Pitt’s Maggot, an English Country Dance Weekend

Melissa Running calling with music by Karen Axelrod and Eric Martin

Melissa Running discovered she could take folk dance for PE credit in college in the early ’90s and hasn’t looked back since. A few years later she started playing for dances and then calling English in the Philadelphia area. She now lives near DC, calls nationally, plays piano for English and Scottish country dancing, and plays the nyckelharpa for pleasure and for Swedish dancing.

Karen Axelrod’s piano playing combines expressiveness, energy, lyricism, and power. She is equally at home with styles ranging from traditional folk melodies to passionate tangos to old world French musette waltzes to 17th century English Country dance tunes and much more. Her bands include Peregrine Road (with Rachel Bell), Alchemy (with Rachel Bell and Eric Martin), Foxfire (with Daron Douglas) and 3rd String Trio (with Kate Barnes and Aldo Fabrizi).  

Eric Martin Equally at home on fiddle and viola, Eric Martin is a dance musician who brings joy and soulful expression to our dancing. Through the freedom and improvisation inherent in traditional music, Eric likes the opportunity to break away from his Classical background while playing for English country dances.

For details and registration information, see Pitt’s Maggot 2023 at the Country Dance and Song Society of Pittsburgh website.