Sheffield Eurosession

A beautiful stroll on a summers evening

For our dance workshop in July we will take a lilting Swedish stroll with the help of Eurosession regulars (Susannah and Emily). The menuet (i.e. minuet) is a non-contact partner dance, which will be a cooling and gentle option for a warm summer evening. See more about the workshop below.
As usual, we’ll follow the workshop with a more eclectic Eurosession, in which you can contribute dance tunes, request your favourite dances, or relax, get a drink, and chat.  For dancing, we recommend wearing comfortable shoes that can turn easily.  And of course, bring an instrument if you’d like to play in the workshop or session. 

Dance workshop: 8pm – 9pm, Eurosession: 9pm – 11pm, Venue:Shakespeare’s Pub ~ S3 8UB

About the workshop
The dance we’ll focus on in July is the Swedish Folk Menuet (i.e. Minuet), which has a lilting sense of elegance and grace.

This workshop is grounded in enjoying the feeling of being ‘with’ the music, and you can also gain some transferable skills relating to your body awareness and movement coordination. There’s an added interest in maintaining awareness and coordination or even subtle flirting with a partner. Plus some nifty stylistic flourishes that can be added to the basic walk of the dance. Join us on Thursday to gently indulge in your body’s love of movement. No need to bring a partner for the dancing.
This workshop is brought to you by Susannah Diamond (dance facilitator), and Emily Bowden (musician). Susannah has been sharing her love of dancing with Eurosession for many years, and Emily is a talented fiddler who shares her expressive playing with several bands and through her teaching.

* * * Save the date: Naragonia in Sheffield! * * *
Eurosession will be hosting Naragonia on Sun 6 December, in the Hillsborough Park Pavilion. Mark your diaries for magical music, mazurkas and more!

Donations
We suggest £5 for the workshop and/or the session. Any extra helps us to keep events affordable, and provide fair fees to our experts and helpers. We accept cash, or PayPal transfers (see our donations page); alternatively you can contribute by teaching or playing for dancing.

Caring for others
We welcome diversity in our community, and encourage you to look out for everyone’s well-being.

Get involved
If you like organising gigs, getting publicity out, playing for or teaching a workshop, or can offer any photographs we could use in publicity, then we’d love to hear from you.

See you soon,
xx Eurosesh

An intro for newcomers plus a twist for our regulars

For our dance workshop in June, we will revisit the ever-fertile field of the mazurka with the help of Eurosession regulars (Susannah, David, Anne, and Dan). We’ll of course cover the basic footwork, but also introduce some less familiar twists on the basic mazurka. So join us to find out more about the twiddle, or perhaps the mazango, or just enjoy an extended opportunity to dance more magical mazurkas amongst friends. See more about the workshop below.

As usual, we’ll follow the workshop with a more eclectic Eurosession, in which you can contribute dance tunes, request your favourite dances, or relax, get a drink, and chat.  For dancing, we recommend wearing comfortable shoes that can turn easily.  And of course, bring an instrument if you’d like to play in the workshop or session. 

Dance workshop: 8pm – 9pm
Eurosession: 9pm – 11pm
Venue: Shakespeare’s Pub ~ S3 8UB

About the workshop

The mazurka is an intriguing and favourite couple dance, which can be danced in a range of styles from spritely to languorous according to the music or partner preferences (see for example the different styles shown in this video with Naragonia). The dance swept from Poland into France in the 1830s, and was later influenced by ballroom and blues. In the workshop we’ll explain the basic principles of the mazurka for newcomers but also focus on a few stylish variations for experienced dancers. Along the way you can expect to pick up some tips for leading and following, and for balance and pivoting. No need to bring a partner for the workshop.

This workshop is brought to you by Susannah Diamond and David Beasley (dance facilitators), and Dan Hammond and Anne Wyatt (musicians). Susannah has been sharing her love of dancing with Eurosession for many years. David has taught workshops in swing dance and forró at events organised by Skint and Made. Dan (whistles and clarinet) and Anne (cello) are Eurosession regulars who have recently started playing more closely together.

* * * Save the date: Naragonia in Sheffield! * * *
Eurosession will actually be hosting Naragonia on Sun 6 December, in the Hillsborough Park Pavilion. Mark your diaries for magical music, mazurkas and more!

Donations
We suggest £5 for the workshop and/or the session. Any extra helps us to keep events affordable, and provide fair fees to our experts and helpers. We accept cash, or PayPal transfers (see our donations page); alternatively you can contribute by teaching or playing for dancing.

Caring for others
We welcome diversity in our community, and encourage you to look out for everyone’s well-being.

Get involved
If you like organising gigs, getting publicity out, playing for or teaching a workshop, or can offer any photographs we could use in publicity, then we’d love to hear from you.

