Susan English
Wooster, OH
2025
Thanks to the Massachusetts Cultural Council for their generous support.
Susan EnglishSusan English (Wooster, OH) taught her first dance class on a rooftop in China in 1980. In 2017, she returned to China with a $50,000 cultural exchange grant from the US State Department featuring the Country Dancers of Berea, KY. With living and working experience also in Europe, West Africa, and the US, Susan brings her enthusiasm for people of every background.
A competitive swing dancer for a year in DC, Susan has called monthly contra and square dances since 1990. With her late husband, Bill Alkire, Susan co-developed the intergenerational program at Terpsichore’s Holiday. Together, they choreographed and performed “Minuet to Macarena: The History of Couple Dance in 20 Minutes.”
At home in Wooster, OH, Susan is artistic director of the Madrigal Dancers, an intergenerational performing group. Since the start of the pandemic, Susan has broadcast weekly Zoom dances from her basement and has called virtual contra dances for Atlanta; Glen Echo; Bloomington, IN; and Lake City, WA. She looks forward to again calling live contra, square, and English country dances, plus weddings and barn dances, homeschool, Civil War, and Jane Austen Balls. With her PhD in higher education and consulting experience with strategic evaluation, Susan cares a lot about quality programs for lifelong growth and learning.