York Festival of Traditional Dance

Posted on September 5, 2014

Folk dancers take over the beautiful medieval city of York this month, with processions, dancing in the city’s squares, show dances and friendly pub gatherings.

On Saturday morning, Morris teams will arrive in St Helen’s Square, processing from the historic Guildhall to King’s Square before dispersing to dance spots across the city centre. In the afternoon, all sides convene in St Sampsons Square, at the corner of the medieval Shambles district, for a grand finale. On Sunday, dancing takes place in St Sampsons and Kings Squares.

This year’s dancing teams include Flagcrackers, Acorn, Pateley Longsword, Brackley, Kitchen Taps, Minster Strays, Raving Maes, Wakefield, Hadrian Clog, St Clements, Wadard, Tower Ravens and Ebor. See www.ebormorris.org.uk for more information.

Photograph courtesy of Ebor Morris

Zoe Anderson

Zoë was born in Edinburgh, and saw her first dance performances at the Festival there. She is the dance critic of The Independent, and has also written for The Independent on Sunday, The Scotsman and Dancing Times. In 2002, she received her doctorate from the University of York for a thesis on “Nationhood and epic romance: Ariosto, Sidney, Spenser”. She is the author of The Royal Ballet: 75 Years and The Ballet Lover’s Companion.