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25.01.2022 Dance online at workshops of the famous Sidmouth Folk Festival in Devon, U.K. 1 - 6 August 2020 http://sidmouthfolkfestival-live.co.uk/index.html A great program of free concerts and dances to enjoy at home (donate if you wish to). Sidmouth is 9 hours behind Melbourne time so only some events may be practical for us but it does look like a great program. Book online to be sent the links and passwords. For example - 1 Aug English Country Dance (Playford) 13.00 hrs (10pm here)... 2 Aug Contra Dance 15.00hrs (midnight here) 3 Aug Fandango Dance Workshop (Spanish) 12.30 hrs (9.30pm here) 4 & 7 Aug Bal Classics (partner dances with or without a partner - waltzes, schottisches, mazurkas etc) 12.30 hrs (9.30pm here) 6 Aug Breton Dance Workshop 12.30 hrs (9.30pm here) There are also concerts, a virtual choir, instrument workshops and sessions, gumboot dancing for kids & families ....

25.01.2022 Come and see our dancers and musicians perform at the Newstead Live Music Festival in central Victoria next weekend 24-27 January. We will be promoting dance and Melbourne Colonial Dancers by dancing and playing music in the street, and encouraging others to join in. This will be our second year at Newstead LIve after a successful series of displays there last year (see photos below). Festival information is at - https://www.newsteadlive.com

24.01.2022 Our Contra Dance this week. A great summer night of dancing.

23.01.2022 More dreaming about our Cinderella Ball next year (June 2021) - Designer John Macfarlane talking about his stunning sets and costumes for the Birmingham Royal Ballet's production of the ballet Cinderella. Maybe some ideas for our ball ?!! Enjoy the whole ballet online later this month - streaming for 7 days (free) from Wednesday 26 August. See details below. I am sure that it will be beautiful to watch.

23.01.2022 Our first series of introductory dance classes for 2020. Click on the poster for a larger image.

22.01.2022 A chance to dance - online at home again. London Barndance Online Saturday 10 October 2020, 8-9.30pm (6-7.30am Melbourne time we are 10 hours ahead - your early morning exercise!) (A dance run by London Barndance. Their events in normal times are held at Cecil Sharp House in London, home of the English Folk Dance and Song Society)... A lively Contra Dance free but donations welcome. You do need to ask to be on their mailing list in order to receive the Zoom link. https://www.barndance.org/event/2020-10-10/ See more

21.01.2022 The theme for the next Victorian Folk Music Club Zoom Dance on Saturday 21 November - is Contra Dancing. Dances have been chosen or adapted to suit couples or single participants in their own home. Dances are all called and the event is suitable for all ages. Let Jane know if you would like to participate so that she can send you the link.

21.01.2022 Have you recycled old materials, outfits, or accessories for your dance costumes? Many of us have been excited to find outfits in op shops or come across vintage textiles, or even inherit old items, that we could then adapt and reimagine into great costumes for our themed balls. The idea is by no means new! This Victoria & Albert Museum article explores examples of recycled textiles from the last 200 years. From the V&A - Far from looking down on recycling textiles, the ver...y notion of wearing an inherited garment played into the fashionable sense of romanticism and nostalgia of the era. Having inherited fabric shows a familial wealth that goes back through generations, implying rank, dignity and lineage. What have you recycled into a great costume?

20.01.2022 Historical Costumes Online Digital Jigsaw Puzzles from Sovereign Hill to help you through Covid-19 lockdowns! Looks like a great idea - and they are free. These are fashion prints from the 1860's-1880's, the era of our own ballgowns. Even if you don't do the puzzles you can browse the images - through the link below or on the Sovereign Hill website under Collections. Click on the title of an image to reach its jigsaw. Sovereign Hill has a collection of over 3,000 historical fashion pieces, including these fashion prints. This material is used by their costume department and historians to research, design and create historical costumes today.

20.01.2022 Members of our display group are performing at this event this week! A night of various styles of dancing, with audience participation to promote a love of dance.

19.01.2022 Dance at home on Friday night - A great opportunity to dance virtually via Zoom on Friday night - with Dance Folk Tasmania and David Wanless. See the post below for all the details.

