NICOLAS BROADBRIDGE (accordion) started dancing in 1950, and started playing for dancing in 1956. He formed his Band, The Assembly Players, in 1989, playing for Scottish Ceilidhs and English Country dancing in Britain and abroad. The Band are currently recording their 12th ECD recording, due out November. Nicolas is also a Country Dance teacher and researcher, composer and publisher, and runs ‘The Assembly’, ECD groups in Glasgow and Edinburgh. Nicolas’ main aim when playing for dancers is to offer them ‘lift’, rhythm, and an abundance of tune.
AIDAN BROADBRIDGE (violin) began playing for dancing at the age of twelve, and has played for the annual Assembly Ball in Cotland every year since. After leaving school he spent two years in Sweden, where he continued Violin and Piano studies, returning to Britain to take a degree course at Trinity College of Music (London). His teachers have included Douglas Lawrence, Angus Ramsay, Hu Kun, and John Crawford. Despite his classical training, he is noted for his driving Fiddle style of playing for dancing and an exceptional ability to extemporize.
"B & B" Aidan and Nicolas have been playing for Country Dancing together for about sixteen years - giving great pleasure and satisfaction to each of them. For the last twelve years they have formed two thirds of ‘The Assembly Players’, the Band which started life purely as a Scottish Ceilidh Dance Band, but which, with the advent of its gifted pianist Brian Prentice, moved back to Nicolas’ first and abiding love, English Country Dance. ‘B&B’ made their first professional appearance as a duo at Eastbourne International Folk Festival last year, performing again later in the year at Broadstairs Folk Week. They are off to the USA to play at Pinewoods in July, returning home in time for Aidan to perform at Broadstairs Folk Week again in August: ‘B&B’ will then be playing at Whitby Folk Week towards the end of the month.
MAGGIE CARCHRIE is a native of Cape Cod and has taught both Scottish Highland and Step-Dancing for the past eleven years. In 1992 at the age of 16, Maggie became a member of the British Association of Teachers of Dancing. Maggie has also studied extensively in Cape Breton, Nova Scotia, and on the islands of Skye and South Uist in the Hebrides. Upon her return to Massachusetts after college, she opened up her own school, the Callanish School of Celtic Arts. When she isn't busy teaching dance, Maggie performs with her husband Thomas Leigh under the name "RùRà" at Highland Games and Celtic festivals across the country. Maggie currently has two albums to her credit, "Songs the Mermaid Sang" and "RùRà," which are currently available in the camp store.
JAN ELLIOTT has danced, taught and played for Morris and sword ever since she first came to Pinewoods as a teen in 1974. Co-founder of Boston's Ha'penny Morris, she has been associated with teams from California to Canada to Oxfordshire, England. She currently teaches music in Woods Hole, MA, and dances and plays for Woods Hole Village Morris and the Vineyard Swordfish.
DAN EMERY has been playing pipes for 23 years and made his first appearance at English session in the late 80's. He can be heard playing big pipes too early in the morning, and playing other instruments at more civilized hours. In addition to playing Highland pipes, Dan also plays Scottish small pipes, flute and whistles and has been known to attempt fiddle. Dan got his first taste of playing for dancing at Pinewoods, and in the last 4 years has been in demand as a dance piper. Dan also enjoys English, Morris, and Scottish dancing. In his other life, Dan is an Architect.
BARBARA FINNEY has a varied dance background which includes modern, historical, Scottish Highland and Morris as well as English Country dance. She teaches at the weekly dance of the Country Dance Society, Boston Centre, and has led dances and workshops at Pinewoods and around the country since the early 1980's.
GEORGE FOGG has a long history in the arts ranging from his interests in antiques and collectibles to all kinds of traditional dances and is a published author in both fields. He has a very long involvement in the Boston area dance community, having been, among other things, president or director of CDS-Boston Centre, NEFFA, Pinewoods Camp Inc., CDSS and other groups and events, and remains a member of most of the area dance organizations. He founded and supported the S. Weymouth English Country Dance Group from 1968 to 1999 and has taught at camps and workshops all over the country. His major interest is currently in reconstruction of early American dances and steps, and he has worked closely with Kate Van Winkle Keller and Chip Hendrickson on reconstruction and use of this material, putting out three books of dances and music in the process. His Dance "Assemblies", formal evenings of Colonial and English dancing, held twice a year, have become very popular and well-received by dancers interested in historical forms, and he is currently running a series of classes in Colonial Dance in Brookline.
