Dancing Dialogues: Networking research with traditional English and diasporic dance groups practising in South West, South East and Midlands England.
Lead Research Organisation:
Royal Holloway, Univ of London
Department Name: Drama, Theatre and Dance
Abstract
Dancing and dancers are at the heart of this proposed practice-based network that seeks greater understanding of traditional/folk/national dance forms currently practiced in England. Engaging key current research trajectories of diaspora, community, regionality, and urban cultures and identities, this project recognises and values the breadth of dance practices taking place under the headings of 'traditional', 'folk', 'regional' and 'national', and will foreground their complex, often contested, associations and histories.
Our network will develop research with traditional dance groups active within three selected areas of England (South East, Midlands and South West). There are many such groups operating in halls and community centres throughout these regions that are currently under researched. These include largely amateur companies based in England from a range of diasporic communities maintaining their cultural identities such as Polish, Ecuadorian, Irish, Spanish and South African groups, together with local regional dancers of, for instance, Cornish step, Morris, sword and clog dance.
As national borders close, and with increased global interdependence, we ask: what role do distinct traditional and national dances play for diasporic communities in negotiating embodied identity in England today? How are notions of regional location, site, and geography central to extending our understanding of dance as contextual to the idea of 'Englishness'? How have groups adapted, created, and survived during and post the Covid 19 pandemic? How do traditional dance groups actively contribute to creativity and community?
The project will develop research in three stages. Initial questionnaires circulated widely to traditional dance groups active in each of the three regions will invite inclusion on an interactive online map supported by tech and software company IN2. With this we aim to locate the number and range of dance groups operating in each of the selected areas. There has been no systematic attempt to capture this information in England previously, nor how it relates to understandings of 'Englishness'. Dance groups will be able to upload their online profiles to support group interaction and further research engagement. Working with our partners and supported by an experienced advisory group the website details will be circulated through dance festivals and associations and linked to related websites.
In the second stage researchers based in each of the regions will lead visits to self-selecting groups that have expressed interest in sharing their practices. Libby Worth (PI based in SE region), Jerri Daboo (Co-I in SW region) and Midlands consultant Rosemary Cisneros will extend the network through face-to-face interaction, interviews and discussion with groups. This will culminate in an online symposium that addresses the project aims through dancer panels, video analysis, presentations and keynotes. We will invite academics' contributions from related disciplines such as, ethnomusicology, material culture, memory studies, heritage studies, religious studies and social cultural geography.
The final stage will trial an original methodology in a workshop hosted by EFDSS at Cecil Sharp House in London. Two to three dancers from self-selecting groups in each region will be invited to meet to show and share steps and dance experiences. This day of 'dancing dialogues' is envisioned as trialling an embodied process that could be developed and offered regionally and internationally. It will provide an opportunity for dancers to share their steps and the stories of their dances to better understand how creative activity contributes to regional, national and diasporic cultural identity. This both fulfils dancers' expressed desire to meet with each other and supports greater academic research in this terrain. The project will complete with an open access web report and co-written research article.
Our network will develop research with traditional dance groups active within three selected areas of England (South East, Midlands and South West). There are many such groups operating in halls and community centres throughout these regions that are currently under researched. These include largely amateur companies based in England from a range of diasporic communities maintaining their cultural identities such as Polish, Ecuadorian, Irish, Spanish and South African groups, together with local regional dancers of, for instance, Cornish step, Morris, sword and clog dance.
As national borders close, and with increased global interdependence, we ask: what role do distinct traditional and national dances play for diasporic communities in negotiating embodied identity in England today? How are notions of regional location, site, and geography central to extending our understanding of dance as contextual to the idea of 'Englishness'? How have groups adapted, created, and survived during and post the Covid 19 pandemic? How do traditional dance groups actively contribute to creativity and community?
The project will develop research in three stages. Initial questionnaires circulated widely to traditional dance groups active in each of the three regions will invite inclusion on an interactive online map supported by tech and software company IN2. With this we aim to locate the number and range of dance groups operating in each of the selected areas. There has been no systematic attempt to capture this information in England previously, nor how it relates to understandings of 'Englishness'. Dance groups will be able to upload their online profiles to support group interaction and further research engagement. Working with our partners and supported by an experienced advisory group the website details will be circulated through dance festivals and associations and linked to related websites.
In the second stage researchers based in each of the regions will lead visits to self-selecting groups that have expressed interest in sharing their practices. Libby Worth (PI based in SE region), Jerri Daboo (Co-I in SW region) and Midlands consultant Rosemary Cisneros will extend the network through face-to-face interaction, interviews and discussion with groups. This will culminate in an online symposium that addresses the project aims through dancer panels, video analysis, presentations and keynotes. We will invite academics' contributions from related disciplines such as, ethnomusicology, material culture, memory studies, heritage studies, religious studies and social cultural geography.
