The Last Hurrah
The Last Hurrah
A trip through historical dance
Regency & Victorian Eras, Ragtime, Jazz Age and Swing Era
3-9 August 2014
We are proud to present an exciting week of historical dance workshops, social dances, cultural experiences and a grand ball, featuring the world-renowned dance historian, Richard Powers. The week’s programme will take place in East Lothian, Scotland – a beautiful region of the country, right next door to Edinburgh. And we’ve timed the event for early August, so that participants can have a chance to take in the famous Edinburgh International Festival and its world-famous Fringe – the largest arts festival in the world.
Dance workshops. This will be a unique opportunity to learn or expand your knowledge of several eras of historical dance. Richard Powers has been making some wonderful new discoveries which he is anxious to share with other dancers! So the programme will include dances from the following eras:
♦ Regency ♦ Victorian ♦ Ragtime ♦ Jazz Age ♦ Swing
Fly Right has put together a programme of workshops, cultural events, social dances and a gala ball with a Great War theme at Gosford House which we are sure will be a truly special week. Check out our Programme page for more details, but here are the key features of the week:
- Opening ceilidh* with callers and live band
- Mornings of dance workshops
- Optional afternoon cultural programme
- Tea dance at Fringe by the Sea in a wonderful Spiegeltent on one afternoon
- Full costumed gala ball on the last night at Gosford House, with a Great War theme
* Just in case you’ve never been to a ceilidh (pronounced kay-lee, more or less!), this is a gathering of people where there is much music and dancing! Don’t worry if you are not familiar with Scottish country dances – there’ll be a caller who will guide you through the dances. Find out more at this website.
*** Book and pay before 30 June 2014 to get the early-bird price of £240! Thereafter the cost will rise to £290. More details and registration on our Event Registration Page. ***
Fun and culture. In our trips around Europe and the US, attending historical dance workshops and balls, we have been struck that there’s often little time to explore some of the wonderful places that we have visited. So, in programming this event, we’ve spread the workshops out over weekday mornings to allow afternoons free – either for participants to explore this lovely part of Scotland on their own, or to join in some of the organised trips which we have arranged as an option. Our optional cultural programme is as follows:
- Monday afternoon – Visit to Glenkinchie distillery (yes, complete with tastings!)
- Tuesday afternoon – Visit to Edinburgh Castle and wander down Royal Mile to take in some of the street performers in the Fringe
- Wednesday afternoon – Tea Dance at Fringe by the Sea in North Berwick (this is included in the main ticket price)
- Thursday afternoon – Visit to the Royal Yacht Britannia (perhaps with some dancing – we’re working on that!)
- Friday evening – Performance at National Museum of Scotland as part of the Edinburgh Festival Fringe!
We’ve timed the event to coincide with the early days of the Edinburgh Festival and its famous Edinburgh Festival Fringe. This truly is the greatest show on earth – the largest, bar none, arts festival in the world. The whole city of Edinburgh is taken over at this time and is an amazing place to be. We’ve allowed evening time free so that participants can visit the city and enjoy some of the thousands of shows in the hundreds of venues. And as if that weren’t enough, we also have East Lothian’s own Fringe By The Sea – a breakaway Fringe of the Fringe in the lovely seaside town of North Berwick. We’re even going to be part of that ourselves, with our Tea Dance on Wednesday taking part in one of the Spiegeltents on North Berwick Harbour. Check out their website – Fringe by the Sea – for a wee taster of the acts for 2014 and some of the pictures from last year’s event.
Location. The opening night ceilidh and the dance workshops will all be taking place in Haddington, the county town of East Lothian. It’s a small and pictoresque town, about 22 miles east of Edinburgh. You can find out more about Haddington from the VisitEastLothian website by clicking here. Some of the other events will also be taking place in other towns in East Lothian – and rest assured, we are going to be including transport from venue to venue, for those of you who will be without a vehicle.
Accommodation. As it’s August and therefore Festival time, accommodation can be difficult and expensive to get hold of in Edinburgh. We are a bit more fortunate in East Lothian, as accommodation prices are usually cheaper. We are in the process of compiling a list of local accommodation options, but in the meantime, please check out the Visit East Lothian website, which lists lots of local accommodation options. We are also putting out an appeal to local families, to see if any would be willing to host dancers for the week. So, please watch this space!
