English Dance and Song December 2025
This news item is based on articles in English Dance and Song, the magazine of the English Folk Dance and Song Society. The world’s oldest magazine for folk music and dance, EDS was first published in 1936 and is essential reading for anyone with a passion for folk arts.
Since 2021 we’ve been awarding Dance Mini Grants to grassroots social folk dance organisations making the scene more accessible. Jen Cox, Dance Development Manager, reports on the 2025 cohort of successful applications.
“Our Dance Mini Grant winners have been having a great time putting their grants to good use. Five grants of £500 were awarded for use in early 2025; you can read reports from four of the projects here. Our fifth awardee, Havering Changing, have been unable to complete their project yet, but have exciting plans for multicultural community dance events taking place over the next few months.”
Wickham Skeith Country Dance Club
Caller Jayne Delarre had the idea to form a village country dance club in summer 2024. She advertised in the parish magazine, set up a Facebook page, advertised on NextDoor and was delighted when 14 people came to the first meeting in October 2024.
With support from musicians in the family, some recorded music and a borrowed PA, the first event was a success; starting simply as none of the participants had danced before, and gradually building in more moves. It was a lovely evening, and Jayne booked the hall for future events.
By the second session in November, the mini grant had enabled the purchase of a PA system and microphones, and the club was up and running. The participants were enjoying themselves, and by December, with the dancers growing in confidence and making friends, it was starting to feel like a proper club.
On average, 8 to 16 people attend the club, aged from 40 to 85, and as a lively social event, they have also received support from the village hall committee. Jayne has also been collecting local dances from Suffolk and Norfolk and has built these into the club’s repertoire, giving people an opportunity to feel that the dances are their own. The grant has really made a difference to the club.
Musical Chairs
Let’s Dance teacher Jane Pfaff and musician and organiser Jeremy Monson delivered an inclusive community dance session at Highbury Roundhouse Community Centre, in Islington, in February. 25 participants attended from Highbury’s Over 55s group, a church-led Memory Cafe group and SISC - a local stroke survivors club.
The event went down extremely well and received positive feedback. As well as the opportunity to enjoy the activities and have a go with different props such as jingling sticks, hankies and jig dolls, the participants benefitted from exercise, and gained in confidence and autonomy. They also enjoyed social time with new people and it was gratifying to see the different groups developing relationships, and interpersonal engagement develop. The session empowered joint participation in activities really well, with adaptive options for seated and standing attendees, and those being supported by a carer. Live music, with flexibility, responsiveness and personality, was key.
Jayne and Jeremy benefitted from work done in the same field, particularly by Ann Hinchliffe and the Folk Education Network, and were happy to learn by helping others.
‘Anyone having fun lights up the space for everyone!’
Horizon Community College
Dance teacher Jade Hunt said that the grant had a real impact on their offer and delivery of folk dance, and the college have really enjoyed further developing their activities.
They used some of the funding to host a Youth Rapper Day for over 50 young people locally and from around the country. The dancers learned so many new steps and figures, and it was a lovely opportunity for young people to connect and enjoy dancing with each other.
Additionally, they ran longsword and morris workshops and trained all their young dance leaders in new styles. The young people then went on to teach younger children, running workshops with primary schools over the summer and autumn terms.
They are working towards creating a longer dance piece to take to U.Dance platforms, with a narrative feel to introduce folk dance to a wider audience. So far, the have created a series of eight short dances which they performed at Swanage Folk Festival over the summer featuring morris, longsword and rapper, and students who had undertaken R+D with traditional folk dance styles drew on their research to speak about the styles between performances.
Choreography from the pieces will be consolidated ready for entry into local and national platform entries, including a Crossing Borders event and performances at York Theatre Royal.
The college, based in Barnsley, also utilised some funding towards new equipment, such as morris sticks and rapper swords, allowing them to try new things and enhance their performances.
‘We can’t wait to show off our new skills!’
BlueJam Arts
Ceilidh dancing and music have become an integral and lively part of BlueJam Arts, thanks to the financial and motivational boost of the Dance Mini Grant. BlueJam, founded in 2003, is a grassroots community arts organisation specialising in intergenerational participant-centred projects and events, as well as creative groups that foster community connection and inclusion. Their Arts Space in Penrith is a lively hub for creativity, especially for vulnerable community members who may feel excluded elsewhere.
They held a special Family Ceilidh event, working with their FamilyJam group leading up to the event to play folk music together, try some typical ceilidh dances, and create their own new ‘Lightsaber’ dance based on ceilidh style dancing. The afternoon was joyful, and families gave wonderful feedback about the inclusive event, which was as affordable and welcoming as possible to those who might not have previous experience of ceilidhs. They also worked with local musicians – the “BlueJam and Friends” band – to include an outdoor family ceilidh as part of May Day celebrations in town.
Co-creative directors Jilly Jarman and Sara Barnard were delighted with the outcomes of the grant and the way it has helped them develop and strengthen the folk music and ceilidh activities available for families and young people in Cumbria.
EFDSS’ Dance Development programme, including its Dance Mini Grants, aims to support the development of English folk dance and bring it to a wider audience. Details of the 2025/26 grant awardees can be found at efdss.org/dancedevelopment