The final stage will trial an original methodology in a workshop hosted by EFDSS at Cecil Sharp House in London. Two to three dancers from self-selecting groups in each region will be invited to meet to show and share steps and dance experiences. This day of 'dancing dialogues' is envisioned as trialling an embodied process that could be developed and offered regionally and internationally. It will provide an opportunity for dancers to share their steps and the stories of their dances to better understand how creative activity contributes to regional, national and diasporic cultural identity. This both fulfils dancers' expressed desire to meet with each other and supports greater academic research in this terrain. The project will complete with an open access web report and co-written research article.
Publications
Worth, L.
(2024)
Putting Dance on the Map.
in English Dance and Song. English Folk Dance and Song Society.
| Description | The Dancing Dialogues Networking project took place over twelve months from September 2023 - August 2024 across three regions of England - South East, South West and Midlands. The primary participants were folk, traditional and national dance groups drawn from a wide range of heritage backgrounds who included performance/presentation of their dances in their practices. That is, they were not exclusively social dance groups. The three main dance researchers PI, Co-I and Dance Consultant were based in each of the regions respectively to maximise participant contact through local engagement with minimal travel. The researchers worked closely with their partners English Folk Dance and Song Society (EFDSS) and Creative Lives for whom their were outcomes from the project. The Advisory Group established prior to the start of the network offered consistent support throughout as did members of the IN2 Software and Tech Company who hosted our website and online map. The project ran in three interleaved segments each of which had objectives and findings that will be presented here. Key Findings. 1. We surveyed and mapped online the location and activities of traditional dance groups that are largely amateur, self-organising and currently active within three regions in England. The resulting interactive map created in collaboration with IN2 is available for academic and public access on our website and will remain available there for at least five years https://dancing-dialogues.net/ . This map is different from others that might appear similar since it represents those groups interested in the research aims of the project and specifically in their willingness to connect in this network with other groups. The map therefore moves across the boundaries of different forms and lineages of dance to offer a resource for one form of dance group to interact with another. For instance we have had interest expressed by a morris group in the South West to meet to share steps with a Bulgarian group in the area. The dance groups have entered their own contact details for public engagement. See 'Engagement' in this report for examples of the map being used as a model for other researchers. 2. Early on in the project through drawing on project partners especially EFDSS, on Sidmouth Folk Festival and other similar events and on our contact for 'Dance Around the World' we were able to circulate a project questionnaire online. The take up was strong with 42 respondents from a good range of dance forms/styles/contexts. These offer scope for further analysis as the primary researchers work on a project scholarly article. The questionnaire addressed several of the primary research questions we had on the make up of participants in each dance group, their use of live or recorded music, their performance activity, their use of costume and props, their reliance on supporting personnel to function and the ways that they coped with the Covid-19 pandemic. Participants could also indicate whether they would like further engagement with the project or a practice visit from a researcher on the form. The forms are stored safely but are not publicly available. The data from them will be used in the primary researchers scholarly article and further dissemination of the project findings. 3. Resulting from the information gained through the questionnaires and online map described above, as well as through researcher attendance at festival/performance events and discussions with network partners and contacts, we were able to establish a range of folk/traditional/national dance groups with whom we could further the research. This was done a little differently in each region and dependent on how open the groups were to having visitors attend their practices. For instance, groups in the South East were keen to have their regional researcher visit, to a degree that it was impossible to visit them all, whilst groups in the Midlands were more wary and took longer to develop connection to the lead dance consultant based there. To understand this difference better we would need follow up research. In general the field work undertaken in the regions led to a much greater understanding of how each group operated, how they balanced working with traditional dance material with choreographing new dances relevant to contemporary life, the make up of the group and how they sustained meeting and performing in the region and further afield despite funding difficulties and the interruption caused by Covid-19. Crucial to this process was the opportunity to see the dances in more detail and learn about the steps, their heritage and connections with other dance forms internationally. Differences in emphasis became clear through these field visits as well as the interviews as described below. Types of focus that we noted ranged from emphasis on national identity and folk history/stories, focus on authenticity of replicating a historical dance form, emphasis on social impact, connectivity and having fun, emphasis on regional, local or national identities, desire to demonstrate pride in a national dance and through doing so resist racism, desire to link with the national, regional or local contexts and stories associated with their dances, promotion of dances connection to ancestry, indigeneity and spiritual beliefs, focus on dance as acts of rebelliousness, acts of resistance or political allegiance. The primary researchers found that attending events and practices in person provided a clearer understanding of the dance step details, the complexity of the forms that sometimes take many months to