The Light-hearted Dance Weekends

A series of English Country Dance Weekends for Enthusiasts. The weekends are aimed at suiting a wide range of tastes, with dances from the 'Playford era' (c1650) up to the present day including 'New England' Contras & Squares. The series is organised and led by John & Hilary Turner. It is aimed at people who enjoy their dancing and aspire to improve their skills, and understanding of English Country Dance, but not at the expense of courtesy and cordiality. The emphasis is firmly on enjoyment.

Comments from some of our Customers at Bournemouth, Jan 2008:
'Thank you very much you two for good company, fantastic music & callers, and above all a welcome not to be forgotten'. - Name withheld.
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'Thank you for a fabulous weekend, best yet!! friendly atmosphere'. - Beryl Hartley & Martyn Bidgood, Eastbourne, Sussex.
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Customer comments from our latest Light-hearted Dance Weekend

Skipton, Nth Yorks, Nov 2008 Mailing List Waiting list Bournemouth, Jan 2009 Previous Light-hearted Weekends Customer Comments from other folk dance holidays.

THE EVENTS & PROGRAMME OUTLINE

The events are usually held at hotels and similar venues around the country.
Current venues include:
'The Hotel Piccadilly' in Bournemouth, Dorset (mid January).
'The Rendezvous Hotel' in Skipton, Nth Yorks (mid November).
The weekends comprise a mixture of dances and workshops and some free time to explore the local environs. Customers gather for evening meal on the Friday and the event ends with a Farewell Dance on Sunday afternoon.
See below for more detailed information & current events.

THE LEADERS

John & Hilary Turner
from Southampton organise & lead the events. 		John Turner Hilary Turner

The calling is shared between John and our 'Guest Caller' (see individual events).

John, a Yorkshireman, calls dances in a variety of styles from Playford to 'New England' Contras & Running Set. He has called at several major UK festivals, and at dance camps in the USA in recent years.
John's 'Calling CV'

The music is provided by our Guest Musicians, usually a well-known duo (see individual events).

Hilary, originally from the North-East, is Booking Secretary and Hostess.

For details of our previous Events, Guest Callers, Musicians, and comments from some of our Customers see: Previous Light-hearted Dance Weekends.

OUR PHILOSOPHY

We aspire to improve our dancing skills, knowledge and understanding of English Country Dance but not at the expense of courtesy and cordiality.
We encourage our guests to get to know as many of the other guests as possible during the event by:
inviting them to change partners frequently on the dance floor; and by
inviting them to change tables and table companions at mealtimes (we do not expect partners or close friends to split up).

We aim to a provide a 'value for money' weekend, using well known folk artists, both callers & musicians, at venues providing good quality accommodation, food, ballroom & service.

CURRENT EVENTS

Events currently launched:
Skipton, Nov 2008                            The event is already fully booked (75 dancers).
Bournemouth, Dorset, Jan 2009.        The event is already fully booked (85 dancers). (#23 in the series).
If you wish to join our mailing list see below.

BOOKING POLICY

Launch date for a particular event is signalled by the circulating of event brochures by post to all customers on our mailing list, & the circulation of email notification to non-UK residents. No Bookings for an event will be taken before launch date.

All rooms will be allocated on a 'first come-first served' basis, whilst ensuring a reasonable gender balance. A cheque for the full deposit is necessary to reserve your booking. A discount may be given for early bookings. No reservations will be accepted by phone, or email or without a full deposit.

N.B. Special arrangements apply to non-UK residents, please apply by email in the first instance.

If an event is already fully booked, then we will return your deposit and put your name on the waiting list. You will be contacted by phone if an appropriate vacancy occurs.

Once your booking has been confirmed the deposit may be non-returnable. If you are forced to cancel, we will endeavour to re-fill the vacancy. If successful, we will return your deposit minus a small administration fee. However we reserve the right to charge the full amount if we incur cancellation charges. Cancellation Insurance is available and is highly recommended. Forms will be sent with your booking confirmation.

Sharing a twin room
All Single guests wishing to share a twin room must be prepared to pay the single supplement (if appropriate - see individual events) if we are unable to find a suitable room-mate or their room-mate is forced to cancel their reservation.
Single guests, who wish to share a room with specified individuals only, must book for the event with the specified individual on the same booking form.

BOOKING PROCEDURE

To book for one of our events please download a copy of our booking form for the event (see 'current events' above), enclose a cheque for the appropriate amount and post to the address on the form.

Beware! We circulate our brochures to over 250 individual addresses as well as to dance clubs throughout the country, so don't delay, we fill up extremely quickly!

If you like statistics, here is a graph indicating how quickly we fill up!

graph Graph of '%Full' against 'Elapsed days since launch' for our last 6 dance weekends.


FUTURE EVENTS

Northern Weekend, Nov 2009.
Bournemouth, Dorset, Jan 2010.
Brochures for these events will be circulated approx 8 months prior to the event. Regular customers automatically remain on our Mailing list.

MAILING LIST

If you would like your Name and Address added to our mailing list for future events, please complete the Mailing List request
NB. Regular customers automatically remain on our Mailing list. Non-UK residents please send us your email address.

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