Teacher and Band

Andy Taylor-Blenis is Marianne and Conny Taylor's daughter. She grew up in the Boston area folk dance world and learned not only from her parents, but also from the many teachers who taught at the folk dance workshops her parents organized. Andy started creative dance at age 3, did gymnastics, and took her first adult modern, jazz, and blues classes when she was 16. She finished her certification for the Royal Scottish Country Dance Society at age 18. Andy later graduated from UMass, Amherst with a BFA in dance. While attending university, she taught for the Scottish Country Dance group in Amherst and taught Folk Dancing required courses for Physical Education majors at UMass.

Andy has been performing and teaching dance professionally in the Boston area since 1983. She left Boston briefly from 1987 - 1989, when she worked at Northwestern University in Evanston, IL. She loved dancing with Sanna and Mars Longden. When Andy returned to Massachusetts, she performed and taught many dance forms in schools (from kindergarten to college) and in public and private venues. She is currently the artistic director for Mladost Folk Ensemble, a group she founded in 2007, the Boston Scottish Country Dancers (the RSCDS branch demonstration team), Wheaton College Dancers, and Back Pocket Dancers, an intergenerational group who share stories through narration, movement and music.

Since March 2020, with the help of her friends, Andy started and continues the Tuesday Community Dance on Zoom. Andy hopes to bring the importance of warming up and stretching to many who do not know its power to keep us dancing longer. She continues to teach the dances of Nelda Drury, Andor Czompo, French dances of the Héberts, and Portuguese dances taught by Marianne Taylor. For Andy, dance is intergenerational, a building block for communities, and a connection with friends and sanity.

The Band

Live music parties EVERY EVENING by members of the Pinewoods Band:

Tom Pixton, Ralph Iverson, & Brian Wilson

Tom, Ralph, and Brian have been playing international dance music together for more than twenty years. In addition to their numerous independent musical activities in the Boston area, they have played for dance events across the US and Canada as part of the Pinewoods Band.

Tom Pixton (accordion, vocals, keyboards) is one of Boston’s most active International, Balkan, and Scottish folk dance musicians. He has worked with most of today's most accomplished dance teachers and musicians as accordionist, pianist, band leader, music arranger, and CD producer. As a soloist or with the Pinewoods Band, he has provided dance music for dance camps, workshops, and special events in the US, Canada, and Japan. He has provided music leadership for the Boston Branch of the Royal Scottish Dance Society, Cambridge Revels, and the Folk Arts Center of New England.

Ralph Iverson (violin, gadulka, tambura, kaval) started playing for international folk dancing in 1985. He has been a member of many folk dance groups including Mandala Folk Dance Ensemble (orchestra director), Cambridge Folk Orchestra, Pinewoods Band, Pajdashi, Rakija, Zdravets, and Zornitsa. Ralph also plays violin and viola with several Boston-area community orchestras.

Brian Wilson (violin, clarinet) has been involved with folk dance music in the Boston area for more than twenty years, being equally versatile on fiddle and clarinet, as well as tambura, whistle, and voice. He also is a specialist on the Hardanger fiddle and has played for numerous Scandinavian projects.

June Camp is not a function of Trinity International University