R. P. HALE is an interdisciplinary artist, craftsman and musician whose Mexican/Aztec family history and traditions in the arts go back many generations. He lives in Concord, NH, and is a master-calligrapher, illustrator, wood-engraver and printer, maker of marbelized papers and fabrics, book designer, in his 22nd year instructing at the Augusta Heritage Center in Elkins, WV, and he was recognized by the Smithsonian as a premier American harpsichord and hammer-dulcimer maker. He is also a professional harpsichordist, dulcimist, and dance-band pianist who performs all over and is in high demand for his accompaniment skills, be it for orchestras or choirs, traditional dancing or teaching. He is a long-time member of the White Cockade Scottish Dance Band as pianist; his driving backup styles come from sources ranging from that of Bob McQuillen to period continuo methods of the 18th century. This year he will play harpsichord for the Colonial classes and piano for many of the Scottish evening sets, along with dulcimer for English dance. He is an expert in 18th-century cultural re-enactment and interpretation and a scholar in the colonial music of Mexico, the Aztec/Mayan cultures and the Náhuatl language. He teaches at St. Paul's School in Concord, where he is the only faculty member in music and art with his degrees in neither field; some of his dulcimer students have built their instruments under his guidance.
BETSY HOOPER Prior to taking up Scottish fiddle music on her violin, Betsy spent several years both dancing Scottish Country Dancing, and playing the bagpipes with the Atlanta Pipe Band. The result is a dance-friendly fiddle style, characterized at times by a very "pipey" quality. While living in Boston she often played for Scottish Country Dance classes and parties. Since moving to Tennessee she has been active in developing the local Scottish music scene as music director of the Knoxville Scottish Music Club. Last year she was on the music Staff at Scottish Pinewoods.
CHARLIE INGLIS began dancing at George Watson's College before leaving his native Edinburgh, Scotland, for Winnipeg, Canada, in 1969. He learned to dance on the "women's side" since the college at that time admitted only boys. His poussette sometimes starts on the wrong foot to this day. In Winnipeg, he joined the Branch demonstration team and has been involved with performing and/or directing teams ever since. On moving to Montreal in 1973, Charlie became an active member and Chair of the RSCDS Branch, and gained his Preliminary Test from Miss Milligan. Ottawa beckoned a few years later. As well as teaching branch classes in Ottawa, Charlie has also directed the Ingleneuk Dancers, the Ottawa Branch demonstration team. Charlie has taught workshops in Ontario, Quebec, the Maritime Provinces and the U.S. He is honoured to be asked to teach at ESS Pinewoods and is looking forward to making many new dance friends.
SYLVIA MISKOE has been dancing since junior high school and playing her accordion since college. She was introduced to Scottish Dance at the folk dance club in college (University of New Hampshire) and afterwards continued dancing with the Boston Branch for several years. In the 70's she and Cal Howard perceived a need for live music for Scottish dancing; together they helped organize workshops in how to play for dancing and formed the White Cockade Scottish Dance Band. This band, with four of its original members, plays for area events, both Scottish and contra dance. Ten years ago, Sylvia was one of the founding members of the Strathspey and Reel Society of New Hampshire, and served as the president until 1998. Since 2000 she has been the music director. This is a group of people who get together once a month to play Scottish and related music. SRS now has 175 members who play for games, concerts and dances. Sylvia is a fully certified teacher.
"There's nothing better than dancing, unless it's sitting on the stage playing music for dancing."
LISSA SCHNECKENBURGER Her music has been aired on National Public Radio’s international Celtic show, Thistle & Shamrock, and has been reviewed in every major folk publication in the United States as well as several in Europe. Ms. Schneckenburger has been featured in countless radio and television broadcasts, including a solo on National Public Television’s “A Taste of Chanukah," filmed in New England Conservatory’s Jordan Hall, a live performance on WBZ Boston, and annual features on Maine Public Radio’s Live at 11. Lissa has opened for artists such as Alasdair Fraser, Skyedance, and Judy Collins. As well as having a blossoming solo career, Lissa is one of the founding members of the acoustic fiddle band, Halali, from Boston, and is also the featured violinist with the Celtic rock group, Mad Pudding, from Vancouver, BC. As a member of these ensembles, she has played shows throughout the US, Canada, UK, and the Netherlands.
TERRY TRAUB is a versatile folk musician and bandleader who plays piano, violin, accordion, and mandolin with equal aplomb and has been known to pick up the trumpet on occasion. Over the past twenty years he has performed all over the northeastern United States and abroad in Taiwan, Japan, Scotland, and Canada for concerts, dances, and weddings. He has been on the music staff atPinewoods Camp in Massachusetts for seven years and has performed frequently at such events as the Boston Highland Ball, the Pinewoods Benefit Ball, the Chicago Hogmanay Ball, Concord Ball, Westchester Ball, Long Island Fling, Dance Flurry in Saratoga and numerous others. He plays regularly in the Boston area for Scottish, English, and for Klezmer events.