19.01.2022 Heather Clarke is giving a free presentation for The Historical Dance Society (London) - Captain James Cook: a culture of music and dance, on Thursday 22 October 5am-6am our time. Captain Cook used dancing on his ships to keep his crew healthy and in good spirits, as well as in cultural exchanges with the people he encountered on his voyages. News of his adventures in the South Seas stimulated great interest in Britain and Europe, leading to the creation of a number of theat...rical works and dances in the 18th century. Heather Clarke is a dance historian from Brisbane and many of you may know of her from dancing at the National Folk Festival. In 2018, she completed a doctoral research project investigating the culture of music and dance of convicts in Australia 1788-1840. The event is very early in the day for us but you could be up and enjoying the sun coming up at the same time! See more

18.01.2022 See you at our Christmas Ball on Saturday night! Come and see our decorated Christmas tree and celebrate the Christmas season with a night of great dancing. Saturday 30 November, 8pm, Preston Town Hall. Details are on our facebook page.

17.01.2022 An announcement today about the 2021 National Folk Festival. Melbourne Colonial Dancers has been involved in and performed at the National Folk Festival many times over the years. It is sad to see the festival cancelled but is totally understandable for keeping our folk community safe in these unpredictable times. We will look forward to a great festival in 2022!

17.01.2022 Whitby Folk Week at Home 2020 (Sat. 22 August-Friday 28 August) is a U.K. folk festival that you can take part in this week via Zoom, youtube, and facebook. Details are below with lots of great events happening each day - concerts, dances, tune and singing workshops, sessions, an online craft fair and more. On Tuesday a highlight will be Heather Clarke from Brisbane giving a youtube presentation on Australian Convict Dancing - 11-11.30am (8-8.30pm here). Mark it in your diary!

17.01.2022 Our Christmas Ball last Saturday night at Preston Town Hall. A big thank you to all involved. It was a great evening. A special thank you to the musicians (members of the Melbourne Colonial Dancers Band), the MC, the callers, the door volunteers, the organizing working group, those who helped on the night, and to Pauline for this video clip of the dancing. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=fge7xx-YYco

17.01.2022 Merry Christmas to all from the Melbourne Colonial Dancers. This beautiful image (wood engraving) is by Samuel Calvert 1863. Courtesy of the State Library of Victoria www.slv.vic.gov.au.

17.01.2022 Dance online at home this Saturday 1 August 2020 at the Family Bush Dance of the Victorian Folk Music Club (7.30pm). This replaces the regular 1st Saturday of the month dance that many of you have attended in the past in Ringwood. This is a great opportunity to dance at home and to get together with other dancers. Details are on the VFMC website. http://www.vfmc.org.au/dances.php

16.01.2022 Support the Victorian Folk Music Club and take part in Wattle Day celebrations on Saturday 5 September via Zoom. Dance at home to music by Blackberry Jam Bush Band during the evening bush dance, after taking part in your choice of workshops during the day - for music, singing, or dance. All is free - just register to attend.

16.01.2022 The VFMC (Victorian Folk Music Club) is hosting another of their '1st Saturday' Bush Dances online via Zoom this coming Saturday, 7:30 - 9:30 pm. This is a free event. All dances will be taught and called, and will be modified for you so that you can be 'Dancing Alone At Home'. For Zoom log in details see poster below.

16.01.2022 Dance your socks off at the National Folk Festival next April! Click on the images below to go to an announcement page about dance at the National 2020. There is also then a link to the full list of dances and dance groups taking part. Melbourne Colonial Dancers is featured, as well as musicians from our Melbourne Colonial Dancers Band, and several other Victorian dance groups. Early bird tickets end soon.

15.01.2022 Whitby Folk Week (U.K) - online this week. Heather Clarke from Brisbane is giving a presentation today at this festival (Day 3 of the festival) - on The History of Step Dancing in Australia. It is great to see Heather on the program and you will be able to watch her on the festival youtube channel at 8pm tonight our time (11am UK on their program). . See the Whitby Folk Week website for the full program www.whitbyfolk.co.uk, or their facebook page Whitby Folk Week.

