Ipswich Dancer    -   Youlgreave
 Spring Bank Holiday, 2007
Friday 25th - Tuesday 29th May
Home page
Anne Hyde and Annie Spens, organisers.

Read about August Bank Holiday 2006

This is an alternative, grass roots, very cheap (if you stay in the hall, or camp!) chance to share dancing and dances with other people in a beautiful location.   We invite  teachers or budding teachers to offer one out of eight sessions either of general fun dance (specially in the evenings) or to explore a theme, or try out some new choreography, or simply get some experience of teaching a group.  You don't have even to do a whole session if you only have two or three dances you'd like to share.

Youlgreave Village Hall offers very basic on-the-floor, bring-your-own bedding communal sleeping facilities.  It does however have an excellent kitchen and modern Hot Showers! There is a big hall with a wooden dance floor, and a separate dining room.

Youlgreave the village is on the top of a steep-ish hill with a beautiful Peak District river running along the bottom of the valley, full of silver trout, with dippers bouncing in and out of the water, and coot and moorhen nesting all down the stream.  There are lovely walks for peaceful contemplation as well as for energetic exploration in between dancing.

Accommodation: There is an Excellent Youth hostel which charges from £13.95 per night,
and plenty of B&B if you want to go even more upmarket. There's a couple of campsites locally: this seems to be the most local:Camping & Caravanning Club Site,  Hopping Farm, Youlgreave, Bakewell, DE45 1NA.Tel: 01629 636555

One of the other attractions of Youlgreave during the Spring Bank Holiday is its famous Well-dressings. There are a couple of websites showing the 2006 sites: this one I have bookmarked shows where they were in 2006 and hopefully will change nearer the time to show the dates for 2007 as well.

Food.  One of the ways we economise is by everybody bringing "food to share".  We'll distribute a simple vegetarian menu and ask you to bring food with you, or if that's not viable, to pay a contribution.  If you would like a Really cheap weekend, offer to be the one who organises lunch each day: soup and salad, fruit, bread & cheese.  (you don't have to BRING it, just organise it!) And we'll divide into teams to make the evening meal.

Dancing.  We welcome dances from the whole gamut of the range, from the slowest and most meditative sacred dance to the most...mmm, "profane" is Definitely the wrong word: what shall we say?  sexy,  bouncy, driving, modern: with of course, loads of Balkan / Rom / Eastern European - oh, Everything! So don't be shy.
Anne Hyde is planning a session on "Dances which have moved her spiritually".
I am planning a session on "Boundaries". Or it might be "Journeys" because I've just read that that's an association with Whitsun...

We would love to hear from you either just to come for a peaceful spring weekend, or to share dances.  By the way, if you have an absolute beginner, bring them.  We'll see if we can get them hooked too...

Cost: we look for a £20 contribution from everyone to cover the hall cost, and the bit of administrative costs that we incur.

Programme: Arrive from 1600 (4.00pm) on Friday, leave midday Tuesday at the latest.  There will be a Friday night session, and a Tuesday morning session.  You're invited to join Ann and Annie down by the river each morning, doing some simple Taize singing.  Sunday 27th is Whitsun or Pentecost so we'll celebrate by wearing white to one of the dance sessions. 

That's about it, so far.....you can find us in the Grapevine or email
          annietoy@tiscali.co.uk       
            annhyde204@msn.com