English Country Dances / 2023 DANCE SUMMER COURSES / Cécile Laye

July 21, 22 and 23: BEGINNERS

A first approach to John Playford’s dances (1651-1670)

Meant for whom? For dancers new to this repertoire but with some experience in dancing, and for dancers aiming to teach English Country Dancing. 

What’s on the programme? Introductions, verse and chorus dances. The following dances will be taught: Hit and Miss, Saturday Night -Sunday Morning, The Gun and Shepherd’s Holidays, plus a few longways for as many as will.

Where, when? At Micadanses, Rue Geoffroy l'Asnier, 75004 PARISFriday July 21 from 18:00 to 20:00 in the Biped studio

Saturday July 22 from 10:00 to 14:00 in the May Be studio

SundayJuly 23 from 10:00 to 15:00 in the May Be studio

Please note it is possible to register for two workshops or  all three, with a reduction  

Registrations will close on July 1, 2023.

July 24 and 25: INTERMEDIATE LEVEL

Country Dancing in the Early 18th Century (1699-1710) Bray, Walsh,Kynaston and The Dancing Master.

Meant for whom? For intermediate-level and advanced dancers familiar with the repertoire, or for dancers used to linking up several figures and steps. 

What’s on the programme? Bray’s Maggot (Thomas Bray, 1699), Up with Aily (Henry Playford, 1703), The Humours of the Age (Kynaston, 1710), The Virgin’s Frolick (John Young, 1710), Hombey House (Walsh, 1710)

Where, when? At Micadanses, Rue Geoffroy l'Asnier, 75004 PARIS

Monday July 24 and Tuesday July 25 from 14:00 to 19:00,  Biped studio

Please note it is possible to register for two workshops or  all three, with a reduction.  

Registrations will close on July 1, 2023.

July 26 and 27: ADVANCED LEVEL

20th and 21st century choreographers’ contribution

Meant for whom?  Advanced dancers familiar with the repertoire, or dancers used to linking up long sequels of figures and steps.

What’s on the programme? 8, College Street (C. Laye) : Longways for 4 couples in 4 parts, Hand in Hand (Gary Roodman), Perpetual Motion (Tom Cook) and Dance to the Music of Time (Antony Heywood)

Where, when? At Micadanses, Rue Geoffroy l'Asnier, 75004 PARIS

Wednesday July 26 and Thursday 27 from 14:00 to 19:00, Biped studio

Please note it is possible to register for two workshops or all three, with a reduction.  

Registrations will close on July 1, 2023.

Cécile LAYE, PRO DA member

Cécile Laye is CHESTNUT’s teaching and artistic director. She 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, Andréa 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 musicians and singers. AMARILLIS was replaced by CHESTNUT in 1998. CHESTNUT took over its predecessor’s artistic activities (creating dance and theatre shows), its teaching (preparing dancers for Balls through a rich program of workshops and classes) and its publication ones (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 her activities in the field of dancing, 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.

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CONTACT

chestnut.cecilelaye@orange.fr or 0033 660 222 321 (contact@chestnut.fr doesn't work anymore!)