Time for an evening’s entertainment during your staycation?
On Thursday 13 August, you have another chance to join our virtually mediated, Eurosession get-together, this time with a Swedish Menuet workshop taught by the fantastic Jessica Abrahams.
Venue: Zoom
Times:
8:00 – 9:00pm Dance workshop
9:00 – 11:00 pm Open session.
If you plan to share a tune, it may sound better if you turn on the Original Sound feature in your Zoom settings before the session (you’ll also need to use a computer and not a phone/tablet).
Donations. We are now inviting participants to make a donation of around £5 to Sheffield Eurosession if you enjoy the evening and this is affordable for you. Donate via our website.
About the workshop:
Jess began European folk dancing in 1986 , and delighted in exploring French/Breton dance and Scandinavian dance. 6 years later she started passing on her expertise, and has taught at festivals and dance club meetings in the UK, and also abroad in France, Portugal, Germany, Sweden. More recently she has shared selected videos online – see Bright Heart Moves On.
The dance she’ll focus on in the workshop is the Swedish Folk Menuet (i.e. Minuet), which has a lilting sense of elegance and grace. It is traditionally a partner dance but there is little actual contact with the partner, so it can also be danced solo very successfully – very handy in the current circumstances!
In most of the dance you don’t have to do any turning, so it can be a relaxing break from high energy polskas, but can also be spiced up with optional turns and also feels great when danced energetically to faster music. The dance is delightfully versatile because unless you are a purist, it can be danced enjoyably to any steadily pulsing music which can be counted in sixes, such as slängpolskas, other even-beat polskas, some bourrées, and 3/2 hornpipes.
In this workshop Jess will encourage you to enjoy the feeling of being ‘with’ the music, and also share some transferable skills relating to your body awareness and movement coordination. The workshop is suitable for anyone who can hear beats in the music and walk in time to them. Join us on Thursday to reconnect with your body’s love of movement.
The rest of the evening should provide the same experience as the our previous virtual sessions’ – marvellous musicians, delicious dancing, and a bit of chatting. Here are some tips for maximum enjoyment:
Everyone:
To switch views between one musician and all participants, see top right on your screen, or https://support.zoom.us/hc/en-us/articles/201362323-How-Do-I-Change-The-Video-Layout- Please mute your audio when you are not speaking / leading the music, and use the Chat feature for background communication. There are also likely to be intermissions for general chat and catching up.
Musicians:
In our sessions we prioritise tunes from the balfolk scene and other traditional dancing genres from across Europe.
In the Zoom sessions, only one person (or device) can broadcast at any one time; if you want to play a tune then put a note in the chat about the genre of dance you’ll be playing for – this will help the session organisers to figure out a running order. A few of our session regulars will be on hand to get the music going.
When you’ve been chosen to lead, it’s helpful to tip the dancers off about the dance type you’ll be playing, then select Original Sound (top left) when you want to play, and turn it off again for normal voice transmission.
Dancers:
Get your dance shoes on; if you have a danceable space, book it for the evening, You can attempt to dance the right genre of dance at the right time (albeit half a beat behind!). More important is to dance as though no-one is watching, or as though you can cheer up everyone else who is watching! Or turn your video off if you feel freer dancing in private.
Eurosession is an inclusive and caring space for all.
Invite your co-space-sharing mates / family / teddy-bear along if appropriate 🙂
See you soon,
xx Eurosesh
