We are delighted to be able to offer five more mini grants this year to support folk dance activity, this time opening up the offer to individuals and groups / organisations who required support to start up a new folk dance project or to develop something new within an existing dance activity (for example to make it more accessible to a wider range of participants).
Five grants of £500 were offered to help cover the costs of developing and running these events or projects.
We received a high number of wonderfully varied applications – there were so many thoughtful and exciting ideas to read about! We had a hard job selecting just five award winners, but we are delighted to announce the following successful applicants:
Dancing Under the Light of the Silvery Moon (Jo Veal)
Dancing Under the Light of the Silvery Moon will be an event to engage with the diverse population of South Yorkshire. The event will create a magical evening of folk dance, with music and shadow puppetry at a high viewing point at Parkwood Springs heathland in the centre of Sheffield. This project takes inspiration from ‘clandestine mazurka’, which happens across the UK and Europe, where individuals set up a free public informal folk dance in a public place.
Kekezza
Kekezza is a Cornish dance group which was started by Lowenna Hosken as a young, 13 year old dancer as a way to engage more people her own age in the tradition.
Kekezza’s project will focus on engaging more people in Cornish dance and passing on the tradition by running a series of open sessions for those in their late teens to early 40s. Following these sessions, Kekezza aims to work collaboratively to create new fusion work with Cornish and contemporary dance.
“There is a real interest in Cornish culture, dance and music in the under 40s in Cornwall but access to learn more is very sparse. This is especially true of music and dance as there is an assumed skill level that is needed prior to learning the tradition. We are keen to provide open sessions to allow those with no previous experience the opportunity to join in and learn Cornish dances and their history”. (Hosken)
The Morpeth Rant (Elizabeth Lawson)
Elizabeth Lawson, core member of traditional dance group, “Have Maypole will Travel”, proposed to teach her local community (Brownies, WI groups, Church groups and local schools) to dance the longways set dance, The Morpeth Rant. This is a very special and unique dance from the North East of England. The project will culminate in a mass dance during the Morpeth Gathering in April 2023.
“Dancing makes me happy and gave me access to a wonderful community. I want to give everyone the chance to have a go…. I want to reach people who do not usually engage in folk dance”. (Lawson)
Jo Clare Dance – Two Left Feet!
The aim of the project, Two Left Feet, is to make folk dance accessible to a diverse range of people in the SE London Borough of Greenwich. The project’s focus will bring together primary school aged children and the over 60s in an intergenerational experience, learning and performing folk dances together and dancing to live music. The project will culminate in a performance of learned dances and a ceilidh which will be open to the public. A small section of the group will also take part in an interactive performance/workshop in a local nursing home.
Movema and Boss Morris
Movema is an award winning, world dance charity run by four female artists from culturally diverse backgrounds based and working in the most deprived areas of Liverpool and Bristol. They have proposed to host two masterclasses with Boss Morris, an all-female morris dancing side who perform across the UK with their unique take on the traditional English Folk dance.
The first masterclass will be with members of the diverse communities, including traditional Liverpool communities, refugees and asylum seekers, families and students to introduce them to the styles and come together to understand more about each other and about English traditions in a safe space. The second will be for the Movema artist team to enable them to add simple English dances and cultural information to the repertoire of dances they teach in schools, communities and to also inspire them creatively for community and professional projects in future.
