In 1651 the music publisher and book seller John Playford began to publish the music and notation for the “Country Dances” that were popular in the elite society of the time. When Playford died in 1686, his son Henry continued the collection and other publishers joined in. By the end of the eighteenth century country dancing was popular at balls, assemblies and private gatherings all over the country.
In the early 1900s, Cecil Sharp began to study the Playford collections, and he produced a number of Country Dance Books. Since then, other dances have been discovered and many new dances have been devised, using the traditional style. Now we have a wealth of material at our disposal, from fast and furious to slow and stately, and everything in between.
Here are some of the comments from members of the U3A Country Dance Group:-
“Lots of fun!”
“Exercise your brain and body.”
“Whatever the challenge we have in our dances, we always have fun”
“Great fun and nobody minds how often we get it wrong”
“As soon as you hear the catchy music you want to dance: This is exercise at its best for both body and mind with good company too – lots of fun!”
“Great teacher, very patient, exercise the body and the brain in good company”
There are a number of websites that show the dances in performance, including:
Beginners taster sessions on the first Friday in the month.
Why not gives us a try!
