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Celebrating Dance 2001 Review by Anna Baildon The leaflet advertising celebrating dance said it was the inaugural year meaning that we can expect an annual event - good, because I'm already looking forward to the next time! Congratulations to Afra and her team for creating a well organised, interesting and very enjoyable weekend, and another good dance event in the south-west. So what did we do? We kicked off with a haflah and performance platform on Friday evening, followed up by two days of workshops and lectures, a colourful bazaar for browsing and spending, and a gala performance by the teachers on Saturday night. Those who could stay had tea and biscuits later on Sunday afternoon, and a chance to give some feedback while we rested our weary bodies. The atmosphere throughout was warm and friendly. I spoke to lots of new people as well as the few familiar faces. Holding the haflah on the first evening was a great way to encourage this. There were several performance segments, giving less experienced performers are a valuable chance to have a go. With my roving reporter’s hat on, a couple of ladies told me that they thought it was a really good social, and that it was nice and have an informal evening after traveling. Workshops were mostly two hours long and were varied in terms of dance styles and ability levels. Participants told me they liked the mix of styles and thought all the classes were excellent. The only problem, of course, is that when you have to choose you can't do all the sessions you are interested in. But this is inevitable when there is a menu of choices, and can't be helped. Still, there is always next time! Afra opted for a system where participants went along to the session of their choice, with the proviso that numbers in some classes would need to be restricted for safety reasons. Although I could see potential problems with this, it seemed to work out fine in the classes I attended. A possible exception would be Emma’s stick workshop, but it was manageable. When we discussed the system at the feedback session, several of us favoured pre-booking workshop places on the grounds that you know in advance which sessions you would be able to attend. I couldn't make it to Afra’s lectures, but I thoroughly enjoyed Vashti’s talks on the development of the dance in the UK and elsewhere. She is truly a living archive of information and experience! Several of you were very keen on the lectures when I asked for comments saying that you wanted more next time, for example on costuming. This is great in my opinion, as these sessions give us the opportunity to pass on a deeper understanding of the dance than is possible in dance classes. The hotel was a lovely place to hold the gala evening, and the staff were excellent. I was helping backstage so I just caught some tantalising glimpses of the dancing. The applause would suggest that the audience was impressed, and I look forward to seeing the video sometime. When I asked some of you what you thought, you were full of praise - one lady said the whole evening was ‘incredible’ and ‘very professional’, and you appreciated the gorgeous food after a day's hard workshopping. I expect most of us spent money as well as time in the bazaar! Some of you told me that you thought the bazaar was good value, and was also well laid out. Hmm, seasoned shoppers aren’t we! To finish here are a few of the jottings from my note pad which are representative of what participants said about the weekend:
12 good reasons to book your place for next time!
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