| Time | Small Hall | Dance Studio | Large Hall | Gym | Classroom HG6 | Music Room PA1 |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Friday | ||||||
| 20.00-22.30 | International Welcome Dance Karin Bellaart Cloudburst | English from around the world Colin Hume Keeping Thyme | American Dance Cis Hinkle English Contra Dance Band | |||
| Saturday | ||||||
| 9.45-11.00 | Balkan workshop Dilyana Kurdova | The American connection Denise Devonald Keeping Thyme | Grid Squares Geoff Cubitt ECDB | Running Set Burt Hunter Knotted Chord | ||
| 11.30-12.45 | International for the Curious Colin & Sally to run through evening's dances | English/Playford workshop Louise Siddons Doug Eunson and Sarah Matthews | Momentous Contras Cis Hinkle Keeping Thyme | What makes Scottish dancing different? Nicola Scott Rod & Frances Stradling | ||
| 12.45-14.00 | Lunch | Display Gog Magog Molly | ||||
| 14.00-15.15 | Balkan workshop Dilyana Kurdova | Dance-writing Competition Geoff Cubitt Old Boys' Network | Mainly English Colin Hume Keeping Thyme | Molly Dancing workshop Gog Magog Molly | Music workshop Rod Stradling | |
| 15.45-17.00 | French workshop Steve Earwicker Doug Eunson and Sarah Matthews | English/Playford workshop Louise Siddons Knotted Chord | Stepping it out Nicola Scott Rod & Frances Stradling | 15.30-17.00 Songs from the Hebrides Paula Evans | ||
| 17.00-19.30 | Break | Musical interlude Julia and Tom Barnes Singing performance | 17.00: Callers' Round Louise Siddons | 17.15-18.45 Balkan Folk Song Paula Evans | ||
| 19.30-22.30 | International Dance Colin and Sally Hersom Cloudburst | American Dance Geoff Cubitt Old Boys' Network | Playford Ball Colin Hume Knotted Chord | Ceilidh Spikey Griffiths and Jacob Steel Doug Eunson & Sarah Matthews | ||
| Time | Small Hall | Dance Studio | Large Hall | Gym | Classroom HG6 | Music Room PA1 |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Sunday | ||||||
| 9.45-11.00 | Balkan workshop Dilyana Kurdova | A homegrown selection Denise Devonald Paul & Matt | Eye-Opening Contras Cis Hinkle ECDB | Scottish Chestnuts Nicola Scott Rod & Frances Stradling | Callers' workshop Kathryn & David Wright | |
| 11.30-12.45 | Balkan Workshop Dilyana Kurdova | Pat Shaw dances Colin Hume Paul & Matt | Square dance “Chorus Figures” Geoff Cubitt ECDB | Renaissance Dance workshop Stratford Renaissance Dance | Music workshop Rod Stradling | |
| 12.45-14.00 | Lunch | Dance display Stratford Ren. Dance | ||||
| 14.00-15.15 | French workshop Steve Earwicker Doug and Sarah | Jane Austen Dancing Liz Bartlett Eclectic Regency | Tony Parkes' Favourites Mike Courthold Knotted Chord | New Callers' Training Kathryn & David Wright Rod & Frances Stradling | Music with Maureen Maureen Knight | 13.45-15.15: French- Canadian Folk Song Paula Evans |
| 15.45-17.00 | Balkan Workshop Dilyana Kurdova | Regency Dancing Liz Bartlett Eclectic Regency | “Anything goes” Geoff Cubitt Knotted Chord | New Callers' Showcase Kathryn & David Wright Rod & Frances Stradling | 15.30-17.00: Breton An Dro Folk Dance Songs Paula Evans | |
| 17.00-19.30 | 17.00-18.00 Balkan practice for this evening's dances Bob Robinson | Break | 17.30-19.00: French Bal Steve Earwicker Doug and Sarah | |||
| 19.30-22.30 | Balkan Party Bob Robinson Opa Rosa | Playford Ball Brian Stanton Paul & Matt | American Dance Cis Hinkle ECDB | Ceilidh Daisy Black Momentum | ||
| Monday | ||||||
| 9.45-11.00 | Balkan Workshop Dilyana Kurdova | English Allsorts Mike Courthold Keeping Thyme | “It's all about the flow” Geoff Cubitt ECDB | Running Set Burt Hunter Knotted Chord | Music with Maureen Maureen Knight | |
| 11.30-12.45 | Balkan Workshop Dilyana Kurdova | Swing Dance workshop Louise Siddons (recorded music) | Snappy Squares from the Nifty 50's Cis Hinkle ECDB | Colin's compositions Colin Hume Knotted Chord | ||
| 12.45-14.00 | Lunch | |||||
| 14.00-15.45 | Final Mix MC Brian Stanton Most callers + competition winner Keeping Thyme | |||||
Monday 9.45-11.00 Running Set
We will look at figures old and new. Apart from some of the classic figures collected by Sharp there have been a number of new figures added to the canon. We will include one figure which was developed recently at Whitby Folk Week.
