The Dance Festival at Priddy Folk Festival is always popular and this year we’ve lined up some great acts over the three days of this year’s Priddy. Here are some of the highlights so far.
Coming to Priddy for the first time will be Stepling, an innovative four piece who have been delighting audiences around the country with their unique blend of step dance, music and song drawn from English traditions.
Stepling brings together the talents of step/clog dancer Toby Bennett, percussionist Jo May, Deb Chalmers on fiddle and vocals, and guitarist Adrian Lever – their performances weave a rich tapestry crossing the boundaries of music and dance.
Toby is a professional dancer and dance teacher specialising in English step dancing particularly the rich traditions of English Step Clog.
With appearances at venues such as London’s Green Note, Hitchin Folk Club and Sidmouth FolkWeek, Stepling’s dynamic and varied performances have already received much acclaim. You can get a taste of what they do here.
Morris will again play a big and we are delighted to welcome Berkshire Bedlam, renowned Cotswold Morris dancers from Wokingham in Berkshire, were formed in 1977, and perform a wide range of dances. While some are based on the legendary Leafield dances of Oxfordshire, the majority of today’s repertoire is original compositions put together in recent years. However here’s an old favourite from last year.
Finally, if you want to join in yourself, there’s a Saturday ceilidh with caller Vicky Cooper and The Brewery Band whose members has a wealth of experience playing mainly English dance music
The band is equally happy playing both for ceilidhs/barn dances and folk dance clubs and features Dave Byett on melodeons, Nigel Hall from Pendragon and Rapscallion on mandolin, cittern and guitar, Helen Brock on fiddle Andy Brewer on bass, who has played with Dr Bowser’s Brown Bowel Oil Band and Brewer’s Troupe and Glyn Owen on drums and all things percussive.
So don’t forget to bring your dancing shoes and keep a lookout for more updates.