I'm an American who loves English Folk Dancing. My morris team gets together every week from September-May, to practice the dances, learn new ones, attempt some kind of grace and precision, and have fun. And most of us don't drink! We don't think of morris as particularly lovely, but we all love the camaraderie and the particular types of interesting people who are drawn to it (very unlike the typical American most of you see on screen or in the news!).

Once a week most of us also go contra dancing- an American style of set dancing that's mostly noted for its vigor and the chance to be held in another's arms (after another, after another) with no strings attached. Plus, the music is great.


But, ah, English country dancing* (aka Playford, but that's mostly limited to the very early dances in the Playford collection). Once a month we get to flirt, glide, feel extremely elegant, and enjoy the finest music around. I have danced with wonderful English Country dancers from America and they put into their folk dancing everything that we don't - eye contact, lilt, emotion, evocative body movement, relating to their partner of the moment - in other words they dance. It has been opined that we English only 'Playford plod.'
Dancing *ECD can be sexy, beautiful, elegant, and always a lovely aesthetic experience. The next dance in my village is 3 weeks away- can't wait!