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Bundanoon DanceFest 2024The return in 2023 was welcomed by the social dancing fraternity and the calling, dancing, music and socialising were heart warming. The Bundanoon DanceFest has an international and Australia-wide reputation as a major event in the social dance calendar. With its broad range of dance styles and the amazing standard of dance teaching and the unswerving commitment to live music, it is quite remarkable. This year the program styles include English, Scottish, Contra, Australian, Irish, Bordonian, European, and even a taste of line-dancing. The DanceFest acknowledges the absolutely vital underpinning of our dance teachers and musicians.
Tickets information and sales available here Autumn Gathering 2024Gunning 23 - 25 February 2024This was held and there was a relaxed and informal gathering of folk who enjoyed the camping and music experience. Dancing in Fetters in Freemantle 2024
Bush Traditions Gathering 2023The 2023 Bush Traditions Gathering happened again on the Labor Day Long Weekend October at the Goulburn Club. A weekend of fine music, interesting workshops and grand company in a delightful olde-worlde venue. Thanks to our hosts and in particular to Mary Booth and Ron McLaughlin for their support.
Bundanoon DanceFest 2023The DanceFest happened in Bundanoon over the June long weekend. The weather was kind, the music was excellent and the dancing was fantastic, enjoyed by all who turned up. Dancers and musicians travel great distances to attend this festival of social dance, Melbourne and Brisbane and many places in between. We had Bush, Bavarian Ballroom/New Vogue, Colonial, Contra, English Country, Estonian, Scottish, Scandinavian, Irish. The Festival is a favourite of many experienced dancers and the standard of dancing is high. This allows callers to chance their reputations by calling new and often quite complex sequences. Some fell apart but most succeeded, often spectacularly. A memorable moment for me was to witness Peter Foster call a complex dance sequence with six quadrille sets in close formation. I don’t remember what Peter called it so I shall call it Foster’s Ratchet. In this sequence dancers perform a number of movements within their sets and then at the end of the sequence dancers turn their backs on their set and exchange places with dancers in adjacent sets. Yep, there are dancers on the edge who do a meanwhile before dancing on. Thus are the sets repopulated and the sequence repeated. Extraordinary stuff!
Photograph of those who stayed to the end! Dancing in Fetters at The Rocks 2023
Dancing in Fetters TourMay 2023 on Norfolk IslandThe exhibition is going to Norfolk Island in May 2023 and we have created a week of folk activities associated with convict culture. Workshops each morning (dance,music, song, maybe theatre), free time in the afternoon to explore the island, then an event in the evening (dance, concert, sessions, an act from the play). It is a wonderful opportunity to see Norfolk Island and to be guided by Don and Sue Brian who have lived there and researched its history. Additionally there will be times when music, dance and song are called for so participation will be guaranteed. If you are interested in joining the tour please email the organisers so you can be informed of bookings and the program. National Folk FestivalCANBERRA 7 - 10 April 2023
Bush Traditions Autumn Get-TogetherGunning, 24 - 26 February 2023An outdoor, camping oriented, low cost weekend held in Gunning. Most punters camped for the weekend and the air was filled with the sounds of music from the 40 or so who rolled up. The Showground was excellent for the event with plenty of free camping and reasonable facilities. The hall was found to be disturbingly echoic on the Friday so Saturday and Sunday activities were in the large supper room with convenient access to the kitchen. All in all Gunning got the thumbs up as a beaut venue for a Bush Traditions music and camping weekend. Special thanks to Don and Sue Brian for sussing out the facilities and to Ray Mulligan and Moir Holmes for the inspiration.
Bundanoon Sessions WeekendQueen's Birthday 10-13 June2022 in BundanoonWhen the Bundanoon DanceFest was cancelled, some regular musicians put in a request for a music weekend in its place. Essentially this was a music sessions weekend with time slots allocated to some focussed sessions eg Backblocks Tunes, Sea Shanties, etc and other informal sessions.
The music used is available for download: Local Living Legends; Wall-toWall Waltzes; Saturday Slow Session; Backblocks Tunes; Ukranian Tune; Putting in the Lilt Some feedback
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Settlers Session in Canberra A New Music Folio organised by Moir Holmes with versions suitable for laptops and for printing. Bush Traditions
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