I've been involved in traditional dance since 1987 and have been leading
dances since 1992. I am active with the
Urbana Country Dancers
and am one of the leaders of the
Central Illinois English Country
Dancers.
I regularly lead contra, English and square dances in Champaign-Urbana, Illinois
and elsewhere. I serve as one of the English country dance editors for the
Country Dance and Song Society Newsletter.
One of my ongoing projects is the reconstuction of music and dances from
New Harmony, Indiana circa 1826.
From 2011 to 2014 I taught dance to senior's as part of a project for the University of Illinois Kinesiology Department looking at the effects of different kinds of exercise on cognition in older adults. In this study I created and taught a class on Contra and English Country Dance. The participants were groups of seniors who attended 3 hour-long classes each week for 24 weeks. In addition to my dance section there were similar groups who walked or did typical exercise classes. Data was collected during the classes and the participants were tested before and after the entire course. Some of the results were published in a paper in Frontiers in Aging Neuroscience. This paper was mentioned in the articles at The New York Times, The Denver Post and Colorado State I've led contra and English dances at various locations in Florida, Hawaii, Illinois, Indiana, Iowa, Kentucky, Michigan, Missouri, Ohio, West Virginia and Wisconsin. Contact me at 217/359-8225 or jsivier@illinois.edu about calling at your dance. I am able to organize and lead several types of dance evenings, such as:
I also have experience leading a number of different types of workshops and classes, including:
|
Some dances I've written |
Dances from New Harmony, Indiana |
Notes on dance calling |
What makes a good dancer? |
Tips on dancing with beginners |
Here I am calling at a Halloween family dance.
I received a 2010 ACE Award from the
Champaign County Arts, Culture and
Entertainment Council for leadership in the local dance community.
Click here for more
information on the award.
Download the poster.
last updated on June 8, 2017