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Hello!
Spring has sprung across Scotland and we are sowing the seeds of our Traditional Dance Forum of Scotland Pomegranates – our springtime international traditional dance festival 28-30 April 2023. Have you booked your Pomegranates 2023 festival tickets yet? Pay What You Can now!
Can’t make it to Edinburgh for the three festival nights of live dance shows, films, tours, talks, poems and afterparties? Join us from the comfort of your home or studio as we livestream the first festival day of twelve (!) workshops on 28 April 8am-5pm. Book now!
Alongside our Pay What You Can festival offer, you can also try our FREE Traditional Dance Forum of Scotland membership for 2023. Join now!
In the meantime, let’s dance through March 2023! Just use our curatorial line up to plan your Scottish and international dance steps across Scotland and beyond!
Finally, if you feel that you or someone you know could contribute as a Treasurer or Media Relations Trustee of the Traditional Dance Forum of Scotland, do get in touch with me at info@tdfs.org and I will be pleased to talk to you further.
Wendy Timmons
Traditional Dance Forum of Scotland Convenor
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DUETS BY GABRIEL SCHMITZ
Exhibition of dance and drawing
26 Mar – 1 May 2023 Open Daily 10am-6pm Scottish Storytelling Centre FREE
Join us for a live dance and drawing duet at the free preview of our Pomegranates 2023 exhibition on 25 Mar 6pm at the Scottish Storytelling Centre, Edinburgh.
Opening ahead of the festival weekend, Duets is the first solo exhibition in Scotland of the visual artist Gabriel Schmitz who will also follow in the footsteps of our inaugural Pomegranates 2022 artist-in-residence Claudia Nocentini.
Experience another live dance and drawing duet on 28 Mar 7pm at our festival partner Goethe-Institut, Glasgow.
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POMEGRANATES WORKSHOPS
A day of world dance, music and drawing
28 April 2023 8am-5pm St Leonard's Land Dance Studio and online worldwide
PAY WHAT YOU CAN
Kick off Pomegranates 2023 festival weekend with an intensive day of twelve 30-minute professional development world dance workshops led by trad dance artists and choreographers, including Pia Walker (Scotland), Yefing Zhu (China), Karlis Cantis (Latvia), Oksana Banshikova (India), Lara Russo (Italy), Chinyanta Kabaso (Zambia), Marianella Desanti (Costa Rica), Anja and Arwed Bettner (Germany).
The workshops will be accompanied by festival artists-in-residence Jon Bews (fiddle), Kemono L.Riot (hip hop) and Gabriel Schmitz (charcoal on paper).
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POMEGRANATES TRIPLE BILL
Trad duets from Bulgaria, China, Germany and Scotland
28 April 2023 7-9pm Scottish Storytelling Centre PAY WHAT YOU CAN
Join us for an evening of duets, includng a curatorial tour of Duets – our Pomegranates 2023 exhibition by Gabriel Schmitz.
See the return to stage of Thistles and Sunflowers Dance Fusion featuring trad dance duo Ariana Stoyanova and Alexis Street.
Cross the cultural bridge with Anja and Arwed Bettner as part of our partnership with Folk Dance Society of Germany.
Experience a duet in the making based on Chinese folk dance by Yuxi Jiang – our co-commission with Hidden Door Festival.
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POMEGRANATES FILM + DANCE + CEILIDH
An evening of Mother Earth stories from Egypt and Scotland
29 April 2023 7-10pm Scottish Storytelling Centre PAY WHAT YOU CAN
Join us for an evening of world premieres on screen and stage before you hit the dancefloor with Terrific Trouble Ceilidh Band and dance caller extraordinaire Pia Walker.
Start with a curatorial tour of Duets – our Pomegranates 2023 exhibition by Gabriel Schmitz. Then see To Begin the Dance Once More – a film screening starring dancers Yuxi Jiang and Liron Blajwajs.
Enjoy also Dances with Ouds and Fiddles – a staged production for three dancers and two musicians, including Jon Bews.
Stay for a post-show Q&A with cast and crew, including the award-winning Canadian filmmaker Marlene Millar.