We shall be making daily updates to this page over the coming week, so please bookmark it or visit regularly for updates. Also check out Fly Right’s Facebook page for up-to-date news – we’ll be posting there, too, on a regular basis. Or for more info, email us direct – mail@flyrightdanceco.com.
Background. Over the past two or three years, the Fly Right Dance Co has been expanding its knowledge of historical dance styles, attending courses in Paris, Dresden and Colorado. We have been most fortunate to make strong links with Richard Powers – one of the world’s foremost experts in American social dance, noted for his choreographies for dozens of stage productions and films, and his workshops in Paris, Rome, Prague, London, Venice, Geneva, St. Petersburg, and Tokyo as well as across the United States and Canada. Richard has been researching and reconstructing historic social dances for thirty years and is currently a full-time instructor at Stanford’s Dance Division.
18 Comments
Julien Tiberghien
Great !
It will be a pleasure to dance in Scottland !
Julien et Marie-Emilie
admin
Bonsoir, Julien et Marie-Emilie! Désolée de n’avoir pas répondu à vos courriels – nous avons été si affairés jusqu’à présent. Mais il est maintenant possible de s’inscrire pour le cours et le bal ensemble. Je vais vous envoyer un mel mais nous serons si contents de vous voir ici en Ecosse !
Jane Goode
We are vintage dancers from Ohio and are interested to learn more about your dance week.
Simon Selmon
Please let me know full details when you have them. Thank you.
admin
Hello Simon – nice to have your interest in this! Just to let you know that the page has been updated and registrations are now live. We’ll be adding more details over the next few days. Please don’t hesitate to get in touch if you’d like more details.
All the best
Susan and Gary
Vandenabeele Gérard et Marie-France
When can we reserve for the workshop in August?
We have met you already in Paris with Richard Powers last September.
Best regards
Gérard
admin
Hello Gérard – bonsoir! The Event Registration page is now live, so it is possible to register! I do hope you can come!
All the best
Susan
Rosie Lemkin
This sounds wonderful. Please inform of all costs.
admin
Will do, Rosie! I am just about to put the Bookings page up now. These pages will be evolving over the next few days, so please bear with us as we get the information out there!
Susan
admin
Hello again Rosie – the Event Registration page is now live. The whole week, including ceilidh, dance workshops, tea dance and ball at Gosford House will cost £240 if you register and pay before 30 June – thereafter it will be £290. Hope you can make it – please don’t hesitate to contact us if you have further questions.
All the best
Susan
Jane Goode
Thank you for the provisional programme. Will Angela be partnering Richard during your dance week? She is a beautiful dancer. I learn so much from watching her.
admin
Hello there. I am not sure if Angela is coming – but Richard’s wife, Tracey, will be. I shall get confirmation from Richard as to who will be partnering him and let you know! Thanks so much for your interest.
admin
Hello again Jane. Just to let you know that the Event Registration page is now live…. and more details will be added over the next couple of days.
All the best
Susan
Rosie Lemkin
Any information on the places to stay and their proximity to the dance classes?
Will one need a car to get to other locations on the program?
admin
Hi there
I hope you got my email the other day? If not, just to be clear – the Maitlandfield Hotel, the Avenue, the Golf and the Railway are all the closest to the venue (within 5 mins walk or so – the Maitlandfield is the furthest away and all the others are in the centre of town). I hope that’s helpful! Please let me know if you need further assistance.
All the very best
Susan
Bob
Will there be buses to the out of town events? I really don’t want to rent a car.
admin
Hi there. We shall be providing transport to events that are not in Haddington, such as the tea dance in North Berwick and the ball, for all those registered on the full course. We’re going to be posting the cost of the cultural programme (distillery visit, Edinburgh Castle, Britannia etc.) in the next week and that will also include transport to and from Haddington. Please be aware, however, that Haddington is not in Edinburgh – it’s about 22 miles east of the city – so some kind of transportation will be needed from the airport or from Edinburgh if you’re coming by rail/bus from elsewhere in the UK. We do have public transport (buses run from Edinburgh to Haddington and there are trains to Longniddry/Drem or Dunbar which are the nearest stations). If you did want to hire a car, there is an excellent low-cost hire company in Haddington who do great rates on vehicles. I hope that’s answered your question – please email if you need further clarification. Thanks for your interest! Susan and Gary
Kate Cleeland
Very sorry that I couldn’t make it to The Last Hurrah this year with Richard Powers. Hope it all went well.
Are you planning another next year?