Ceffyl Gwyn Welsh Dancers
We also hold Welsh dancing classes once a month on Sunday afternoons 2pm - 4.30pm.
For 2021, those dates are
21st February
21st March
18th April
16th May
20th June
18th July
15th August
19th September
17th October
End of Year Social
21st November (1:45 - 4:45)
Venue: Christ Church Hall,
1 The Avenue, Surrey Hills. (Melway Ref: 46 H11)
Admission by donation $7.00
(members $5.00)
Enquiries:
For information on forthcoming sessions, please phone Ian on
0419 899 488
Ceffyl Gwyn Welsh Dancers
Demonstration Team
Our team of experienced dancers meets regularly to rehearse for forthcoming events. We call ourselves the Ceffyl Gwyn Welsh Dancers. Ceffyl Gwyn (pronounced keffil gwinn) means White Horse in Welsh), the name being chosen to reflect our home base in the City of Whitehorse in the eastern suburbs of Melbourne. Our English name is the Whitehorse Welsh Dancers.
The group was formed in 2007 and currently comprises 20 dancers, most of whom are also proficient in a variety of other dance traditions including Scottish Country Dancing, English Country Dancing, Irish Set Dancing and Australian Colonial Dancing, all of which dance forms are related to Welsh Folk and Country Dancing.
The Welsh display team performed at the National Folk Festival in Canberra over Easter.
Here are some of their dances.
White Wheat (Ian & Judy, Peter & Sandra, George & Cecilia) https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=a3ikka-AUv8
Maughold Cross (George & Judith, Gerard & Sandra, Harry & Carole, Bruce & Marion) https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Gb1OfGakB7o
Information on Welsh Folk Dancing
Welsh Folk Dancing is a generic term covering any form of traditional dancing that is associated with Wales. This includes:
· Country Dances from the 17th, 18th and 19th centuries, which have strong affinities with English and Scottish Country Dances of the same period
· 19th century South Wales fair dances, some of which have affinities with Morris Dancing
· Solo clog dances (the only authentically Welsh style of dance that has survived unbroken through the ages)
· Modern barn dances (‘dawnsiau twmpath’ in Welsh), and
· Modern country and fair dances based on traditional patterns and figures.
The Welsh National Folk Dance Society was formed in Wales in 1949. Its mission is to revive the traditional dances of Wales and to promote public awareness of this aspect of Welsh culture. For information on dancing in Wales and the various publications (books, CDs, DVDs and other resources) that have been produced over the years, visit http://dawnsio.com/en/
In addition, our group has put on displays at several Scottish Country Dance socials, held workshops in Welsh Dancing for the Traditional and Social Dance Association of Victoria, the Melbourne Colonial Dancers and Borderline Kaylee, as well as introduced some of the more interesting early Welsh country dances to the Well Hall English Country Dancers. Welsh dances are now also regularly included in the Melbourne Colonial Dancers teaching program.
Public appearances since our formation in 2007 include:
National Celtic Festival, Portarlington, Victoria, 9-10 June 2007
Cambrian Society of Victoria, Melbourne, Victoria, 2 August 2007
Victorian Welsh Male Choir St David’s Day Concert, Clayton, Victoria, 1 March 2008
Ringwood Highland Games Gala Dinner, Ringwood, Victoria, 14 March 2008
National Celtic Festival, Portarlington, Victoria, 7-8 June 2008
National Folk Festival, Canberra, ACT, 11-13 April 2009
Cambrian Society of Victoria, Melbourne, Victoria, 4 June 2009
National Celtic Festival, Portarlington, Victoria, 6-7 June 2009
National Celtic Festival, Portarlington, Victoria,12-13 June 2010
Melbourne Welsh Male Choir St David’s Day Concert, Ringwood, Victoria, 6 March 2011
National Folk Festival, Canberra, ACT, 22-25 April 2011
National Celtic Festival, Portarlington, Victoria, 11-12 June 2011
Australia day Celtic Ceilidh, Myer Music Bowl, Melbourne, 26 January 2012
National Folk Festival, Canberra, ACT, 6-9 April 2012
National Celtic Festival, Portarlington, Victoria,10-11 June 2012
City of Whitehorse Cultural Diversity Week, Box Hill Gardens, Box Hill, Victoria, 17 March 2013
National Celtic Festival, Portarlington, Victoria, June 2013
Multicultural Arts Victoria, Piers Festival, Port Melbourne, Victoria, 25 January 2014
Multicultural Arts Victoria, Fairfield Amphitheatre Summer Concert, Fairfield, Victoria, 24 February 2014
National Folk Festival, Canberra, ACT, 18-21 April, 2014
National Celtic Festival, Portarlington, Victoria, 7-8 June 2014
Dorothy Impey Home, Pascoe Vale, 13 September 2014
Leith Park Retirement Village, St Helena, 29 November 2014
National Folk Festival, Canberra, ACT, 24-28 March, 2016
National Celtic Festival, Portarlington, Victoria, 11-12 June 2016
National Folk Festival, Canberra, ACT, 29 March - 01 April, 2018
Sudarushka’s Variety Concert ‘Let’s Share our Diversity’, Clayton Theatre, Clayton, Victoria, 24 June 2018