Dances from Turkey - Ahmet Luleci:
Dances du Sud-Oust de la France - Marie-Claire Viala:
Dances from Ireland - Timmy McCarthy:
The International Folk Dance Summer School takes place every two years in collaboration with the Society for International Folk Dancing. Participants are mainly folkdance enthusiasts from the UK, but others have come from Japan and Canada. The dances are taught as recreational folk dances, and as such are reasonably faithful to their original village settings. They will be of interest to folk dance enthusiasts as well as to anyone who teaches, or has an interest in, national dance. Three specialist dance teachers will teach all participants dances from the following countries:
France has always had a great tradition of dance and throughout France there are numerous couple dances, circles and chains, many incorporating interesting patterns and figures. Each region has its own particular style and group of dances. Marie-Claire Viala has taught at the Grand Bal d’Europe. She is half-Catalan, although she was brought up in France. Her repertoire includes dances from Gascony, Bearn, Pays Basque and the Balearic Isles.
Irish set dances are quadrille type dances, which were danced in the early part of the century but were suppressed by Church and secular authorities in favour of the more familiar Ceileidh style. Much more relaxed and less technical, they are fun to dance and have become extremely popular in recent years, thanks to the efforts of dedicated collectors, who have gone to villages to learn them from the old-timers who still remember them. Timmy McCarthy is a great character, who is himself a collector of these dances. He teaches and performs regularly in Ireland and abroad and is particularly concerned with authenticity.
There is no single style of Turkish dance, which is remarkably diverse in character and origin. Each region, even each village, maintains its own dances. Ahmet Luleci brings with him a wealth of experience, having danced in folk groups since the age of eight For five years, until his departure to America in 1995, he was Director of Dances for HOY-Tur, one of Turkey's leading folk dance associations. In addition, his research into the historical, social and cultural background of the spoon dances from Turkey's Mediterranean coast led to a 400-page study, which won an award from the Turkish ministry of Youth, Sport and Education.
Participants may stay in the college itself or find their own accommodation in York. The mornings will have lessons taken by the three teachers, while the afternoons can be spent in the historic town of York and its surroundings, or at extra workshops arranged by interested participants - this year we hope to offer workshops for musicians as well as dancers.
