Ceilidhs, workshops, dance shows & the legendary Morris party… pack your dancing shoes because you’re going to need them!
We’ve got a packed programme in the dance tent that’ll be located right in the heart of the festival site so come and join in the fun! Watch the dance teams perform, bring your friends or make new ones with our social dances, hone your dance skills in our workshops or watch the mischief and mayhem of the morris teams in their annual get together.
For more about our morris and dance sides, where to see them and how to learn their dances, click here.
Dance Bands 2022
The Rheingans Sisters * Token Women * Bedlam * Relentless * Threepenny Bit * The Gloworms * Brown Boots Ceilidh Band * Sarah Matthews & Doug Eunson * Godot * Nigel & Aisling Holmes
Want to know how more the 2022 dance bands? Click here.
Ceilidhs & social dance
FRIDAY
16:00-17:30 Introduction to Ceilidh Dancing workshop with Nigel & Aisling Holmes | Caller Erin Mansfield
19:00 – 21:30 The Gloworms | Caller TBC
22:00 – 00:45 Threepenny Bit | Caller Phil Bassindale
SATURDAY
12:00 – 14:00 Breton Dance with Godot | Caller Peter Clifton
19:30-21:30 Bal with The Rheingans Sisters
22:00 – 00:45 Token Women | Caller Jo Freya
SUNDAY
12:00 – 14:0 French Dance with Sarah Matthews & Doug Eunson | Caller Jo Freya
19:30 – 21:30 Brown Boots Ceilidh Band | Caller Erin Mansfield
22:00 – 00:45 Relentless | Caller Ben Moss
MONDAY
12:30 – 15:30 Bedlam | Caller Tom Kitching
Workshops
FRIDAY
16:00-17:30 Introduction to ceilidh dancing with Nigel and Aisling Holmes with caller Erin Mansfield | Dance Tent
SATURDAY
09:45 – 11:00 Cotswold morris workshop with Sussex Junction. Learn the Lewes Tradition | Dance Tent
11:20 – 12:30 Molly dancing with the Seven Champions Molly Dancers | Purity Village Stage
14:15 – 15:30 Learn to dance the dances of South West France with The Rheingans Sisters | Dance Tent
SUNDAY
09:45 – 11:00 Dance workshop with The Bo Diddlers | Dance Tent
14:15 – 15:30 Dance workshop with Black Umfolosi | Dance Tent
MONDAY
09:45 – 11:00 Sword dance workshop with Sallyport Sword Dancers | Dance Tent
Dance shows
SATURDAY 1730-1830 | DANCE TENT
The Bo Diddlers
In 2008, a group of experienced theatre performers, musicians and dancers came together to explore a shared interest in folk dance and music. They soon realised they were onto something very special and The Bo Diddlers were formed.
Using a blend of folk and contemporary dance, physical comedy and live music, The Bo Diddlers created a spectacle that is uniquely mesmerising and hilarious.
SUNDAY 1150 – 1230 | PURITY VILLAGE STAGE
Roshni by the Sonia Sabri Company
Roshni (from the Persian word meaning light or brilliance) is a beautifully intimate crafting of dance and live music, transporting and uplifting the audience on a journey of joy.
In our uncertain world, when everything around us can feel full of pessimism and doubt, Roshni provides us with a ray of light, to put a spring in our step and a warmth in our hearts! World-class artists Sonia Sabri and Sarvar Sabri, alongside an ensemble of skilled musicians, take us on a path to repair and heal.
This soul-stirring performance is a captivating combination of Kathak dance, with live music and vocals from a global palette of styles, driven by the bold rhythms of Tabla percussion. Kathak is a striking movement language of virtuosic foot percussion, rapid spins, geometrical patterns, with poignant mime and gesture, all intricately woven with the live music.
Roshni brings together Sonia’s distinctive style of dance, rooted in the traditions of Kathak from Northern India, yet reimagined in the context of her lived British experience, with diverse musical genres and artists, ranging from South Asia, Middle East and Eastern Europe, celebrating the rich diversity of our global community.
Morris party
SUNDAY 1730-1845 | DANCE TENT
The annual gathering of our morris and dance sides has to be experienced as mischief and mayhem ensues as they come together to celebrate!
Come and watch the fun as the teams party together.