Shaftesbury & Gillingham

University of the Third Age

SGU3A Registered charity No. 1078452

©SGU3A 2010

Updated: 2010-10-05

Circle dance

What do we do?

We dance literally in the footsteps of our ancestors. These dances are a celebration of community and many of them are thousands of years old. They were performed by the whole village, all ages joining together, at weddings, births, deaths, before and after war and for the changes of the seasons, in praise and gratitude for the spring, the harvest, the end of drought, the gathering of grapes for wine and much much more. Many are pagan but equally many are Christian, Muslim, Jewish and from all the worlds’ peoples and religions. Some are fast and lively and invigorating, some are slow and meditative and so it is best to wear layers of clothes to be put on and off as needed and it is essential to have soft flat shoes. The music is extremely powerful and evocative and we allow time for the power of the dance to be held amongst us so that the spirit of harmony and community can be created, which is the whole point of these ancient dances and why they were choreographed in the first place. Because of this, Circle Dancers always comment on the amount of energy they have after a dance session. Many of the steps tell a story and there is much historical and cultural symbolism and our group leader explains the meaning of the dances whenever possible – there is a lot of research done into this and our group leader has studied a fair amount of it.

What level of knowledge is required?

Circle Dances are for those who love to dance and who have a level of fitness where they can enjoy the faster dances. The steps vary from the very simple to those of a medium complexity and a good memory helps as some dances are in 3 or 4 parts. Those with joint problems need to be very careful as there is a lot of twisting and turning. It is exceptionally rare for anyone to join who is not able to master the dances and we know of no-one who did not enjoy themselves!

What materials are needed.

None.

How many in the group, and are there any vacancies?

There are at present 11 of us but probably an average of 8 who attend on a very regular basis.

Where do the meetings take place?

Ideally we would dance out of doors in bare feet ( as we shall do this summer ) but we meet in the Autumn and Winter in St. Peter’s Hall, Goldhill, from 3-4.30pm alternate Tuesdays.