perfect and the varied way that these were taught and altered through original choreography. These are self organising groups some of which have clear leadership but many of which are more flexible in control and management within the teaching and performance set ups. As well as visiting groups, all the primary researchers conducted semi-structured interviews with leaders of the various dance groups with whom they had contact. This resulted in a wealth of detailed and specific information on each group revealing ways that dancers work with traditional material. Some groups created new choreography based on traditional steps whilst others felt compelled to replicate the dances as taught as closely as possible. We worked with such a wide range of groups of different backgrounds that it was hard to compare directly. For instance one leader of a Hawaiian Hula group felt ethically obliged to teach dances exactly as she was taught by a Hawaiian dance leader because she did not share his heritage and therefore did not want to dilute the form as danced in England. Conversely, a leader of a Peruvian/Andean dance group dancing with participants of Peruvian heritage felt confident to make new choreography drawing on knowledge of traditional dances and with the tone and attitude her background in this form retained. 4. It was always our intention in this project to provide space for dancers themselves to speak each other about their very diverse forms and experiences. We succeeded in this in the first event (see 'Engagement' sharing and discussion online symposium for details) we ran as a sharing and discussion online symposium. Alongside invited speakers (see https://dancing-dialogues.net/ for details and biographies), who were also professional and traditional dancers, we included short presentations from groups within each region to share their dance form and experiences prior to opening to a general discussion that brought in more dancers. This is available to listen back to on the Dancing Dialogues website. It became clear for this experience that dancers had a lot to say to each other despite coming from very different dance lineages and being based in different regions in England. This event enabled us to draw together several of the shared strands and open up a space for dancers to further share their needs and offer suggestions for solutions. These included financial barriers to keeping a group thriving , costs of travel for performance, underlying problems with accessing cheap or free space for rehearsal, underlying racism in open access to venues, importance of time and consistency in research with groups, consideration of why there might be mistrust of groups with research and more. The dancers seemed to welcome this form of event and were interested in seeing the range of dance forms that are currently being practiced in the regions we covered. Groups expressed interest in working and meeting with each other and were curious about music, costume and props, noting where these were shared but held different meanings/importance. 5. The final event was a day long workshop hosted at Cecil Sharp House, the home of one of our partners English Folk Dance and Song Society. For details of this together with a film of the whole event see both 'Engagement' in this report for a summary and the Dancing Dialogues website. It was always our intention to place dance exchange and sharing at the forefront of this research and in line with this our final event was the workshop that brought together the team of researchers, our partners, advisory group members and nine folk/traditional/national dance groups from across our three regions (SE, SW and Midlands). The dance groups brought between 1 - 3 members to share their work through video, step teaching and later in creating new dances. They were traditional dancers from Brazilian, Peruvian, Iberian, Hawaiian Hula and Polish groups together with Border Morris, Cotswold Morris and Appalachian Clog dancers. By the end of the very full day it was clear that the methodology piloted in running this day had been successful with a high degree of energy and excitement generated across participants and a desire for similar space to made available. In terms of findings, these are still arising but some of the immediate responses are worth noting now. a. We found tremendous enthusiasm from dancers to both talk about and show their work and to collaborate with a wide range of dance forms. There is a real desire from the folk dance community and research community to explore this work further. b. Dancers made it clear that coming together to dance was their natural way to share and to learn from each other rather than a more formal conference format. They readily worked with the format of the day that made space for this and learnt each others steps together with the context/history from which they had emerged. c. Many of the dancers were skilled in more than one dance form, opening up a wide range of movement communication and later analysis. Dancers and local groups are keen to support this research area. d. The day began to reveal some of the differences and synergies between the primarily diasporic dance groups and those emergent from a regional/local English heritage. The differences were not as extensive as first anticipated, partly as explained above because dancers were familiar with more than one dance form, but as significantly, the dance forms we witnessed had multiple connections beyond the UK. These might be in the form of staying strongly linked with the nation from which the dance originated (e.g. at our events with Peru/Andes, Brazil, Hawaii, Poland, Ecuador, North America, Spain and Portugal). Or it could be through dances that extend beyond national borders e.g. Cornish dance's links with Brittany and the Celtic connection or morris dance's lineages in Europe. Given the relatively small number of groups within the research network this is an area that would benefit from further studies. e. The Dancing Dialogues network aimed to question and revise notions of 'Englishness' and regional versus national identity. Findings have begun to emerge on this through both the workshop and the field visits/ interviews. A sense of national identity and pride in dancing within national traditions was evident in many of the groups participating. The number and diversity of national dance groups active in England in just the three regions we studied was startling. Some of the dancers within the network spoke of performing their national dances in public as a means of counteracting overt or covert racism they had experienced. Respondents spoke of how dance activity helped strengthen the bonds within their communities and acted as a means of passing on knowledge and traditions from their heritage. 