15.01.2022 A film of the Birmingham Royal Ballet's performance of Cinderella Ballet in 2018 is available to us on youtube. (I posted earlier that the version being promoted on their website at the moment is only available in UK, Eire and Scandinavia) This 2018 film is the full ballet but does start with a small introductory section about the dancers getting ready to perform. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=n3nzuIMNRfg

14.01.2022 Auld Lang Syne - the end of a ball where we all come together in a circle of dancers to share this song. Have you ever wondered about its origins and history? Auld Lang Syne as we know it first appeared in print in 1799. An interesting online exhibition here from the Morgan Library and Museum, New York. Click on the headings on the left of the site to see all the parts of the online exhibition.

14.01.2022 Happy New Year to all from the Melbourne Colonial Dancers. May there be lots of dancing in 2020. Stay safe everyone in this summer of terrible bushfires taking place in so many areas. Painting of Australian Wildflowers by well-known Australian artist Ellis Rowan in 1880. Held by the National Library of Australia.

14.01.2022 Our End of Year Barbecue is on Wednesday 11 December 2019. Help us celebrate another great year by joining with us for a meal and an evening of dancing. Our last dancing night for 2019. (Don't forget the Christmas Ball on Saturday 30 November!)

13.01.2022 An update on this earlier post of the Cinderella Ballet film - the Birmingham Royal Ballet has apologized that they did not state earlier that they were unable to clear world wide rights for this film at this stage. It is only available for viewing in the UK, Eire, and Scandinavia. Sorry everyone! It would have been wonderful to see, especially as our next themed ball is a Cinderella Ball (next June). A reminder that this beautiful ballet Cinderella is being screened at the moment by Birmingham Royal Ballet. It is free but only available until the end of this coming Tuesday. It's good weather for staying in and watching films - with all this wind and rain coming! Dream about us all at our Cinderella Ball next June.

12.01.2022 Our ball - Saturday night - 30 November, 8pm, at Preston Town Hall. Celebrate the end of the year with a great night of dancing!

11.01.2022 Carry on Dancing (via Zoom) - an article from the English Folk Dance & Song Society on how social dancing has become possible during Covid-19 thanks to online innovations. It shows ways of making the Zoom dancing experience better and also suggests that having been forced to develop techniques for online dancing this year, we should continue to carry on some virtual events even when real ones become possible. "Folk dancing has adapted and survived as it has done before; bear in mind that the third edition of Playfords dancing master was published in 1665, the year of The Great Plague of London. So, keep calm, carry on dancing and innovating and interacting and look forward to the time when we can all dance together again." https://www.efdss.org//10134-keep-calm-and-carry-on-dancing

11.01.2022 Dance via Zoom with David Wanless and Dance Folk Tasmania. Another great opportunity for you to dance in your own home while we are unable to organize our usual dance events. A much appreciated online event. Details are in the post below.

11.01.2022 Zoom Bush Dance (free) with the Victorian Folk Music Club, this Saturday 19 September 7.30pm-9pm. An opportunity to dance at home this weekend. Jane Bullock and Norm Ellis will be sharing the calling and the provisional program is - Military 2 Step/The First Set (fig 1&2)/Peter Ellis Waltz Petronella/Gypsy Tap/Spanish Waltz... Jessie's Mountain (circle)/Maxina/Snowball Reel Virginia Reel (w/o the 'strip')/ANON/Golden Wattle Reel Extras - Aussie Soldier's Joy/Burst of Spring Note: some dances may be modified for Zoom. See more

09.01.2022 Our first dance for the year - a Contra Dance.

09.01.2022 Cinderella Ball - our next ball (27 June 2020). Mark the date on your calendar now. Full details later. This time of year is great for being creative and keeping an eye out for possible costume items and materials in op shops and sales - especially ones appropriate for a fairytale ball!

07.01.2022 A fan can be a lovely addition to a dance costume and can vary from something quite simple and plain to a beautifully decorated work of art. Fans have a long history in their various forms. Did you know of the existence of The Fan Museum in London? The Fan Museum holds over 5,000 fans and fan leaves with examples from all over the world from the 11th century to the present day. A significant proportion of these are featured online, including this image of a beautiful Spanish... fan from the 1850's. There is also information on the history of fans. If you were visiting you would normally be able to enjoy afternoon tea in their special Orangery garden room or attend a fan making workshop as well. At the moment you can however enjoy browsing through their online collection. https://www.thefanmuseum.org.uk/collections/ See more

06.01.2022 We have had to cancel our November Ball 2020 due to Covid-19. We don't at this stage know when we will be able to dance together again in Melbourne but keep following us here to learn about other possible Zoom dancing-at-home opportunities and related topics.

