Mel BriscoeI first saw SCD at a Hogmany on top of a mountain in Italy, and it has been downhill ever since. My Scottish boss in the NATO lab where I was working required one to do some Scottish dances before you could get to the room with the food and drink. It's been 37 years now and I still associate good food, drink, and company with what you do after you dance. I started dancing seriously a few years later when I moved to the Boston area, and retain my membership in the Boston Branch because of those good memories and people.
I love dances done well to music that is terrific. We all have memories of some perfect moments in our lives; many of mine occurred on the dance floor, often during a strathspey with Earl Gaddis playing, although one special memory was The Frisky in an opening set at Scottish Weekend at Buffalo Gap in 1990 with Bob Blackie, Robert McOwen, Geoffrey Selling and me, with Dan Emery on the pipes, and it was absolutely magnificent. Time dialated, and it was an in-the-zone experience.
My goal in teaching is to offer people the skills, knowledge, and attitudes so they too can experience those special moments.
Fiona joined Edinburgh University New Scotland Country Dance Society while a student, and got so hooked on Scottish Country Dancing that she danced her way to the University Award in Physical Education; and then took the RSCDS certificates while a trainee teacher as a way to escape shivering on the sports field on winter afternoons.
Since moving to Bristol, she has also dipped her toes into Scottish step dance, Salsa, Flamenco, Arabic, Ballroom, Le-roc, Tango Argentino and Irish sets. She teaches the Bristol branch technique class, as well as a beginners class, serves on the RSCDS Finance and General Purposes Committee, and taught at St. Andrews for the first time last year. She is an enthusiastic itinerant dancer and publicist for the RSCDS, and has danced and made friends in Vienna, Prague, Budapest, Brittany, Jersey, Guernsey and Nova Scotia.
She likes to encourage others to dance, and organised 50 dancers and a band to travel to Krasnodar in southern Russia to visit the student group there.
Helen Russell was born north of Aberdeen and started learning to dance at Bobby Watson's Highland classes when she was seven. She did SCD at school, studying with Lesley Martin. As a student at the University of Aberdeen, she came under the influence of Tibbie Cramb, who was responsible for Helen's interest in Ladies' Step.
Helen now lives in Yorkshire and teaches mathematics full time in a large state school of almost 1800 pupils. She has been on the staff of the RSCDS Summer School at St Andrews for a few years now, and has a particular interest in training new teachers.
Elke Baker, fiddle, and guest music teacher.ELKE BAKER (Ellicott City, MD) began Scottish country dancing in the Boston area in 1986. Within a few months she had sampled English, contra, Highland, step, and international folk dancing, and soon she was playing the music. Since then she has played her fiddle all over North America as well as in Scotland, Ireland, England, Japan, and West Africa. She keeps a busy concert schedule and especially enjoys playing for dancers.
Elke is a former U.S. National Scottish Fiddle Champion and a current National Judge, Music Director of the Potomac Valley Scottish Fiddle Club, and an RSCDS Teacher, too. She's also a scholar on the subject of Scottish music and teaches the history and performance of Celtic music at the Washington Conservatory of Music.
Elke has released three recordings to critical acclaim: Glenelg, Over the Border, and the classic 1993 recording Terpsichore: Scottish Dance Music. For more about Elke, visit her website.
Pete Campbell, piano and accordion.
PETE CAMPBELL (Greensboro, NC) - Dr. Peter H. Campbell, who plays accordion, piano and bass, performs with the MacRowdie Ceilidh Band and Footloose. Over the years, he has served on the music staffs of many dance camp venues, coast to coast, for Scottish, English, American contra and square dancing and International folk dancing. Pete teaches Scottish, English and colonial American dancing, as well as calls for contradancing and squares. He also loves to join in on any ceilidhs or song-fests and share his wealth of silly songs. In other words, if there's any music, dancing, singing or joke-telling going on, Dr. Pete will love to take part!
Pete appears on 11 recordings with such groups as Moose Chowder, Dulcimer Dan and the Blue Skies Band and Footloose.
Liz Donaldson, piano and accordion.
LIZ DONALDSON (Bethesda, MD) plays piano and accordion and has been playing for dancing for many years. She is known for her innovative back-up style incorporating exciting rhythms, textures, and harmony lines in her music. In addition to playing for Scottish, English and American contra dances, Liz teaches all these styles, and dances, too!