6. The network aimed to reconsider dance descriptor terminology such as 'folk', 'national', 'traditional' in the context of each participating dance group, to understand their complexity, affordances and limitations. This is an area to be considered in more detail with a research article but it is worth noting here that in our experience through the project the concern with these terms was rarely raised if at all. Debates within academia persist with understandable concerns about such terms' tendency to silo different dance forms or to seem patronising/demeaning. There are concerns that remain here but in the project's experience dancers did not express worries about such terminology but with the way that dances placed under these labels do not seem to attract funding, external validation or much research attention. 7. The focus on the workshop day was on steps and sharing steps so dance groups did not come with costume and props. However, these were displayed in the performance clips each group showed and costume had been discussed in the symposium and within the field work and interviews. As expected much attention is placed on costume, props and on music for each dance form. The financial and time cost to the groups to keep these repaired and renewed is considerable. This is an area that would benefit from further research since our findings just touched on the significance of props for each dance and the meanings embedded within the costumes. Costumes ranged from those based closely on national dance lineages and even made in the country of the dance's origin, to those designed as a contemporary reaction to tradition or with a distinctive slant for a local group. The music for the dance groups was similarly complex and warrants more detailed research than afforded by our questionnaire and field responses. In many of the groups dancers were also musicians alternating their roles as needed. Sounds within the dance from the use of multiple props, hard shoes, costume sounds and various vocalisations all contributed to the musical and rhythmic structure. In the workshop a short experiment with doing the same lightly choreographed dance for the whole group to three different rhythms provoked much interest and discussion. It's a model that could be developed further. |
| Exploitation Route | The outcomes of this funding could be taken forward in the ways summarised above. As a short networking project with limited funds the research succeeded in opening up an extensive area of research on contemporary experience of folk, traditional and national dance in three regions in England. The project has demonstrated that there is a strong desire by dance groups to be in touch with other similarly self-organising primarily amateur traditional groups. As indicated in the 'findings' within this report the enthusiasm for connectivity, discussion and sharing opens up a wide range of areas for further investigation. We intend, through having piloted new methodologies within this project that these could be repurposed by other researchers with the continued aim to keep dance exchange and amplification of dancers voices central to any further. We have already had evidence of the website and online map being drawn on in support of new research projects within academia. The workshop pilot 'score' could be used again and would be particularly helpful in supporting more contact between regional dance groups. The ambitious multi-regional event in Dancing Dialogues did have its drawbacks in travel costs and time. Both of our partners (English Folk Dance and Song Society and Creative Lives) have given strong positive feedback on how they wish the legacy of this project to continue into the future as described in the 'Partners' section of this report. |
| Sectors | Communities and Social Services/Policy Creative Economy Education Leisure Activities including Sports Recreation and Tourism Culture Heritage Museums and Collections Other |
| URL | https://dancing-dialogues.net/ |
| Description | Both our partners English Folk Dance and Song Society and Creative Lives report clear benefits from participating in Dancing Dialogues. Please see their comments under the 'Partners' sections of this report for details. In brief, for Creative Lives, impacts include a greater awareness of the tremendous dance activity taking place in the three regions we covered and broadly under the heading of traditional, folk or national dance. Kelly Donaldson who liaised with the project fed back the following: 'As a result of our connection with the Dancing Dialogues project, we intend to create a section on our website devoted to folk/national dance across the UK and Ireland, and include as many groups as possible on our 'Creativity Map', encouraging newcomers to get involved. We also spread the word about the Creative Lives Awards, and other Creative Lives resources, to participants of the Dancing Dialogues project, and hope to continue our connection with them.' Jen Cox and Rachel Elliot who liaised with the project from English Folk Dance and Song Society reported that the project has had a positive impact on their networking and inclusion practices as a venue (see 'Partners' in this report for further details). Jen Cos fed back the following: 'The legacy of this networking has caused us to start a Facebook group to further foster these connections, and we're working on ways to expand this network and make the most of the valuable work of the project. We've since worked with project members as venue hirers and have been able to assist them in their work, and are looking forward to continuing these positive relationships'. Rosa Cisneros, Dance Consultant for the Midlands, indicated that there have been several impacts within Coventry University. 