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POMEGRANATES POETRY + DANCE + HIP HOP
An evening of fun folk dance fused with funky hip hop rhythme and rhymes
30 April 2023 6-9pm Scottish Storytelling Centre PAY WHAT YOU CAN
Join us for an evening of staged traditional dance, new poetry and hip hop before you head to the dance floor.
Start with a curatorial tour of our Pomegranates 2023 exhibition Duets by Gabriel Schmitz.
Then enjoy our Poemgranates Promenade – a world dance show fusing new rhymes by the festival resident artist Ian McMillan, performance poet and presenter of BBC Radio 3's The Verb.
See hip hop artist and dancer Kemono L Riot choreograph and MC the Promenade, accompanied by Nemo Ganguli (drums), before DJing our festival afterparty.
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MEMBERSHIP IS FREE
with Traditional Dance Forum of Scotland
Try our FREE membership this year. Share your trad dance passion with hundreds of our newsletter subscribers and social media followers.
JOIN NOW
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C IS FOR CEILIDH
with Traditional Dance Forum of Scotland
Learn about our thriving after-school club led by trad dance artist-in-residence Caroline Brockbank at Edinburgh's Abbeyhill Primary School.
READ MORE
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TRAD DANCE RESIDENCY SHARING
17 March Dance Base, Edinburgh FREE
Find out about Kalubi Mukengela's research in the Luba and Kuba dances of the Democratic Republic of Congo with the support of drummer Nemo Ganguli.
READ MORE
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TRAD DANCE RESIDENCY PRO CLASS
6 April 2023 Citymoves, Aberdeen FREE
Meet duo Shailini and Shashwati Vinod in the process of devising a piece with Bharatanatyam and Mohiniyattam dance along classial Indian percussion.
READ MORE
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STRICTLY SCHOTTISCH
Traditional Dance Forum of Scotland partners with Folk Dance Society of Germany
Welcome duo Anja and Arwed Bettner at Pomegranates 2023 festival – laying the foundations of the cultural dance bridge between Germany and Scotland.
LEARN MORE
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THA D AIRSON DANSSA / D IS FOR DANCE
Traditional Dance Forum of Scotland partners with Bun-sgoil Taobh na Pàirce
Thank you, Bòrd na Gàidhlig for awarding us funding to run traditional dance artists residencies at Edinburgh's dedicated Gaelic medium primary school.
LEARN MORE
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RESOURCES
Traditional Dance Forum of Scotland
Use the resources we have curated over the years to advocate for yourself and others to ensure we can do things better and make change happen.
ACCESS ALL RESOURCES
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CENTENARY
Royal Scottish Country Dance Society
Join the centenary celebrations arranged by the branches of Royal Scottish Country Dance Society in Scotland and worldwide – once in a lifetime experience!
VIEW CALENDAR
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Watch Edinburgh-based Latvian folk dance group Dindaru Dandaru perform The Waltz of the Souls at their recent Latvian Ceilidh and read our review.
Catch Karlis Cansis of Dindaru Dandaru leading one of the twelve world dance workshops as part of our Pomegranates Day 1 on 28 April 2023 which will also be livestreamed for anyone who can’t make it to Edinburgh. Pay What You Can: https://linktr.ee/pomegranatesfest
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TRAD DANCE NEWS
curated by Traditional Dance Forum of Scotland
Follow the wealth of regular or special trad dance sessions, as well as news and opportunities which we select for you in our curated monthly digests.
Since February 2023 available on our website here. Find the links also on our Facebook here and Twitter here, as well as occasionally on our Instagram here and TikTok here.
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AULD LANG SYNE
Review by Wangxiu Cheng & Yan Hong for Traditional Dance Forum of Scotland
"What’s to be remembered? What’s to be forgotten? What’s to let go? These are the words opening Mairi Campbell‘s solo show Auld Lang Syne which I caught on the last stop of its tour across Scotland."
READ MORE
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LATVIAN CEILIDH
Review by Wangxiu Cheng for Traditional Dance Forum of Scotland
"It is 2023. Scotland. Chances are that you have raised your hands with excitement in a Ceilidh near you. But have you ever tried a Latvian Ceilidh? Romantic and passionate on a cold February night."
READ MORE
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