Summer School 2024: Strictly Victorian

The aim of our summer school is to provide people with the time to study a range of dances, to improve dance ability and confidence in dance, and to have fun in good company.

We offer a choice of three weekend courses with experienced teachers at two general levels of difficulty/challenge. The full course provides an in-depth dance experience while the weekend courses are perfect for those with less time available or those just wanting to try out dance of this period. You do not need to come with a dance partner.

Birte can look back upon decades of experience in teaching, reconstructing, and performing dances from different periods, from Renaissance to early 20th century. Her theoretical research in dance history centres around the lives and works of several North German dancing masters in the 19th century.

Her class, for dancers with some experience in Country Dances and/or couple dances, will introduce dances described in German sources from the second half of the 19th century (Quadrilles, Polkas and Tyroliennes, for example), exploring the appropriate footwork and its development over the decades. You will be dancing group dances in different forms such as square or longways sets, and you will acquire the step material for the various couple dances that were so popular at the time.

Sam is an IDTA qualified teacher of dance with twenty years’ experience in teaching and performance environments. He teaches weekly classes and workshops but our summer school is likely to herald his retirement from running his own courses. His special areas of interest include the French Cotillions of the 1760s to 1780s, mid-19th century couple dances and animal dances of the early twentieth century.

His weekend class will provide an overview of the popular couple dances of the mid-nineteenth century; e.g. Polka, Schottisch, Polka-Mazurka and their variations, including the Esmeralda, Polka Redowa and Varsovienne. You will thoroughly cover the steps required and aim to master two quadrilles on the Polka and Schottisch themes. The class is suitable for anyone with some dance experience of any type.

Libby is a teacher and leader of Mrs Bennet’s Ballroom, set up in 2013. She runs historical dance classes in Surbiton and monthly in Euston. Her annual balls and tea dances are very popular and succeed in bringing original dances from historical sources back to life.

Her weekend class will cover Victorian era country dances and quadrilles from the book ‘Dances of Fashionable Society’ compiled by HDS from the work by Ellis & Chris Rogers. We will also cover some couple dances to reflect the Victorian craze for the waltz. Studying these popular dances will help you to learn their fundamental moves, footwork, timing and patterns. These dances, with their rich music, are great fun to learn and dance, and give a great sense of team work and achievement! The class is suitable for all regardless of any dance experience or none.