'The project's website also served as inspiration for two colleagues to closely develop their own research project looking at folk dance. A PhD student who closely followed the project has now embedded Morris Dancing into their research and is using the style to develop a comparative study between Morris Dance Education and Chinese Breast Slapping Dance. The DD website has also been a resource referenced by several colleagues at the Centre and in one instance, the dance map has served as inspiration for a European project keen to develop a similar survey and map for more groups.' Jerri Daboo, Co-I at University of Exeter began further research in Cornwall seeded by and taking place towards the end of the Dancing Dialogues project. This could lead to further impact beyond the interest already established in Cornish dance groups who are keen to expand research and understanding on the distinctive aspects of this area of the UK and its links beyond the UK's borders. In order to develop this project further she has applied for funding from the UKRI fund LUCIA (Locally Unlocking Culture Through Inclusive Access) for a scheme titled: 'Connecting Culture in Cornwall - access, inclusion, policy, and partnerships'. On a more general level the impacts from the research have been experienced by the dance groups with whom we have worked supporting their greater connectivity and shared discussions/concerns. The networking has amplified their voices and made their experiences of running dance groups in three regions in England more visible. Folk dance has a lot to contribute to research and to questions linked to national identity and social cohesion. The Dancing Dialogues networking project has highlighted the diverse fabric of the UK dance scene and actively included voices and dance styles that are often overlooked, excluded or neglected. Libby Worth (PI) has been invited to recent dance performances by groups who participated in the network including by Baila Peru and a Kvet, a Czech and Slovak company. The invitation to Baila Peru's performances at the 'Andean and Afro-Peruvian Rhythms and Heritage' day at the British Museum in London included a request to write a response to the afternoon. Sections of this were then included in their promotional film which was subsequently circulated including through the new Facebook site for Dancing Dialogues hosted by EFDSS. It is only seven months since the project officially completed and we expect further impacts to arise in due course. |
| First Year Of Impact | 2024 |
| Sector | Creative Economy,Education,Culture, Heritage, Museums and Collections,Other |
| Impact Types | Cultural Societal |
| Description | Dancing Dialogues collaboration with University of Exeter |
| Organisation | University of Exeter |
| Country | United Kingdom |
| Sector | Academic/University |
| PI Contribution | As this was a collaborating Co-I for the project, all the outcomes and narratives on this report are shared. |
| Collaborator Contribution | In addition to the shared research we undertook as PI and Co-I with research consultant for the Midlands, Professor Jerri Daboo also worked with dancers from Cornwall as an extension of the Dancing Dialogues project because they found it particularly difficult to travel long distances to meet with other dance groups from the three regions. See 'engagement' in this report for the details of this project and a talk given by Professor Daboo. |
| Impact | The Co-I will add any individual outputs on her Research Fish to be credited to this project. All other outcomes are noted in this report and are shared. |
| Start Year | 2023 |
| Description | Dancing Dialogues with Coventry University |
| Organisation | Coventry University |
| Country | United Kingdom |
| Sector | Academic/University |
| PI Contribution | This collaboration was with Centre for Dance Research at Coventry University with a scholar funded by the Dancing Dialogues AHRC funded Networking Project as a Dance Consultant for the Midlands area of England. The funding and work within this project enable us to extend the network to the Midlands area rather than just focus on the South West and South East where the PI and Co-I were based. As the three researchers worked together as a team the outcomes and impacts that arose and continue to develop are associated with us all. These can be found in the sub sections and summaries of this report. |
| Collaborator Contribution | It was important to have a researcher based in the Midlands for this project in order to provide a comparison with the other two regions and identify specific issues and activities emerging from this region. The dance consultant was able to overcome initial challenges in contacting dance groups in this area to establish links with active groups who were happy to participate in the network. Dr Rosemary Cisneros gave her view below. Coventry University (CU) contributed to the project in a number of different ways. We were officially classed as a consultant and supported the PI and Co-I throughout the project and also led on the West Midlands strand of the work. CU worked to find groups based in the West Midlands, spoke with key people in the folk dance community, ensured that a diverse range of voices were included in the project, and also worked to promote the project and ensure key dance organisations were aware of the Network. In addition to recruiting groups in the midlands, they worked closely with those groups to better understand the map, the dance website and how to add their details, and also support groups with completing the questionnaire and survey that was circulated. For the Dance Day in London, CU worked to promote, recruit and ensure there was some representation from the West Midlands at the event. |
| Impact | The outputs are shared with the two other researchers and included in the other segments of this report. Dr Rosa Cisneros summarises the outcomes from the collaboration with Dancing Dialogues below. As an institution and a researcher, we gained a lot from being part of this project. There was a lot of interest from my CU colleagues and they very closely followed and directly contributed to the project. The project gave rise to several internal conversations about research strands and possible future research questions and projects to possibly pursue. The project's website also served as inspiration for two colleagues to closely develop their own research project looking at folk dance. A PhD student who closely followed the project has now embedded Morris Dancing into their research and is using the style to develop a comparative study between Morris Dance Education and Chinese Breast Slapping Dance. The DD website has also been a resource referenced by several colleagues at the Centre and in one instance, the dance map has served as inspiration for a European project keen to develop a similar survey and map for more groups. As a researcher and practitioner, the project has given me more conviction that there is more to explore on this research topic and also opened up more questions. |
