From: Jo Cunningham [press_at_efdss_dot_org]
Sent: 03 June 2015 10:23
Subject: Free online folk resources now available as the English Folk Dance
and Song Society launches its Resource Bank
Attachments: EFDSS logo.jpg
June 3, 2015
Free
online folk resources now available as the English Folk Dance and Song
Society launches its Resource Bank
A free online resource to encourage more people to learn and teach folk
related music, dance, drama and other arts has been launched by the English
Folk Dance and Song Society (EFDSS).
The charity has created its Resource Bank -
which is freely available to anyone to browse at www.efdss.org/resourcebank - to encourage
more people to learn about traditional music, dance, drama, other arts and
customs.
The Resource Bank's vibrant and accessible
guides to music, dance and culture will be of interest to anyone who wants to
learn more about folk. It also includes an extensive range of learning
materials, audio and video (for streaming or download) to be used in a range of
subjects at different levels for teachers and educators.
The Resource Bank features three main components:
Beginners' Guides - introductions to folk
music, dance, song, drama, costume, customs and collectors
Resources and Teaching Tools - a variety of resource packs, many with audio and video resources,for
use in educational, and other informal learning settings.
Jargon Buster - an easy reference
guide for folk related terms and phrases.
The Resource Bank is the lasting legacy
project of EFDSS' celebrated project, The Full English, which saw the
digitisation of thousands of English folk manuscripts to create the world's largest free
online searchable database from some
of the country's most important folk music collections.
It also inspired
a nationwide learning programme that has reached more than 13,000 people
through workshops and learning events, including projects with 19 primary,
secondary and special needs schools who developed their own projects inspired
by material found in The Full English digital archive.
Rachel Elliott, EFDSS Education Director, said: "We create and manage diverse, high quality and imaginative
projects working with folk material including music, dance, song, stories and
crafts in a range of formal and informal learning settings including primary
and secondary schools, with youth and community groups and adult
learners.
"The Resource
Bank aims to bring all the knowledge and resources that are
developed as part of our education programme and to allow anyone anywhere in
the world access to it.
"Sharing these
resources will help us to safeguard the future of folk arts by stimulating more
understanding and participation in traditional folk arts by a new audience and
a new generation."
Rachel added: "The Resource
Bank was developed during The Full English. The folk
artists and schools involved created such inspiring and innovative projects we
knew we had to retain and share that with a wider audience."
A variety of resource
packs are available giving practical examples of how to use folk arts in
schools and community settings, with case studies and videos that bring the
work to life.
The Resource Bank has already
received positive reviews:
"The wealth of material available through EFDSS'
Resource Bank is most welcome as both teachers and pupils discover and are
inspired by the range and variety of folk traditions from these shores." Karen Brock, Head of THAMES (Tower Hamlets
Arts and Music Education Service)
"Bristol
Sings/Plays Music was lucky enough to work with EFDSS' The Full English Project
and through the talented arrangements of Carolyn Robson, have created a Bristol
Folk Song pack that can be used as a cross curricular teaching tool for
schools, as well as a set of beautiful Bristol folk song arrangements in their
own right to sing and be enjoyed. Folk music IS relevant and hugely
accessible for young people of all ages, and EFDSS has created an easy to use,
inviting archive for us to celebrate this part of our regional musical
heritage, in and outside of the classroom." Laurie
Stewart, Head of Vocal and Instrumental Strategy, Bristol Plays Music
"The work allowed the
pupils to experience folk dance and music and consider it from an informed
viewpoint - giving them a significant advantage because it allowed them to more
creatively explore and fuse it with the contemporary styles with which they are
more accustomed." Sally
Tyrrell, Head of Dance, Stantonbury Campus, Milton Keynes
About The Full English
The Full English
digital archive, which was developed by EFDSS, is the world's largest online
free searchable database of more than
58,400 items from some of the country's most important folk music collections -
including manuscripts, notes and letters.
It features 19 collections of England's most important
late Victorian and Edwardian folk collectors, which are freely available to
browse and search online at www.vwml.org/thefullenglish project showcasing some of the most important archives in English folk music.
The Full English
learning programme took place 2013 - 2014 and involved a series of study days,
family, community and professional development events, as well as work with 19
schools who developed new curriculum-based projects inspired by material found
in The Full English digital archive.
The Full English is
supported by the National Lottery through the Heritage Lottery Fund, the
National Folk Music Fund and The Folklore Society.
ENDS
For further press information or images please contact: Jo Cunningham (Press Manager, part time) press_at_efdss_dot_org on 07815 913887.
NOTES TO EDITORS
1. About The Full English
The Heritage Lottery Fund (HLF) awarded the English Folk Dance and Song Society (EFDSS) a grant of ?585,400 to archive, conserve and digitise materials from six archives containing some of the country's most important folk music collections and allow free public access to 58,400 digitised collection items through a new web portal. The project brought together the collections of Harry Albino, Lucy Broadwood, Clive Carey, Percy Grainger, Maud Karpeles, Frank Kidson, Thomas Fairman Ordish, Cecil Sharp, Ralph Vaughan Williams, Alfred Williams, Frank Sidgwick and Mary Leather for the first time, to create the most comprehensive searchable database of English folk songs, tunes, dances and customs in the world. The Full English was also EFDSS's biggest learning and participation programme to date, working with cultural partners to deliver The Full English learning programme. They were: Cambridge City Council, Cambridgeshire Music, Cecil Sharp House, Colston Hall in Bristol Lincoln Drill Hall, mac birmingham, Opera North, Sound Connections in London, soundLINCS, The British Library, The Met in Bury, Sage Gateshead and The Stables, Milton Keynes. www.efdss.org/efdss-the-full-english
2. About the English Folk Dance and Song
Society
The English Folk Dance and Song Society (EFDSS) was established in 1932 by the
merger of the Folk-Song Society, founded in 1898, and the English Folk Dance
Society, founded by Cecil Sharp in 1911. As the national development
organisation for the folk arts, EFDSS aims to place the traditional arts of
England at the heart of our cultural life - preserving, protecting,
disseminating and promoting English traditional folk arts. Since its beginnings
EFDSS has been supporting artists and practitioners, engaging people in folk
arts activities, and raising the profile of English traditional folk arts. This
is currently achieved through programmes of performance, participation and
education at EFDSS' London venue, Cecil Sharp House, and with partners in the
UK and overseas. EFDSS is increasingly developing projects to support the
creative development of artists and expanding their opportunities for
performance. EFDSS' library and archive, the Vaughan Williams Memorial Library,
is the national folk music library and archive - serving as a valuable resource
for anybody working in the folk arts. EFDSS is a charity registered in England
and Wales, no. 305999. www.efdss.org
3. About the Heritage Lottery Fund
Using
money raised through the National Lottery, the Heritage Lottery Fund (HLF) aims
to make a lasting difference for heritage, people and communities across the UK
and help build a resilient heritage economy. From museums, parks and historic
places to archaeology, natural environment and cultural traditions, we invest
in every part of our diverse heritage. HLF has supported almost 36,000 projects
with more than ?6bn across the UK. www.hlf.org.uk
4. Join the Conversation
www.facebook.com/EFDSS
www.twitter.com/TheEFDSS | Hashtag: #thefullenglish
--
Jo Cunningham
PR Manager (part time)
English Folk Dance and Song Society
Cecil Sharp House, 2 Regent's Park Road,
London NW1 7AY
T: 07815 913887
www.efdss.org | www.vwml.org | www.cecilsharphouse.org
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