Our American Contra Dance weeks are tremendously popular and often sell out so we really do encourage early booking for these fantastic courses. Hosted by Meg Winters, dance workshops take place each morning with fun optional outings and activities in the afternoons. There is usually a musicians’ workshop Wednesday tea-time, so bring instruments! Dances every evening, all in the lovely setting of Halsway Manor!
“Friendly and welcoming group of people, plenty of laughs, energetic dancing and really enjoyable sessions in the bar afterwards!” Participant
Arrive from 4pm on Monday. If you need to get here sooner, that’s fine, but your room may not be ready before 4pm. Depart after breakfast on Friday.
Who’s it For?
Dancers of all levels of experience.
The Team
Meg Winters is a familiar face at Halsway Manor, and the perfect, friendly and knowledgeable host to make sure you get the best from your break at Halsway!
We are also delighted to welcome a great team from the USA to run this course, caller Sue Rose, and musicians Bruce Rosen and George Wilson
Sue Rosen is a leading caller of contras, squares, English country dance, and family dance programs, She has been actively calling for over 25 years in the Boston area, one of the hottest contra dance spots in the U.S. and at dance weekends, camps and festivals from Anchorage to Antwerp. Over time she has built a collection of great dances, featuring the best of contemporary choreography, and has written contras that have become part of the standard repertoire of dance callers across the country and overseas. Her speedy and encouraging walk-throughs will have you cruising through dance after wonderful dance.
George Wilson is a hugely talented multi-instrumentalist and singer, with a repertoire that samples a wide variety of traditional and folk styles. As a fiddler, he has over 500 tunes for dancing and listening — tunes from New England, Quebec, Cape Breton, Scotland, Ireland and Shetland. His dynamic fiddling, strongly influenced by Cape Breton and French Canadian styles, has been popular with contra dancers and concert-goers since the late 1970s.
Bruce Rosen has been part of Boston’s contra and English country dance community since the mid-70s as a dancer and musician. His rock solid piano and guitar accompaniment is sought after by many of New England’s best contra dance musicians. Bruce also plays piano for English country dancing, appearing frequently in Jamaica Plain (MA), as well as other New England venues. As part of Boston’s traditional music scene, he plays guitar at Irish sessions and in performance with the West Newton Ceili Band, and drives the rhythm at Old Time music jams on the banjo ukelele. In the early 90s, Bruce took up the button accordion, and has played for the Pinewoods Morris Men, Ha’Penny Morris, and the Commonwealth Morris Men. Bruce has collaborated on four recordings of New England contra dance music.
The Programme
Monday:
4pm tea and coffee.
6:30pm supper.
8pm dance.
Tuesday-Thursday:
8:30am breakfast.
9:30am warm-up.
9:45am Workshops.
1pm Lunch.
Afternoons free to explore area – provision made for those without cars.
4pm Tea and coffee.
6:30pm Dinner.
8pm Dance.
We usually squeeze in a workshop for musicians, so bring your instruments if this is of interest
