I am very pleased to have been invited to teach Irish Set Dancing at the Sidmouth Folk Festival this year.
Sidmouth Folk Festival has run every year since 1955 and is the oldest and one of the largest folk festivals in the UK. There are thousands of separate events during the week of the festival, including many types of dancing to join in with, concerts to watch, opportunities to play and sing, and a general buzz around the town and in the pubs.
Irish Set Dancing has featured as part of the festival for many years, but this is the first time I will be teaching it, so I’m very excited! There will be workshops on most of the afternoons during the week, and a ceili on the evening of Thursday 8th August 2019.
We will have live music for all sessions from The Perfect Cure ceili band. They love playing for Irish Set Dancing, and we love dancing to their music, so it should be a great week.
The workshops will be in the Methodist Church Hall, High Street, Sidmouth EX10 8LE at 2:15pm. On Saturday 3rd I will be introducing Irish Set Dancing to dancers who may not have tried it before by teaching some steps and moves from a selection of dances. This should give people an introduction to many of the terms they will need to know.
On Monday to Thursday afternoons the workshops will also be in the Methodist Church Hall at 2:15 pm, and I will be teaching a different dance each day. I will also be doing a little more step practice.
On the evening of Thursday, 8th August the ceili will be in St Teresa’s Hall, Connaught Road, Sidmouth, EX10 8TT. This should be a good finish to the week. We will be dancing the sets taught during the week and a selection of other popular sets.