| Start Year | 2023 |
| Description | Dancing Dialogues working with English Folk Dance and Song Society |
| Organisation | English Folk Dance and Song Society (EFDSS) |
| Country | United Kingdom |
| Sector | Charity/Non Profit |
| PI Contribution | The research team created a network of active traditional dance groups in three regions of England through an online interactive mapping of groups and through a questionnaire, interviews, attendance at performances and dance group rehearsals. We co-ran events including an in person dancer focused workshop day hosted at the partner's venue. Due to the broad scope of our networking we made contact with a wide range of traditional dance artists to discuss and practice with each across differing cultural folk/national traditions. This was important for EFDSS intention to increase accessibility to and diversity in the use of their building, resources and educational provision. The educational officers who were the main link with the project were pleased with the outcomes of the research and have set up a Facebook site to support continuation of the important contacts made with the many dance groups. Our primary contacts with EFDSS through the Dance Development team reported the following impacts for their organisation at the end of the project. 'At EFDSS, being able to partner with the Dancing Dialogues project was a wonderfully rich and satisfying experience, making valuable connections across our sector which are very valuable to us as we continue in our work to become an effective anti racist organisation. The glorious cultural diversity and commonality of experience engendered by the project's Sharing Day was a joy and a very valuable experience for our staff and associates who were able to be present. The legacy of this networking has caused us to start a Facebook group to further foster these connections, and we're working on ways to expand this network and make the most of the valuable work of the project. We've since worked with project members as venue hirers and have been able to assist them in their work, and are looking forward to continuing these positive relationships.' |
| Collaborator Contribution | The contribution made by members of EDFSS staff was considerable. They introduced us to directors of the main morris dance organisations and circulated information on the project to their own large network. They sat on the advisory group for the project and actively contributed to the primary in person event hosted at their venue of Cecil Sharp House in London. The liaison staff were generous and supportive with time/energy resulting in a successfully hosted event. They suggested publication of and article on the network in the society magazine EDS (as recorded in this report) and intend to maintain the contacts already established with the dance groups - in part through a newly designed Facebook site. |
| Impact | The website as above is an important outcome so far. This was designed to be a valuable resource both during the project and as an archive of the research once the networking ended in August 2024. In brief it contains the online map that records all the dance groups in the three regions of the project that chose to place themselves on it. In doing so they gave easy access to their contact details for potential new dancers to find them or for further research. By contributing to the map they indicated an interest in this project that sought out groups who wished to share their dance traditions and current practices together with the many issues that arise in trying to maintain such a group. It also contains a video record of the online discussion/sharing held with two speakers, academic and non-academic participants (30). This brought to the fore some of the challenges faced by traditional dance groups who are largely amateur and sometimes quite isolated. The discussion highlighted the unequal access to dance practice spaces, venues for performance and sometimes negative and/or racist responses to dance performances. It also confirmed the researchers' original views on the desire by some groups for more opportunity to share across forms and dance history. |
| Start Year | 2023 |
| Description | Contribution to the Dance Research Matters Network Programmes Mid Point Event, 10th September 2024. |
| Form Of Engagement Activity | A talk or presentation |
| Part Of Official Scheme? | No |
| Geographic Reach | National |
| Primary Audience | Study participants or study members |
| Results and Impact | The event was designed for the Dance Research Matters Network Projects to given interim reports and host discussions on their progress to date. Dancing Dialogues just pre-dated these AHRC awards but Dr Libby Worth (PI) took this opportunity to give a short informal feedback and information on the networking she had undertaken with folk, national and traditional dancers. She was supported in this by the chair of the advisory group who was also present. There was strong feedback and a positive response to the project with some questions and later informal discussion. One of the primary points raised was querying why this particular area of dance is so little validated with research attention and funding. Other participants at the event resonated with this concern. |
| Year(s) Of Engagement Activity | 2024 |
| Description | Dancing Dialogues Advisory Group |
| Form Of Engagement Activity | A formal working group, expert panel or dialogue |
| Part Of Official Scheme? | No |
| Geographic Reach | National |
| Primary Audience | Study participants or study members |
| Results and Impact | The Advisory Group for Dancing Dialogues met four times over the project including a final feedback panel after the last event. The group had contributed to the development of the research project and funding bid and were important in a consultative and advisory role throughout the project. The membership of the group included dance scholars with experience in ethnography and study of traditional dance in its many forms, representatives from our partners and dance group leaders. For the group's membership and information see the website. https://dancing-dialogues.net/team The group met prior to each of the main events and at the start of the project to assess and discuss plans for each of the three stages of the network. They were able to help develop ideas and strategies as well as share their contacts for dissemination of the work and to increase the uptake of participation by dancers and dance groups. The final meeting was a project report and discussion on how the research gathered and network established might be sustained and enlarged in the future. |
