The New: Balfolk
Modern dance from French traditional dances
Saturday, April 13, 7 to 10 p.m.
The Old: Historic dances from 18th and 19th century France
with Susan de Guardiola
Sunday, April 14, 6 to 9 p.m.
Live music both evenings
with the Cosmic Otters
and special guest Mary Vanhoozer for Balfolk hurdy gurdy
Location for both events:
Grace Lutheran Church, 493 Forest Ave., Glen Ellyn IL 60137
More information on the location here
Co-sponsored by Chicagoland West Dancers and Alliance Française DuPage
Previous dance experience not required. Come with or without a partner.
$15 per person, per evening
Printable flyer
Program details:
The New: Balfolk – modern dance from French traditional dances
Saturday, April 13, 7 to 10 p.m.
Dances presented by Meg Dedolph, Jonathan Whitall, and Mady Newfield
- Hanter Dro
- Circassian Circle
- Scottish
- Rond de St. Vincent (sung)
- Bourrée à deux temps
- Chapelloise
- Waltz
- Scottish
- Bourrée à deux temps
- Rondeau en chaine
- Bal de Limousin
- Gavotte de Grenoble
The Old: Historic dances from 18th and 19th century France
Sunday, April 14, 6 to 9 p.m.
Dances presented by Susan de Guardiola
Susan brought set of light-hearted French longways, square, and circle dances from the early 18th century to the late 19th. We clapped our way through Le Carillon and La Fanatique, went on La Bonne Aventure, explored the mysteries of La Turck and the controlled chaos of Les Moulinet, and enjoyed the variety of La Chaîne and Le Grand-Père.
- Le Ballet Hollandoise
- La Poule
- La Turck
- La Trompeuse (« La bonne aventure »)
- Carillon de Dunkirk
- Le Grandpère
- La Fanatique
Performer bios:
Mary Vanhoozer
Multi-instrumentalist Mary Vanhoozer grew up in Edinburgh, Scotland, where she learned to play the Scottish fiddle and developed an enduring love of folk music. Traditional noëls from southern France played an equally formative role as they introduced her to the hurdy gurdy. Since acquiring her first hurdy gurdy in 2017, she has explored and performed a variety of repertoire, including Bal Folk, French baroque, renaissance dance music of France, Germany, and England, and English Country Dances. A member of the critically acclaimed Ciaramella Ensemble, she has performed at the San Francisco Early Music Society as well as a live broadcast on KUSC radio, Los Angeles. Mary has produced two albums featuring selections from John Playford’s Dancing Master for hurdy gurdy. She holds degrees in piano performance from Wheaton College Conservatory (B.M.), the Eastman School of Music (M.M.), and the Cleveland Institute of Music (D.M.A).
Susan de Guardiola
Susan de Guardiola is an independent scholar and teacher of historical social dance and an internationally recognized expert on the social dance of eighteenth and nineteenth century England, France, and America. She calls nineteenth-century balls and has taught popular classes on historical social dance across the USA as well as in England, Germany, Belgium, Ukraine, and Russia, and recently presented her work at Oxford University. She makes some of her research available online at Capering & Kickery (http://www.kickery.com).
Chicagoland English Country Dance 