See you soon,
xx Eurosesh

A delicious journey from simplicity to complexity

In preparation for May’s Eurosession, we are delighted to welcome back Anna Pack and Jo Veal, two of our talented Eurosession musicians, to lead a music workshop before the evening’s dancing begins. See more about the workshop below.

As usual, we’ll follow the workshop with a more eclectic Eurosession, in which you can contribute dance tunes, request your favourite dances, or relax, get a drink, and chat.  For dancing, we recommend wearing comfortable shoes that can turn easily.  And of course, bring an instrument if you’d like to play in the workshop or session. 

Music workshop: 8pm – 9pm
Eurosession: 9pm – 11pm
Venue: Shakespeare’s Pub ~ S3 8UB

Photo Credit:  Anna Pack

About the workshop

In this music workshop you will have a chance to stretch how you play traditional dance music, particularly in relation to playing with other musicians.

The workshop will focus on developing sensitivity, style and and dynamic range, and will include exercises relating to:
~ Listening attentively to others
~ Using dynamic musical energy to enhance the dance experience
~ Developing rich rhythms and harmonies
~ Innovating within the forms and genres of traditional dance music

This workshop will offer a delicious journey from simplicity to complexity, in which you can enjoy developing your skills, and celebrate the creativity of the ensemble. All skill levels and instruments welcome. Come with an intention to contribute sensitively to the collaborative endeavours of others.

Anna Pack plays diatonic button accordion and clarinet and is a member of the trio Oscina and has performed with Blowzabella’s (late) Dave Shepherd and also Nigel Eaton.
Jo Veal contributes on clarinet to a variety of dance bands and improvisational ensembles, such as Hekety, The Lantern Trio, and the Emergence Collective.  

Note:
Anna and Jo also play as a duo for European dancing, for example this Friday at Holmfirth Festival on 8 May – See you there?!

Donations
We suggest £5 for the workshop and/or the session. Any extra helps us to keep events affordable, and provide fair fees to our experts and helpers. We accept cash, or PayPal transfers (see our donations page); alternatively you can contribute by teaching or playing for dancing.

Caring for others
We welcome diversity in our community, and encourage you to look out for everyone’s well-being.

Get involved
If you like organising gigs, getting publicity out, playing for or teaching a workshop, or can offer any photographs we could use in publicity, then we’d love to hear from you.

See you soon, x Eurosesh

How to dance like a centipede

For April we are fulfilling a request for a kost ar c’hoat workshop. This dance has only 8 steps, but they are a little tricksy. On the plus side, you get to dance like a sideways centipede, with a unified body and a multitude of neatly tessellated legs, so that’s a fairly unique experience. See more about the workshop below, and come and learn to dance like a centipede!

As usual, we’ll follow the workshop with a more eclectic Eurosession, in which you can contribute dance tunes, request your favourite dances, or relax, get a drink, and chat.  For the workshop and for dancing, we recommend wearing comfortable shoes that can turn easily.  And of course, bring an instrument if you’d like to play in the session. 

Dance workshop: 8pm – 9pm
Eurosession: 9pm – 11pm
Venue: Shakespeare’s Pub ~ S3 8UB

About the workshop

The kost ar c’hoat is a neat little Breton dance from the gavotte family of dances. There’s a simple, typical basic set of steps, with options to subtly show off through slickness of execution and extra flourishes.

The arms are interlinked, and an ongoing pulse from the music is transmitted by the dancers as one interdependent organism. So in this workshop you will build some new connections between brain and feet, find your balance between community surrender and independent individuality, and garnish all this with the appearance of effortless energy.

Susannah Diamond has been sharing her love of balfolk at Eurosession for many years, whilst Anna Pack is a musician and dancer who performs and teaches driving danceable rhythms on diatonic accordion. 

Donations
We suggest £5 for the workshop and/or the session. Any extra helps us to keep events affordable, and provide fair fees to our experts and helpers. We accept cash, or PayPal transfers (see our donations page); alternatively you can contribute by teaching or playing for dancing.

Caring for others
We welcome diversity in our community, and encourage you to look out for everyone’s well-being.

Get involved
If you like organising gigs, getting publicity out, playing for or teaching a workshop, or can offer any photographs we could use in publicity, then we’d love to hear from you.

See you soon, x Eurosesh

Diary dates
6th April – Emily and Simon, with Feather and Fox, Crookes
18th April – Swedish Polska Workshop with Third Beat Collective, Walkley

Conviviality and craziness are in the air

March heralds the spring, and also has connections to madness… That’s a hint about our pre-session workshop with Susannah Diamond and Anna Pack. Find out more below, and join us on Thursday for some Italian exuberance and add some allegria to your spring steps. 

As usual, we’ll follow the workshop with a more eclectic Eurosession, in which you can contribute dance tunes, request your favourite dance, or relax, get a drink, and chat.  For the workshop and for dancing, we recommend wearing comfortable shoes that can turn easily.  And of course, bring an instrument if you’d like to play in the session. 

