From: Sidmouth FolkWeek [sidmouthfolkweek=btinternet.com_at_mail95_dot_us2_dot_rsgsv_dot_net] on behalf of Sidmouth FolkWeek [sidmouthfolkweek_at_btinternet_dot_com]

Sent: 13 July 2012 12:27

Subject: Sidmouth FolkWeek Press Release - Workshops

 

Press release
 

Sidmouth FolkWeek
It's All About The Taking Part?
workshops galore!

 
One of the many special things about Sidmouth FolkWeek (3rd - 10th August) is the chance to get hands on! The festival is peerless in the breadth of its workshop programme - with an impressive 240 workshops on offer - from one-off tasters to week-long series, from beginners' sessions to masterclasses.
 
Whether you want to learn an instrument, a new singing or dance style or enjoy some communal music-making, there's a workshop with your name on it. It's a chance to get up-close and personal with some of the fantastic musicians and dancers booked at the festival.
 
Our dance workshop programme features a global foot-stepping feast from flirtatious Flamenco to high-kicking Zimbabwean, from graceful Breton to Appalachian flatfooting, from Contra dance to Eastern European dance steps via Bourr?es to Polskas. British traditions are well-represented with Irish Set, Welsh, Playford and a solid line-up of Clog and Step, Border Morris, North West Morris, Molly and Cotswold Morris styles!
 
Kerry Fletcher starts the week with an intro to dance for absolute beginners and Martyn Harvey helps you improve your ceilidh style later in the week. Those new to folk dancing and ceilidh get help in the form of Madeleine Smith who shows us how it's done in social dance with a series of five basic skills workshops for complete beginners and those with limited experience.
 
Music workshops are just as varied with a Festival Concert Band with John Kirkpatrick, Big Band with Nick & Mary Barber, Street Band workshops leading to taking part in the famous Torchlight Procession,
Spoons Orchestra with Jo May, fiddle with Kirsty Cotter, bodhran with Will Lang, Zimbabwean traditions with Chartwell Dutiro, melodeon with Ed Rennie, country dance tunes with Tim Laycock & Colin Thompson, Scan Tester tunes with Will Duke, guitar with Gavin Davenport, ukulele with Clive Harvey, Eastern European fiddle tunes with Lebedek, instrumental arrangements with Pete Coe plus sessions for accordion and concertina.
 
Singers strike a chord with Festival Choir with Sandra Kerr, Big Sings with the fairly spooky Stephen Taberner, West Gallery Country Carols, Shapenote, Harmony, Political Songs and song workshops and presentations led by Len Graham, Fay Hield, Peta Webb, Ken Hall and Jerry O'Reilly.
 
All workshops are covered by All in One and Season Tickets! Or, admission is ?8 on the door for individual workshops. Alternatively, you can buy a book of 6 workshop passes for ?38 - a saving of ?10!
 
Young at heart?
Families coming to Sidmouth FolkWeek are in for a treat too. Blackmore Gardens is at the heart of the fun, buzzing from 9.30am ?til 9.30pm with activities for tinies to teenies - from the Little Folk Tent for 0-6s to the evening youth club SLOAFS.
 
Song and instrumental workshops run throughout the week, alongside a brand new Small Voices singing workshop especially for 5-7 year olds run by Mim and morning dance workshops and afternoon Beat'N'Feet dancing with Appakella or Come & Ceilidh sessions with Alex Cumming offering the chance to practise dance moves for the family friendly ceilidhs, which return to their early evening slot in the Blackmore Gardens Marquee.
 
For crafty hearts and minds, inspiring workshops run every morning for over 6s. Sessions for older children include the chance to make fantastic creations for a special Olympian themed torchlight procession including a very special secret structure.
 
Family activities include Stiltskin's circus skills and Gacko's ukulele for beginners.
 
Youth activists Shooting Roots offer another thrilling tour of funky, folky frivolity for 12-18 year olds with a worrying reality-show F-Factor theme! Musicians, singers and dancers are pitted against each other with the promise of a grand prize - be it for crooning or cutting a caper!
 
Prepare for the nail-biting Shooting Roots finale - incorporating an eclectic brew of music, dance, storytelling, theatre, craft -  by joining the boot camp workshops and soak up knowledge from the likes of Gaorsach Rapper and Step, the Stream of Sound phenomenon and storyteller Rachel Rose Reid. A glorious team of tutors run new workshops in ?Song for Dance' and ?Learning By Ear' as well as old favourites including Morris, Band, Theatre and Craft.
 
Around the rest of the festival, you can expect: major concerts, roots dances, ceilidhs, Shooting Roots workshops, displays, morris dancers, sessions and a diverse and entertaining programme jam-packed with feel-good atmosphere.
 
 
BOOKING
 
2011 Ticket Prices held for 2012! No Booking Fee!
 
To help you plan your own festival, further information about All-In-One, Week, Weekend, Day, Sidmouth Resident Ticket Concession tickets, group discounts and accommodation options (including Festival Camping) is available at www.sidmouthfolkweek.co.uk 
 
Book by ?phone 01395 577952
 
 
Taster Programmes can be downloaded from the web site or obtained by emailing abm_sidmouth_at_btinternet_dot_com with name, address and email address.
 
##ends##
 
 
Notes to editors
 
Media queries to: Alan Bearman Music on 020 7263 0425 or info.abm_at_btinternet_dot_com 
 
Full line-up details are available at www.sidmouthfolkweek.co.uk
Photos available on request
 
The final programme - with all featured guests at each event - will be available in the comprehensive Festival Programme published in July.




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