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Allison Thompson
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Allison Thompson is a musician, folk dance leader, and dance historian. She plays concertina and accordion with the multi-faceted trio, Amarillis, who play for contra, English, waltz, and tango dances.
She started English country dancing in the mid-seventies and has been dancing, teaching, and playing for dances ever since.
She was foreman / squire for the Iron Rose Garland Dance Team and the Iron City Morris.
Allison plays concertina, recorders, and accordions with the multi-faceted trio, Amarillis, which plays for contra, English, and Vintage dances. With Amarillis, she has recorded several CDs, the most recent one being "In Step," a CD of waltzes and other couple dances.
Allison's articles and publications include
- Persuasions, "The Felicity of Rapid Motion; Jane Austen in the Ballroom." Vol. 21, No. 1, Winter 2000.
- Country Dance & Song Society News, "Elsie J. Oxenham." No. 148, May/June, 1999.
- Country Dance & Song, "Ten Cents A Dance: Taxi-Dancing, Jazz Dancing and the Folk Revival," vol. 26, 1996.
- Country Dance & Song, "The Amherst Dance Camp: Reminiscences of Ted Viehman," vol. 23, April 1993.
- Country Dance & Song, "Twenty-Five Years Of Country Dance & Song; A Subject And Author Index," vol. 23, April 1993.
- Country Dance & Song, "Dancing on the Eve of Battle; Some Views About Dance During the American Civil War," vol. 21, March 1991.
- Dancing Through Time; Western Social Dance In Literature. 1400-1918, McFarland & Company, Inc., 1998.
- Lighting The Fire; Elsie J. Oxenham, the Abbey Girls and the English Folk Dance Revival. The Squirrel Hill Press, 1998.
- Allison has also published numerous articles on historical and general interest topics in periodicals such as USAir Magazine, British Heritage, Victorian Sampler, and American History Illustrated, and has produced two musical selections.
Dances Allison has taught include Apley House, Female Saylor, Fried Herman, Gary Roodman, Jack's Maggot, Old Mole, Parson's Farewell, Prince William, Rufty Tufty, Scotch Cap, Shrewsbury Lasses, and The Chess Dance (for dancers on a full-sized chess board).