She is a member of Terpsichore, Waverley Station, and Dance du Jour. In addition to Waverley Station: First Stop!, a recording of Scottish Dance tunes with fiddler David Knight and bassist Ralph Gordon, Liz has a CD, Terpsichore, Scottish Dance Music with Elke Baker. She's also Artistic Director and pianist on the hot live Scottish Country Dance recordings Memories of Scottish Weekend ('98) and More Memories of Scottish Weekend ('02). Liz has published a book of Scottish Country Dance Tunes particularly suited to playing for Scottish Dance classes, and a book of her own compositions, Rain in the Desert.
Liz has taught and played at numerous dance weekends and music workshops including Scottish Weekend at Ramblewood (MD), Pinewoods (MA), and Asilomar (CA). Her travels have taken her across the U.S. as well as to Great Britain, Canada and Japan. Check out her website at lizdonaldson.com.
DAN EMERY (Fort Washington, PA). Dan has been the designated piper at Scottish Weekend since the first session at Buffalo Gap in 1989, and has been the piper at Pinewoods many times. As well as the highland pipes, Dan plays the small pipes. In addition he enjoys playing the flute, fiddle and cittern (like a big mandolin!) just for fun.
When not piping, Dan is a fine Scottish country dancer and is an architect in real life.
Earl Gaddis, fiddle and viola.
EARL GADDIS (Northampton, MA) is a full-time dance musician, having played fiddle and viola for a mixture of English, Scottish, American, and international dancing for more than 40 years. He currently plays for several weekly dances, as well as for dance camps, workshops, and balls throughout the United States and abroad. He is a member of Bare Necessities,which has released ten recordings of English Country Dance music (with more to come!). He has also recorded with Laura Risk, Karen Axelrod, Dave Wiesler, Liz Donaldson, Jeanne Morrill and Peter Barnes, and others.
RALPH GORDON (Charlestown, WV) plays bass and cello and is sought after by virtually every music group within driving distance of DC. He is a member of Waverley Station, Child's Play, and Terpsichore from time to time. He plays every style of dance music there is and has appeared all over the country and abroad. Ralph served as consultant for the Scottish Weekend CD project keeping everything on track and finding solutions to seemingly impossible problems. Ralph formerly played with Fred Waring and The Pennsylvanians. He tells great jokes!
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DAVID KNIGHT (Washington, DC) has been instigating dance up and down the East Coast and beyond since 1991, primarily in the Scottish, American, English, and Irish dance traditions. He also veers regularly into composition, performance, and recording. He has been featured on three recordings - Waverley Station: First Stop!, More Memories of Scottish Weekend, and most recently Ellen Gozion: Awake, Awake. His most recent tunes are collected in The Art OfŠ, his second collection. He plays most frequently with Thistle House, Waverley Station, and the Evil Twins.
JIM STEVENSON-MATHEWS (Manhasset, NY). Jim plays piano for Scottish Country dances in the New York City area, and has played for candidate classes in NYC, and at the Teachers' Association of Canada's Summer School. He has also played for classes at the Pawling, NY weekend. In addition to Scottish Country Dance music, Jim plays English and Contra dance music. He has been on staff at Hudson Guild Farm, and at Pinewoods. Jim is a fine dancer as well as a fine musician.
Marty Taylor, whistle, recorders, and concertina.
MARTY TAYLOR (Baltimore, MD) has been a staple in the Baltimore-DC dance community for over twenty years. She plays for Scottish country dance, English country dance, American contradance, and vintage and couples dances. Her breathtaking whistle and recorder playing lifts the dancers off the floor -- her concertina playing adds soul and drive. You can hear Marty on the first Scottish Weekend CD, Memories of Scottish Weekend, and also on the Gadsby's Tavern Museum English country dance CD, Stepping Out in the 18th Century.
Dave Wiesler, piano and guitar.
DAVE WIESLER (Newark, DE). Dave is pleased to return to Scottish Weekend for a tenth consecutive year. Dave is a skilled pianist and avid Scottish country dancer and enjoys the chance to participate in both at Ramblewood. In addition to his Scottish dance music, he plays regularly for contra dance, English country dance, couple dancing, concerts, and has substantial studio experience. He has been on staff at Pinewoods, Augusta, Ashokan, Buffalo Gap, and Sierra Swing and has performed at the Kennedy Center and at the Smithsonian. His music has taken him to Hawaii, Canada, England, Scotland,and the Galapagos Islands. Check out his CDs including Cracks and Shadows and Many Happy Returns with Hanneke Cassel, and Dave Tunes, his book of original tunes. You can also find out more about Dave on his website at www.azaleacityrecordings.com/davewiesler.
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This page was last updated on August 19, 2005.
Melbourne Briscoe, Alexandria, Virginia; mel@briscoe.com