Dance workshop: 8pm – 9pm
Eurosession: 9pm – 11pm
Venue: Shakespeare’s Pub ~ S3 8UB

About the workshop

This workshop will highlight two popular dances from the diversity of Italian folk dances.
From the northwest of Italy comes the Sbrando, an exhilarating festival dance for groups of dancers. In the workshop we’ll explain how to build momentum to create an easy body swing and leg lift. The biggest challenge is coordinating with the music to do it on the other foot!
From the south of Italy we’ll share the Tarantella couple dance, with some distinctive phrases from the Neapolitan tradition, and some crazy conviviality from Calabria. Both offer an achievable arm-waving infusion of Mediterranean exuberance, to set you up for spring.

Susannah Diamond has been sharing her love of balfolk at Eurosession for many years, whilst Anna Pack is a musician and dancer who performs and teaches driving danceable rhythms on diatonic accordion. 

Donations
We suggest £5 for the workshop and/or the session. Any extra helps us to keep events affordable, and provide fair fees to our experts and helpers. We accept cash, or PayPal transfers (see our donations page); alternatively you can contribute by teaching or playing for dancing.

Caring for others
We welcome diversity in our community, and encourage you to look out for everyone’s well-being.

Get involved
If you like organising gigs, getting publicity out, playing for or teaching a workshop, or can offer any photographs we could use in publicity, then we’d love to hear from you.

See you soon, x Eurosesh

Diary dates
6th April – Emily and Simon, with Feather and Fox, Crookes, Sheffield
18th April – Swedish Polska Workshop with Third Beat Collective, Walkley

Too blissed, too busy; let’s dance and play the day away!

This Thursday, we return to Shakespeare’s for our usual Eurosession. There’s no workshop planned – this is due to a combination of factors: the committee have been too focused on our recent bal to organise anything else; also a couple of us will be away at the Kinnersley Winter festival.

However, you can still get your Eurosession fix. Indeed, we’re going to skip the formal workshop and jump straight into a slightly earlier Eurosession at 8:30pm. Even without a workshop, regular Eurosessioners will welcome newcomers to participate.

So join Eurosession for another lovely evening of music, dancing and catching up, to bring cheer to your week! In the session, you can contribute dance tunes, request your favourite dance, or relax with a good drink from Shakey’s excellent selection.

Eurosession: 8:30pm – 11pm
Venue: Shakespeare’s Pub ~ S3 8UB

Donations
We suggest £5 for the workshop and/or the session. Any extra helps us to offer affordable entry to our events, and provide fair fees to our experts and helpers. We accept cash, or PayPal transfers (see our donations page), or you can instead contribute by teaching or playing for dancing.

Caring for others
We welcome diversity in our community, and encourage you to look out for everyone’s well-being.

Get involved
If you like organising gigs, getting publicity out, playing for or teaching a workshop, or can offer any photographs we could use in publicity, then we’d love to hear from you.

Looking back in gratitude

Sunday’s gig with Airboxes in Walkley was a really lovely afternoon/evening with a wonderful bal, shared meal and fantastic session to finish. Many thanks to Bert and Guus, the venue, committee and everyone else who contributed. If you missed it then oops – sorry about the added FOMO; hope you make the next!

See you soon,
x Eurosesh

Come and play with bourrée formations

As we recombine after festivities and frosty nights, for January’s Eurosession workshop we welcome Andrew Swaine and Anna Pack. See more about the workshop below, and join us on Thursday for some interesting adventures in the land of bourrées. 

As usual, we’ll follow the workshop with a more eclectic Eurosession, in which you can contribute dance tunes, request your favourite dance, or relax, get a drink, and chat.  For the workshop and for dancing, we recommend wearing comfortable shoes that can turn easily.  And of course, bring an instrument if you’d like to play in the session. 

Dance workshop: 8pm – 9pm
Eurosession: 9pm – 11pm
Venue: Shakespeare’s Pub ~ S3 8UB

About the workshop

If you are interested in shapes and tessellating movements, this will be a great workshop to get to. Bourrées are often danced opposite a partner, coordinating between partners to swap position and introduce variations. In this workshop, building on that basic framework, you can learn some interesting bourrées for larger numbers of dancers, improve your capacity for nifty turns, practice moving with unflustered smoothness, and give your brain a minor workout in readiness for the year to come. 

Andrew Swaine is a caller who is a whizz at guiding a large roomful of people through complicated shapes for ceilidhs, contra and playford as well as balfolk.
Anna Pack is a musician and dancer who performs and teaches driving danceable rhythms on diatonic accordion. 

Donations
We suggest £5 for the workshop and/or the session. Any extra helps us to offer affordable entry to our events, and provide fair fees to our experts and helpers. We accept cash, or PayPal transfers (see our donations page), or you can instead contribute by teaching or playing for dancing.

