Dance Camp, Festival and Workshop Capabilities

 

ENGLISH COUNTRY DANCE

I can call ECD at all levels (including for children) and offer workshops as follows:

  • A history of English Country dance from 1550 to the present (7 x 3hr sessions)
  • Caper and Firk It: An Introduction to the Basic Principles of 17th & 18th century English Country Dance (4 x 2hr sessions)
  • English Country Dance for beginners
  • English Country Dance for contra dancers
  • Intermediate English Country Dance
  • Advanced English Country Dance
  • Free(d) for All – English Country Dances written by Fried de Metz Hermann
  • Double English - Popular English Country Dances in England
  • Classical English - English Country Dances with classical tunes
  • The Playford Time Machine/ Not So Sharp - Playford dances as they were more likely to have been done. My interpretations of well-known dances from Mr Playford's seventeenth century dancing masters.
  • Playful Playford
  • A Feast of Maggots
  • Revolting Dances – Country Dances of the American Revolution (1775-1783)
  • Jensen Jingles – modern ECD dances to tunes by Jonathon Jensen
  • Osculatory Dances - Kissing Dances from Mr Playford’s Dancing Master
  • English Country Dances from 17th and 18th century literature
  • 'Gay’ dances – dances to tunes from the Beggars Opera by John Gay
  • Danse Anglaise - English Country Dances from France, 1685 - 1721
  • Hey-daze – heys, heys and more heys
  • Step (not so) Stately: English Country Dances with steps
  • Pills to Purge Melancholy: English Country Dances set to Ballads
  • Dance interpretation
  • Why won’t they dance with me?”; or, How to be the Bell(e) of the Ball - techniques to be a more desirable partner
  • Two for the Price of One - English Country Dances where two people dance as though they were one

ENGLISH CEILIDH

I can call English ceilidhs (let your hair down, escape gravity - lively English Country Dances in the ceilidh style) and can offer workshops as follows:

  • Introduction to English Ceilidh Dances
  • Stepping for English Ceilidh Dances

CONTRA

I can call Contra at all levels and can offer workshops as follows:

  • Contra Chestnuts
  • Contra Dance for Beginners
  • Intermediate Contra Dances
  • Advanced Contra Dances
  • Triple Fun with Triplets
  • Flaherty Will Get You Everywhere – contras written by Don Flaherty
  • Contras written by Michael Bbarraclough
  • Camels – contras written by Committee
  • Agricultural Contras

CALLING WORKSHOPS

I offer the following workshops for would-be or improving callers:

  • Calling for English Ceilidhs
  • Calling for One Night Stands
  • Calling for kids
  • Calling English Country Dance
  • Calling Contras

LECTURES

  • Newcastle United; or, Black and White - A lecture with dance participation by the audience, explaining how I have reinterpreted Newcastle (Dancing Master Vol I, 1670) with the help of a mid-seventeenth century manuscript.
  • Playford – A figment of Cecil Sharp’s Imagination?
  • Who Took The Sex Out Of English Country Dance?
  • So What Is English Country Dance; and who cares anyway?

DANCE TEAM PERFORMANCE

In addition to my dance team experience (English Country Dance, Cotswold Morris, North West Morris and Baroque, see my bio), I have also been a judge for both the John Gasson Memorial Jig Competition and for the Sidmouth International Festival Dance Team competition. I am well placed, therefore to give workshops on how dance teams can improve their performance in public.