Inter Varsity Folk Dance Festival

The weekend of 27th February to 1st March saw the 76th Inter Varsity Folk Dance Festival (IVFDF) held once again at the University of York. It is the UK’s longest continually running folk festival and held at a different university location each year, and although it is aimed at students it is open to everyone and proudly caters for a wide range of ages and interests. There are workshops, music sessions, crafts, informative discussions and debate, and social dancing into the early hours. In parallel is a Morris dance tour round the city centre which this year had 32 sides taking part! 

The dancing is always varied, and this year was no exception with the social dancing covering ceilidhs, contra, Eurobal, Playford, and our own Scottish country dancing. The dance workshops ranged from Regency Dance to African American Swing Dance, via Micro-balfolk - explaining how the smallest of movements can shape your dancing and convey information to your partner, something of which we should all take note. 

The Scottish country dance was held on the Saturday afternoon. The band once again was Canna’ Laigh after they gave such a fabulous performance at the Sheffield IVFDF last year. The mix of accordion, flute and fiddle gave their popular tunes a real lift. The programme was intended to be on the simpler side with dances that could be explained to dancers who hadn’t met these dances before. Every dance was walked for every couple and then called continuously. Gender free calling was used throughout. The dance was well attended with both experienced and beginner folk dancers, and even some Scottish country dancers. The whole event had a lovely atmosphere, and it was a joy to be involved. 

The Scottish country dance workshop was held at 9 am on the Sunday morning, so I am very proud of the three sets who came to listen, dance, and laugh. It’s what IVFDF is all about.