English Folk and Covid-19
In these exceptionally difficult times, at the English Folk Dance and Song Society we are making every effort to find reasons to remain hopeful.
Cecil Sharp House and the Vaughan Williams Memorial Library will be closed to the public until the end of May, but there are many other ways in which we can continue to celebrate English folk.
Resources and Archives
We are looking at how we can take maximum advantage of the gaps that have appeared in our schedules. We have started to plan more materials for our online Resource Bank of educational materials – which (as always) offers completely free access to a wide variety of performance materials, supporting documentation, lesson plans, audio and video downloads and more. We are also looking for new ways to make sure that educators, wherever they are, are fully informed about the Resource Bank.
The extensive online archives of the Vaughan Williams Memorial Library remain freely available to all.
Classes and Courses
We are working hard with the tutors of our classes and courses at Cecil Sharp House – Saturday Folk Music Workshops, evening classes in Morris Dancing and English Country Dancing, Monday Folk Choir Workshops, Cecil Sharp House Choir and London Youth Folk Ensemble – to provide sessions online. Cecil Sharp House Choir had its first successful online trial session on Wednesday and we will be running sessions for all 14 of our Saturday Folk Music Workshop classes tomorrow!
We will be delivering as much as we can of sessions online, with necessary adaptations and developments for this new approach to group learning. We’re grateful to our staff and tutors for their creative thinking and hard work to make this possible.
We will next be moving on to thinking about how we can make provision for our Morris and English Country Dancing evening classes and for young disabled people attending Folk Unlimited. In due course, we hope to extend some of our adult learning classes to new participants who would not normally have been able to travel to our London home.
Youth Folk
We're also gearing up to deliver our first virtual five-day residential for members of the National Youth Folk Ensemble, starting next weekend. Although presenting very real challenges and necessary changes to the programme, with less opportunity for interactive group music-making, it’s also giving us the opportunity to provide more one-to-one instrumental sessions with tutors. We look forward to the music learning and creativity that emerges from this new approach.
We’re happy to say that our annual free Youth Folk Sampler Days will still run in May half-term. The events will now be taking place online and no longer physically happening in our partner venues around England, although we will still be partnering with these organisations in other ways. The National Youth Folk Ensemble team will deliver virtual workshops introducing young musicians to folk tunes, techniques and creative ideas. All playing and learning will be done by ear. Players of any instrument, aged 12–18, can book now for their preferred Sampler Day date. These events are FREE, but places are limited and must be booked in advance.
Artists, Educators and support staff
We are also working hard to mitigate the financial consequences for everyone whom we commission to work with us:
- We have planned various education events around England as well as at Cecil Sharp House. We intend that tutors and associated artists will be paid for the work which we have asked them to deliver – whether or not the activities go ahead.
- Artists need our support now more than ever. So for gigs which had been scheduled at Cecil Sharp House in March, April and May, all artists will be paid the full guarantee that they would have received had their performance taken place.
- We are determined to ensure that freelance and casual staff at Cecil Sharp House are compensated for lost earnings. Each of our regular duty managers, events assistants and sound engineers will receive the pay that they would have expected throughout the closure period, up to 31 May.
Lobbying
Everyone who is involved in the folk arts will be affected by this pandemic, and significant financial support will be needed to mitigate the long-term damage. We are joining other national organisations, across the arts and cultural sectors, in energetic lobbying of government agencies including the Department of Digital, Culture, Media and Sport, HM Revenue & Customs, Chancellor of the Exchequer and more.
Tending the flame, not worshiping the ashes
The next few weeks and months will be exceptionally challenging. But all together (and with appropriate social distancing, of course) we can continue to celebrate the unique values of folk music and dance.
If you can afford to, please consider making a donation – however large or small – to support our ongoing running costs.
The English Folk Dance and Song Society is a Charity registered in England and Wales, number 305999.