Sunday, 9.45-11.00: Eye-Opening Contras
Challenging and/or surprising contras to get your dancing day started.
Monday, 11.30-12.45: Snappy Squares from the Nifty 50's
Square dances from the golden age.
Saturday, 14.00-15.15: Mainly English
Some traditional English, some Playford-style, an American-ish Square and maybe a Contra.
Sunday 11.30-12.45: Pat Shaw dances
Some Playford-style, some English-style.
Monday 11.30-12.45: Colin's compositions
A selection of tricky dances in the Playford style.
Sunday 9.45-11.00: A homegrown selection
A Living Tradition: 21st century Playford-style dances by some of our top English choreographers.
Saturday 14.00-17.00: Dance-writing Competition
Come and dance some new contras and vote for your favourites.
Sunday 11.30-12.45: Square dance “Chorus Figures”
Sunday 15.45-17.00: “Anything goes”
Dances with an American flavour in different formations.
Monday 9.45-11.00: “It's all about the flow”
Contra dances with the emphasis on connectivity. as an introduction to this varied genre of dancing. No partner required.
Sunday 15.45-17.00: Regency Dancing
1811 to 1820, a short but rich period in dancing, under the influence of the Napoleonic Wars with returning troops and visiting foreign dignitaries. High society dancing moved from all-inclusive Country Dances to Couple Waltzing (face to face, scandal!) and the cliquey Quadrilles (direct from France, post-Waterloo). We see just how Couple Waltzing gained acceptance, try out some of the new dance fads and finish with Duval's final figure of his 1817 Lancers Quadrille.
Saturday 17.00-???: Callers' Round
See separate page.
Saturday 15.45-17.00: English/Playford workshop
Don't just ask one person to dance, ask two! Or four! This workshop will explore dances from 1651 to today that are written for odd numbers of dancers.
Monday 11.30-12.45: Swing Dance workshop
Swing dancing is a wonderful way to explore and extend your non-verbal connection and communication skills, and in this introductory swing workshop we'll focus on improvisational triple-time swing skills that translate well to (and from!) other dance forms. Suitable for complete beginners and an opportunity for more experienced dancers to spend some time refining their technique.
Are you daunted by music sessions full of “proficient musicians” playing tunes quickly that you don't know, can't play by ear and can't read fast enough, or are you trying out a new instrument? If so, come to a slow session of easy peasy familiar dance tunes for players like you! Play what you can in a friendly, supportive session for a small number of people and enjoy talking about how to survive in a band!.
It would help Maureen plan if you could contact her in advance at You must enable JavaScript to see this email address. to say what instrument you're bringing and how many notes/chords you actually know!
Monday 9.45-11: Music with Maureen
Very definitely not for people who are already proficient players!
Another chance to play tunes from yesterday's slow session of easy peasy familiar dance tunes. There may also be some 1:1 sessions by request.
Monday 09:45-11:00: English Allsorts
A selection of English-style dances by modern composers from both sides of “The Pond”.
Saturday 14.00-15.15: Stepping it out
A deeper look at some of the steps used in Scottish Country Dancing, including travelling pas-de-basque, strathspey and Highland Schottische. Open to all dancers, with or without previous Scottish dancing experience.
Sunday 9.45-11.00: Scottish Chestnuts
A chance to dance some of the earlier collected Scottish dances, which have become classics. Nothing too complicated for this last session, just a great chance to dance!
Saturday 17.15-18.45: Balkan Folk Song — Narodna Muzika!
Great sound and fabulous rhythms: let's build up some rich harmonies and create some Balkan magic in the heart of Evesham!
Sunday 13.45-15.15: French- Canadian Folk Song/Songs from Quebec
Starting with a call and response clog dancing song we'll build up some glorious harmonies, all set to a strong drum rhythm. Join in with foot-stamping and percussion if you feel so inclined, or just come and sing!
Sunday 15.30-17.00: Singing for Breton An Dro Folk Dance
The An Dro is the oldest and most widespread Breton dance, derived from Medieval carols. Songs were originally sung by the dancers but we will sing to accompany the dancers this time! Songs are bright and uplifting with a strong rhythmic pulse to support the movement.
All singing workshop sessions will be ably supported by singers from renowned local group 'Vocal High', creating up to four-part harmony, depending on workshop numbers. No previous experience required, all levels of experience welcome, no sheet music (unless you'd like some!). Workshops will be fun and inclusive — just bring yourself and get stuck in! We will have the chance to perform the learned tunes at the festival. All but the Hebridean workshop contain tunes to accompany dancing; the aim is to perform those during the appropriate dance workshops.
Whether or not you have done any French dancing before, you are very welcome to our workshops looking at the wide variety of French dances — bourrées, schottisches, waltzes, mazurkas, and more! We will also look at some simple Breton dances — including dancing to singing. As well as teaching the basics, we will also look at style and variation in the dances — how to make a French dance look and feel French. All this to the wonderful music by Doug Eunson & Sarah Matthews who will also be playing for the Bal on Sunday early evening — this is, of course, open to all, whether or not you came to the workshops.