Discipline: Dance
Specialties: Contras, Round, Square Dance
Region: Central
Languages: English
Square, Contra (danced in long facing lines) and Round (cued ballroom) Dancing combines physical activity with music sensitivity, spatial awareness, coordination, memory skills, team work and social interaction. There are history, cultural and mathematical components as well as all kinds of popular and toe-tapping music. Experience a mix of traditional and modern dances from these three dance forms all taught by Dottie Welch, a caller with many years of both calling and teaching experience.
Dottie has square and contra danced since childhood and has been regularly dancing since 1973 and calling since 1983. Having a Master of Arts in Teaching Degree, she taught math for 25 years to students in Junior High to University. She now calls for four clubs as well as for seniors, in schools, and for various special events. She is an active member of the Nova Scotia and the Maritime Callers and Cuers Associations, and she is an organizer and teacher at Nova Scotia’s biannual Alguire Memorial Callers School. She worked on the Board of Directors for all four Canadian National Square and Round Dance Conventions held in the Maritimes, and is now co-chairing Contra Fest 2015. She also holds executive positions in the international callers associations of Callerlab and Contralab.
She created the DANS resource for Square and Contra Dancing in Schools. She received the DANS Award in 2001, the SRDFNS Mayflower Award in 2005, and a CSRDS Award of Excellence in 2006.
To visit Dottie’s website click here: http://users.eastlink.ca/~dwelch/.
