about their names and origins.  Don't be surprised if Danny begins to add musical sparks as well, because he has "begun to twiddle on the recorder."

Danny's current research reflects his interest in American social history and film. Since 1998, in collaboration with Stephanie Smith and Charlie Weber, a folklorist and videographer respectively with the Smithsonian Center for Folklife and Cultural Studies, Danny has interviewed and videotaped a representative cross-section of more than thirty active English Country dancers and some of the more prominent musicians, teachers, and choreographers in the dance community, primarily from the U.S. but also from England.

Danny has been dancing for over 40 years and teaching dance almost as long, having taught International folk dance when in college.   After deciding there would be "life after tenure," he began teaching again in the mid-1980s, first International, then some Scandinavian dancing. Danny began his apprenticeship at CD*NY in 1997 and was fledged as a teacher in January 2001. He started teaching English Country Dancing "because I like wonderful dancing and wanted to surround myself with people who do it." Danny feels that his training with Christine Helwig and Fried Herman, in particular has especially enriched his styling and dance repertoire. As an apprentice, Danny feels himself especially fortunate to have worked with CD*NY dance leaders like Beverly Francis, Yonina Gordon, Gene Murrow, and Paul Ross.

As a member of the Chelsea Dancers, Danny performs ECD at local and regional dance sessions. He also performed in 1992 with Narod, a Balkan troupe in the Baltimore area, and he has done some demonstrations of Scandinavian dancing at local New York venues. In addition to regular stints at CD*NY, Danny has taught at Woodstock, New York, and Wayne, New Jersey. He is a member of CD*NY, CDSS, and EFDSS.

Learn more about Danny as an historian at NYU.
Read the article about Danny from the New York Sun.

Write to Danny at NYU. Call him at 212-998-8091.