a 4-day workshop for Chestnut’s 4th Costume Ball

Whom for?

The workshop is primarily meant for dancers who cannot take part in the monthly workshops preparing dances for Chestnut’s 4th Costume Ball, either because they are not available or because they live too far. However, dancers unable to come to the Costume Ball on May 26 are welcome to take part and learn the dances. Please note, in any case, that the workshop is meant for experienced dancers who fully master basic figures and progression in duple and triple minor sets.

Registration will be closed on May 1, 2013. We advise you to register as soon as possible: there will be a limited number of participants.

Programme: The programme is that of Chestnut’s fourth Costume Ball, to be held in Paris, at Cité Internationale Universitaire (Paris 14), on May 26, 2013. It is the same as for our monthly half-day workshops for experienced dancers. The dances are difficult ones, very interesting for all who like English country dancing, whether they attend the Costume Ball or not. They include:

Four set dances: Althea 2013, Lady’s Banbury’s Hornpipe, Dull Sir John and The Merry Milkmaids 2013, all out of Playford’s first four editions.

Three longways duple minor set: Wives’ Victory, The Spring and Doctor Faustus’s Jig (out of Thomas Braye’s and John and William Neal’s editions) and a longways triple minor set out of the Dancing Master: Shropshire Round.

Two beautiful modern dances: A Maggot for Mr Purcell and Dear Papa and Dear Mama. The 20th century choreographies are respectively by Nicolas Broadbridge and Pat Shaw.

Teaching material: descriptions of the dances will be made available.

Teacher: Cécile Laye studied old dance forms in England with the Dolmetsch Historical Dance Society, Nonsuch History and Dance and EFDSS (English Folk Dance and Song Society). She worked in particular under such famed teachers and researchers as Anne Daye, Anne Cottis, Peggy Dixon, Ethyl Anderson, Marjorie Fennessy, Tom Cook and Alan Davies. In France she studied with Francine Lancelot, Andrea Francalancci and Barbara Sparti. At the end of the eighties, she founded AMARILLIS, a dance company meaning to bring to the public figure dances of the Stuarts’ time and the English inheritance, as well as some aspects of history and literature, with the collaboration of various musicians, singers, riders and fencers. In 1998 she created CHESTNUT to pursue her artistic activities (creating dance and theatre shows), her teaching (preparing dancers for Balls through a rich program of workshops and classes) and to start some publishing activities (CDs, dance descriptions, articles on Playford and modern dances).

Over the years, Cécile LAYE has build up a strong experience as a dancing master and ball caller (French Renaissance balls/ English figure dances balls, or a mixture of both). She can pass on her taste for and pleasure in elegant dancing to beginners as well as seasoned dancers. Besides the above activities, Cécile Laye studied dramatic art and staging, graduating at Cours Florent. She also graduated at Eva Ruchpaul’s Yoga Institute and the Paris school of Gestalt-therapy. She played Shakespeare, Molière and Marivaux in Paris and elsewhere in France and takes part in creating new plays and shows, for children in particular. She draws on both sides of her extensive training, physical and artistic, to develop her teaching method. Her constant aim is to understand the needs of a given group and of each person making up the group, to build up a class so that each person gradually understands the dance, becomes aware of his/her body and its expressive capacities, be it during a lesson, a ball, or on stage.

Day by day programme:

Wednesday, May 8

13:30 – 19:00: Althea 2013 – Wives Victory

Thursday, May 9

10:00 – 13:00: Lady’s Banbury’s Hornpipe – Althea 2013

14:30 – 17:30: A Maggot for Mr Purcell – Doctor Faustus’s Jig – Wives Victory

Friday, May 10

10:00 – 13:00: The Merry Milkmaids 2013 – révision Lady’s Banbury’s Hornpipe

14:30 – 17:30: Shropshire Round – The Spring – revisions

Saturday, May 11

10:00 – 13:00: Dull Sir John – Dear Papa and Dear Mama

14:30 – 17:30: Revisions

Venue: the main hall (wooden floor) at OEPF - 5 rue du Moulin vert, 75014 Paris (Metro station Alésia)

Fees: Chestnut membership is compulsory to take part in the workshop.

Please note: a reduction on total fees will be granted to participants who will have other dancers (from abroad or outside the Paris area) staying at their place. The reduction will reach 50% for those who have attended the monthly workshops in view of our 2013 Costume Ball, 30% for those who have not.

Fees per day: Please note: whole day fees (no half day price)

Where to stay: The attachment gives some clues as to where to stay in Paris during the workshop / Hints for your Paris stay

Registration Form Whole Workshop

Registration Form Per Day

The registration form for the May 26, 2013 Costume Ball will soon be available.