| Year(s) Of Engagement Activity | 2023,2024 |
| URL | https://dancing-dialogues.net/team |
| Description | Dancing Dialogues Folk Dance Groups forum in Cornwall. |
| Form Of Engagement Activity | Participation in an activity, workshop or similar |
| Part Of Official Scheme? | No |
| Geographic Reach | Regional |
| Primary Audience | Study participants or study members |
| Results and Impact | Professor Jerri Daboo hosted a meeting of dance practitioners in Cornwall at the Penryn Campus of the University of Exeter in Cornwall. The group talked through some of the challenges facing the dancers, including finding funding, introducing dance into schools, and also considering how Cornish dance may be listed as intangible cultural heritage as part of the UK's ratifying of UNESCO's safeguarding of ICH. The aim was to increase awareness of specific issues encountered by dance groups in Cornwall and to extend the discussion on Cornish identity in relation to this whole project's interest in 'Englishness'. |
| Year(s) Of Engagement Activity | 2024 |
| Description | Dancing Dialogues Online Discussion Sharing Symposium |
| Form Of Engagement Activity | Participation in an activity, workshop or similar |
| Part Of Official Scheme? | No |
| Geographic Reach | National |
| Primary Audience | Other audiences |
| Results and Impact | This was an online research discussion and sharing event on Saturday 17 February 2024 from 14.00 - 17.30. The two researchers and the dance consultant with support from our partners invited dance groups to participate in this first open event for the networking project. Our primary aims were to create a welcoming platform for dancers from groups across the three regions to meet each other and share their dance forms and any issues they encountered. Prior to the sharing by invited groups there were introductions to the research project. Two invited speakers offered their perspectives on traditional dance taking place in England from the point of view of Afro-Portuguese and Ecuadorian dancers respectively. They raised some of the challenges faced by dancers who encounter resistance and racist attitudes to their dance practices making it hard to find venues for practice and performance. They also discussed the importance of being able to share dances from a wide range of cultures in England with short video examples shown. There were at least 30 participants on the day and others who have accessed the recording on the website subsequently. The participants were primarily members of active folk/traditional/national dance groups together with dance scholars and dance organisations. The lively discussion that followed the sharing by dance groups proved invaluable in helping to refine the research enquiries. Dancers expressed enthusiasm for working with each other across traditions and were eager to share and think about how to solve the shared issues of financial pressures, venue finding challenges and ways to stay in contact beyond their immediate networks. The discussions demonstrated that many (but not all) dance groups were open to dancers joining their groups whether or not they shared the same heritage. The online map together with the recording of the afternoon on the Dancing Dialogues website ensures that these discussions remain available to access and that dancers can continue to find each other's groups if they are entered onto the map. |
| Year(s) Of Engagement Activity | 2024 |
| URL | https://dancing-dialogues.net/events |
| Description | Dancing Dialogues Website online map. |
| Form Of Engagement Activity | Engagement focused website, blog or social media channel |
| Part Of Official Scheme? | No |
| Geographic Reach | National |
| Primary Audience | Third sector organisations |
| Results and Impact | The online interactive map on the Dancing Dialogue website enabled folk/national/traditional dance groups in the three regions in the network to place themselves on a map. They were able to include basic details of their group, an image, place where they practiced and their website or other means of contact. Dance groups came to the site through contact with one of the researchers or through extensive mail outs and flagging up on the networking project. By entering their group on the site they indicated that they were interested in the project's aims and could let the project leaders know if they would like further engagement. This proved a helpful way to survey a large number of active dance groups and discover those who would like further contact. The map was always envisaged to have a duel purpose, both helpful for the research and also as a means for the dancers to find other groups also interested in networking. For instance groups that had expressed interest in working with dancers from a different dance form/tradition or heritage were able to find each other on the map. They could also find the groups most local to their base for ease of interaction. The map is valued by both our external partners English Folk Dance and Song Society and Creative Lives. They will continue to use it for points of contact with dance groups to invite to any similar events and for Creative Lives to add to their much larger map on creative activities in the UK. Both organisations will be able to contact the mapped groups with awards or funding opportunities. The groups were able to edit or remove their details throughout the project and remained in charge of their information, which was especially important since it was freely and publicly available on the website. |
| Year(s) Of Engagement Activity | 2023,2024 |
| URL | https://dancing-dialogues.net/map |
| Description | Dancing Dialogues Workshop day for invited representatives within the network from all three regions and advisory group members. |
| Form Of Engagement Activity | Participation in an activity, workshop or similar |
| Part Of Official Scheme? | No |
| Geographic Reach | National |
| Primary Audience | Study participants or study members |
