Hull and East Yorkshire’s four folk dance teams – Green Ginger Garland, Rackaback Morris, Beverley Garland and Makara Morris – have come together to organise a major day of dance. Between 20 and 40 teams will perform for the people of Hull, who will be surprised and delighted by the explosion of colour on the city centre’s streets.
Up to 500 men and women of all ages, from children to 70-plus, will be dancing in public spaces accessible to all. It will be folk dancing on a massive scale – as people in Hull have never seen it. Audience members will get the opportunity to join in, and be given information about the various dances and styles, and how they can join their local team.
We will work with businesses to help them boost trade, in return for sponsorship or the use of their venue.
To round off the day, we are organising a ceilidh at the Guildhall with one of the region’s leading dance bands, and it will be open to all to come and learn traditional barn dances.
What we'll deliver:
- Organise a big public barn dance bash to round off the day
- Create information about the dancers and teams for audiences to take home
- Provide an event to remember and a new fixture in the city's entertainment calendar
- Record the event for posterity via film and photography
Why it's a great idea:
We want to bring in hundreds of visitors to Hull from around the country, who will in turn be watched by hundreds of local people - with the vastly increased footfall providing a welcome boost to the city centre's economy.
We also aim to demonstrate how folk dancing allows freedom of expression, and the freedom to have fun. We want to show it is accessible, affordable, healthy and liberating. And we do not intend the 2017 event to be a one-off. We want it to become a firm fixture in the city’s cultural calendar for years to come, rivalling similar events in cities such as York and Lincoln.
Steps to get it done:
- Finish construction of event website
- Printing of promotional flyers/leaflets
- Commissioning film company and photographer for the event
Folk dancing is born out of ancient traditions, but we will use modern technology to bring it to new audiences. We are creating the Hull Day of Dance brand and website at www.hulldayofdance.com, plus a social media presence. We will use Twitter and Facebook to build up a following online, and we will encourage people to use the #hulldance hashtag to spread the word, and use Periscope to live-stream video around the world. We will record the event with images on our website and social media, and commission a short film.