Caring for others
We welcome diversity in our community, and encourage you to look out for everyone’s well-being.

Get involved
If you like organising gigs, getting publicity out, playing for or teaching a workshop, or can offer any photographs we could use in publicity, then we’d love to hear from you.

See you soon, x Eurosesh

Reminder – we’ve an exciting gig with Airboxes coming up:
Sun 1 February: Intro Workshop, Afternoon Bal, Session and Shared Meal.
More info coming soon on Facebook

It is at least a year since our last Auvergnate bourrée workshop at Eurosession. So we’ll return to the high mountains of central France for some driving rhythms, and dance encounters of playful connection.  Depending on space and inclination, they can be danced with wild waving of arms, and percussive foot frapping, or with skilful control and precision.

As usual, we’ll follow the workshop with a juicy Eurosession, in which you can contribute dance tunes, request your favourite dance, or relax, hydrate and chat. Bring instruments if you want to play later in the session.

Dance workshop: 8pm – 9pm
Eurosession: 9pm – 11pm
Venue: Shakespeare’s Pub ~ S3 8UB

About the workshop

In this workshop, we’ll begin by ensuring familiarity with the simple dance step and style, then develop a common understanding as to the rules of formation and engagement for the patterns of the dance, and the skills of observation and negotiation that underpin the connection and cooperation in the dance, and finish with optional embellishments which can add a personal flourish to the dance experience.

Our destination will be the two person Auvergnat bourrées which are a kind of hands-free cooperative game between the dancers, facilitated by the underlying energy of the musician. We may also take in some multiperson formations en-route to the two-person goal.

This workshop is brought to you by Joel Stewart (musician), and Susannah Diamond (dance teacher). Joel has a particular love of Auvergnat tunes, and we are looking forward to dancing to his fiddle. Susannah enjoys helping others to understand dance styles and find connection through dance.

Donations
We suggest £5 for the workshop and/or the session (if you aren’t contributing by teaching or playing music). Any extra helps us to offer affordable entry to our sessions and bals, and fair fees to teachers and musicians. We accept cash or PayPal transfers (see our donations page).

Caring for others
We welcome diversity in our community, and encourage you to look out for everyone’s well-being.

Get involved
If you like organising gigs, getting publicity out, playing for or teaching a workshop, or can offer any photographs we could use in publicity, then we’d love to hear from you.

See you soon, x Eurosesh

PS. Also mark your diaries for an exciting gig:
Sun 1 February: Airboxes ! – Bal, Session and Shared Meal.
Find out more on Facebook

Although the clocks have turned back and darkness gathers, the stars have aligned again, and it is time for the Branle D’Orsau to grace Shakey’s upstairs room again. We offer a workshop on this rather magical dance from a high, remote valley in Pyrenees. See more about the workshop below, and join us to create an illusion of defying gravity.

From 9 pm we move into an eclectic Eurosession. As usual, you can contribute dance tunes, request your favourite dance, or relax, get a drink, and chat.  Newcomers welcome. Bring an instrument if you’d like to play in the session. For dancing, we recommend wearing comfy flat-soled shoes that turn easily. 

Dance workshop: 8 – 9pm          
Eurosession: 9 – 11pm
Venue: Shakespeare’s Pub ~ S3 8UB

About the workshop

Following on from our foray into Gasconny last month, we are heading a little further south in November, to the formerly Occitan valley of Ossau, close to the border with Spain.

The Branle de la vallée d’Ossau (also known as Branle Béarnais) can be danced by all ages together “en chaine” (in chain) or “en couple”. This simple but mysterious dance has a subtle but elastic spring, giving a captivating impression of lightness and suspension . The dance includes intriguing puzzles of orientation, pauses, and impulse that are satisfying to unlock. Come and understand its secrets.

This workshop is brought to you by Susannah Diamond (dance facilitator), and Anna Pack and Jo Veal (musicians). Susannah has been teaching at Eurosession for many years. Anna and Jo have played together as a duo. Anna has tutored at Halsway Manor and contributed to performances with The Chase and Oscina. Jo contributes to a variety of dance bands and improvisational ensembles, such as Hekety, Outre-Manche, and the Emergence Collective.

Donations
We suggest £5 for the workshop and/or the session (if you aren’t contributing by teaching or playing music). Any extra helps us to offer affordable entry to our sessions and bals, and fair fees to teachers and musicians. We accept cash or PayPal transfers (see our donations page).

Caring for others
We welcome diversity in our community, and encourage you to look out for everyone’s well-being.

Eurosesh
If you like organising gigs, getting publicity out, playing for or teaching a workshop, or can offer any photographs we could use in publicity, then we’d love to hear from you.

See you soon,
xx Eurosesh