Callers and Sessions 2026

Victoria Yeomans

Bernie Culkin

Bernie is a dance teacher and caller based in Cheshire in the UK, who particularly loves the dances of Playford as well as modern choreographies in the Playford style. She is known for her clear calling style and calls at evening dances and weekends across the UK. As a dance teacher, she wants all dancers to dance to the best of their ability by encouraging good technique, timing and teamwork.
During the pandemic, Bernie was quick to move her calling onto Zoom and hosted regular virtual ECD dance sessions for her own and local clubs, attracting dancers from across the UK and US.

Louise Siddons

Having visited Lichfield from the USA for several years now, Louise has become even more widely known recently, calling some excellent dance sessions on Zoom. She is a Contra and English country dance caller who moved to Brighton UK, and she began calling in 2008. She calls dances regularly across the United States and in the UK, where she is part of the Friends of Cecil Sharp House committee.
In the USA, she serves on the board of her statewide traditional dance society, scissortail.org, and is an active member of the Country Dance and Song Society, from which she received the Mary Judson/Brad Foster Award for English Dance Teachers in 2016. She believes that we should invest in the evolution and sustainability of folk traditions and their ongoing relevance to contemporary culture.
As a caller and dance teacher, she strives to create a fun and welcoming atmosphere with her low-key and light-hearted stage presence. Believing that one of the greatest strengths of traditional dance is its long history of adaptation, she favours descriptive terminology over jargon. She calls a mixture of modern and historic dances in a variety of formations, and enjoys helping dancers discover the musicality of choreography, from the familiar to the unexpected.

David & Kathryn Wright

Kathryn & David - "The Wrights of Lichfield" in the title of one of Gary Roodman's dances - have been calling as a duo for over 30 years and run a popular series of dance workshops in Lichfield. They have previously called at Casterton, Chippenham, EIFF, Lichfield, Morland, Sidmouth, Southam and Whitby and weekend AADS courses in Belgium.

They have published some their own researched and original dances in "Wrights' Humours" and "The Vesey Collection" and their dance "Freeford Gardens" seems to crop up in programmes all over the world. Their tastes in social dance are wide, from Playford to New England squares and contras, old and new, simple and complex. They are actively involved with the Lichfield Folk Dance club and enjoy the challenge of making a difficult dance accessible and also like to encourage the integration of good dance technique with dancers' enjoyment of the dance figures.