| Results and Impact | The Dancing Dialogues Workshop Day was the culmination of the networking project which brought together traditional dancers from Peruvian, Brazilian, Iberian, Polish and Hawaiian Hula groups together with dancers from Cotswold Morris, Appalachian Clog Dance and Border Morris. It was hosted at Cecil Sharp House, Camden in London which is the centre for one of our partners, English Folk Dance and Song Society. The aim was to bring together representatives from dance groups from all three regions we were researching to share their dance forms and have an opportunity to dance together. The emphasis throughout the day was on dancing as the most efficient and insightful way to convey some of the complexity and rich history/current practices of each dance form. This day event was the pilot of the first full Dancing Dialogues structure. This format was designed to create space for each dance group to introduce themselves through very short presentations of one of their dances, context and history followed by teaching one step to the whole group. This was followed by a small group group activity in mixed groups that encouraged further dance sharing with resources available to call upon (including roving percussionist, props and brief written prepared prompts). Since every small group chose to choreograph a short dance, these were shown in a series of performances supported by the percussionist who had gathered their requirements by rotating amongst them earlier. The final dance 'The Waves of the Soul Train' was designed by a folk dancer who was part of the advisory group and with percussionist for all participants. This offered a basic repeatable form that included space for pairs to created their own movements to travel along the corridor created by lines of dancers. The speed of creation stimulated further mixing of dance steps encountered over the course of the day and this was repeated with dancer variations to three different rhythms offered by the percussionist. The day wrapped up with our partner from Creative Lives offering a short response to the day followed by questions and answers with the whole group. This was a significant day with multiple outcomes that continue to be felt and explored further. These include dancers' experiences of sharing their wide range of forms and finding through their steps and contexts synergies and contrasts. Despite the precarity of the day in terms of timing and expectations on continuous physical engagement, it was appreciated by all and greeted with energy and enthusiasm. This speaks to the need for greater opportunities for community dance groups such as these to have space and time to develop such creative interaction. This pilot project could be repeated in regional venues and our structure is viable as a 'score' for others to take up. The Dancing Dialogues website has the workshop archive that includes the video recordings of the whole day, final summary and associated materials. These can be used for further research and as a base for similar dance workshops. The day raised questions about the funding of dance and why folk/traditional and national groups seem low in the hierarchy for dance support. The cost of travel and finding cheap dance spaces were both also problematic for groups who would otherwise like to meet up. This is particularly a challenge for these forms of dance since they regularly involve large groups of dancers, musicians and supports. On a practical level the new Facebook site has been opened by EFDSS and will be supported by them to help sustain the contacts made by groups and researchers through this project. |
| Year(s) Of Engagement Activity | 2024 |
| URL | https://dancing-dialogues.net/events |
| Description | Keynote presentation for 'Everyday Creativity' conference organised through AHRC and Creative Lives. |
| Form Of Engagement Activity | A talk or presentation |
| Part Of Official Scheme? | No |
| Geographic Reach | National |
| Primary Audience | Other audiences |
| Results and Impact | Professor Jerri Daboo gave a keynote at the 'Everyday Creativity' conference organised by the AHRC Everyday Creativity Network in association with Creative Lives, held at Cecil Sharp House. She spoke about the Dancing Dialogues project and showed an excerpt of a video of Morris dancing to give honour to speaking in the home of the English Folk Dance and Song Society. Members of EFDSS commented on how the talk had been well received and it gave an opportunity for the many in the audience who were not part of the Dancing Dialogues project to hear about it and to access further information through the website. |
| Year(s) Of Engagement Activity | 2024 |
| Description | Presentation on Dancing Dialogues given at Folk Education Day 'Access Folk' |
| Form Of Engagement Activity | A talk or presentation |
| Part Of Official Scheme? | No |
| Geographic Reach | National |
| Primary Audience | Other audiences |
| Results and Impact | Dr Rosa Cisneros, Coventry University was invited to present at the Folk Education Development Day- Access Folk at the University of Sheffield on Wednesday 13 November, University of Sheffield. There were 50 people in attendance and was a mix of academics from various backgrounds and disciplines, PGRs to folk dance groups and musicians to Independent artists and members of the public. CU presented the project in a general sense, shared the website, map and the various resources and also linked the DD project to her own research interests. The impact was manifold as various people in attendance reached out and asked to discuss the project in more details and also shared how useful they found the map, resources and videos that sit online. |
| Year(s) Of Engagement Activity | 2024 |
| Description | Research Presentation on Dancing Dialogues at Royal Holloway, UK. Festival of Research for Drama, Theatre and Dance Department. 11th June 2025. |
| Form Of Engagement Activity | A talk or presentation |
| Part Of Official Scheme? | No |
| Geographic Reach | Local |
| Primary Audience | Other audiences |
| Results and Impact | This was a presentation on the Dancing Dialogues Networking project given by Dr Libby Worth at the Festival of Research for Drama, Theatre and Dance in the School of Performance and Digital Arts. The presentation took place after the final Workshop for Dancing Dialogues and LW was therefore able to show a series of stills from the event. The video recordings now available on the website were not ready at this stage. LW provided a summary of the research objectives and how the workshop event at Cecil Sharp House in London contributed to research outcomes. The international aspect of the festival was also reflected in the wide range of dance heritages that were displayed at the Workshop day. The presentation ended with questions and discussion together with interest shown in finding out more about the project. |
| Year(s) Of Engagement Activity | 2024 |