From double step to rant step: 450 years of English country dance
(Cécile Laye)
The selection of dances will be chosen from the four main periods in relation to country dancing, to give credit to this long-lasting repertoire.
Going back in time as far as the repertoire edited by John Playford, direct heir of the measures and Italian Balli of the preceding century, we will proceed through the many 18th century editors competing with the Dancing Master, reaching the Regency period to conclude with traditional dances and modern choreographies.
Lively dances will alternate with more stately ones, to cater for all tastes and abilities.
Cécile Laye, France
Cécile Laye is a trained dancer and comedian who specialized in early dance while studying in England (The Historical Dance Society - Nonsuch History and Dance - English Folk Dance and Song Society). In France, she worked under the direction of renowned pedagogues or researchers such as Francine Lancelot, Andrea Francalanci and Barbara Sparti.
In 1998, she founded CHESTNUT (chestnut.fr), producing dance-theatre shows in Paris and beyond. In 2002, she created a school for a methodical teaching of English Figure Dance within which she offers each year, a very extensive season of courses, dance classes, evening dances and periods balls both in France and in England. She worked as artistic director for the six dance albums produced by CHESTNUT.
In 2016 and 2022, she received a grant from Centre National de la Danse (CN D) to run two different research projects on two aspects of the English country dance repertoire.
She regularly teaches at charities, music schools, and festivals in France and abroad, including Belgium, the US (Amherst Early Music Festival), and Poland (Cracovia Danza Court Dance Festival).
