BARNARD Castle is to host a day of traditional dance early next month featuring young and old.
The dale’s Black Sheep Border Morris side will welcome another eight groups from County Durham, Northumberland and North Yorkshire to the town on Saturday, May 5.
Dancing starts outside Woodleigh, on Scar Top, at 10am with a collective display, before pairs of teams break off to dance throughout the town centre, performing at the farmers’ market and outside The Witham until 12.30pm.
Showing off their skills will be Richmond on Swale Morris Men, Black Diamond, Richmond Castle Clogs, Minster Strays, Belfagan, Hadrian Clog, Locos in Motion and Newcastle University Kingsmen. In the afternoon, dancers will regroup outside The Bowes Museum for 1.30pm for a grand display.
Here, they will be joined by youth longsword dance teams led by the Music at the Heart of Teesdale (M@HoT) project and featuring youngsters from primary schools including Green Lane, Butterknowle and Bowes Hutchinson’s.
These youth teams have all taken part in M@HoT’s longsword programme during the last school year and have prepared special dances to take part in the day’s events.
Rupert Philbrick, secretary of Black Sheep Border Morris, said: “The Day of Dance offers a fantastic opportunity to bring sides together to share the wealth of experience and knowledge of folk dance with each other and the public alike.”
Longsword dance tutor Patrick Langdon added: “Thanks to our Arts Council funding, we have been able to deliver our popular and successful programme to several primary schools this year.
“We have also run our now well-established series of workshops for every child who enters year seven at Teesdale School.
“To help make the Day of Dance a really great event, and probably the first of its kind in the country, we want to invite all those in the region who run a youth side – or can get one up for this event – to come and join in the fun.”
l Black Sheep practice weekly through the Autumn and Winter in preparation for the dance season at Winston Village Hall from 7.30pm to 9.30pm. For more information about the group or the day of dance contact Mr Philbrick via [email protected] or call 07926 076187.