06.01.2022 The Melbourne Colonial Dancers weekly dance classes for 2020 begin again on Wednesday 5 February 8pm. Collingwood Senior Citizens Hall, Eddy Court, Abbotsford. This beautiful flower painting is by Australian wildflower artist Ellis Rowan (1848-1922). Held by the National Library of Australia. nla.gov.au/nla.obj-138817810

05.01.2022 Don't forget our Christmas Ball this coming Saturday 30 November at Preston Town Hall 8pm. It might be a bit cool on Saturday but it won't be snowing! Details on our facebook page.

05.01.2022 The theme for the next Victorian Folk Music Club Zoom Dance on Saturday 17 October is - English Country Dances (from Playford & Pat Shaw to Bruce Hamilton & Brook Friendly). Dances have been chosen or adapted to suit couples or single participants in their own home. Dances are all called and the event is suitable for all ages. Let Jane know if you would like to participate so that she can send you the link.

05.01.2022 Many of our dancers enjoy the National Folk Festival every year and really missed it when it had to unfortunately be cancelled in March. Now you have a chance to enjoy some folk music concerts and workshops from home though with the online Sydney Folk Festival this weekend. No dancing but some great musicians performing. A small charge is being made for most bookings and all proceeds are going to the performers. So many of the performers we love seeing at festivals have lost their main source of income in this time of Covid-19 and it would be great to support them.

03.01.2022 The VFMC (Victorian Folk Music Club) is hosting another free Bush Dance online via Zoom on Saturday 7 November 7:30 - 9:30 pm. Blackberry Jam band will be playing the music for you this time. All dances will be taught and called, and will be modified for you so that you can be 'Dancing Alone At Home'. For Zoom log in details see poster below.

02.01.2022 Our Cinderella Ball has been postponed until June next year but this performance by the Birmingham Royal Ballet might just bring some of the magic of Cinderella to your home this month. To be streamed from Tuesday 25 August 7pm (Wed 26 August 4am here) for 7 days.

02.01.2022 Support the Wattle Day Celebrations of the Victorian Folk Music Club on Saturday 5 September - a great opportunity to dance in your home via Zoom - more details of the dancing are below the poster.

02.01.2022 The Nariel Creek Folk Festival near Corryong in north east Victoria is a wonderful event much loved by many of our members over the years. The sense of community created by people coming from far and wide to play music, sing, dance, relax and chat together over Christmas/New Year is very special. This Bushdance and Concert in Melbourne is an opportunity to support the communities of Cudgewa, Corryong, Nariel that have been highly impacted by the terrible bushfires that are e...ven still burning in that area. Many homes and properties have been devastated and animals lost. We thank these communities for all that they have done in the past and now it is important to support them in return in whatever way we can. The Rebuild Upper Murray site on facebook has lots of local information.

02.01.2022 To our dancing community - this morning we have had to issue the following statement about our dance classes. Melbourne Colonial Dancers will temporarily suspend all dances, effective noon Monday 16 March 2020. All classes will be cancelled, and all beginners will be offered a refund or the opportunity to exchange into a future beginners class. The decision to close is based on advice issued by health authorities in order to slow the spread of COVID-19. ... We will be continually monitoring the situation and will keep you informed of plans to resume or any other changes. Melbourne Colonial Dancers cares deeply about the health and safety of all dancers and callers. We acknowledge that the suspension of normal operations is a difficult but essential action for the health of the Victorian public. We thank our community for its support during this challenging time. Please check our website and social media channels for the latest updates and information. We recommend keeping up-to-date and following advice from the Australian Government Department of Health, particularly regarding isolation protocol and practicing good personal and respiratory hygiene. We are doing this proactively in the interests of all. We believe this is a cautious and prudent response in an evolving situation. Thank you for your understanding, Melbourne Colonial Dancers Committee

01.01.2022 Tonight would have been the evening of our Cinderella Ball in Melbourne - but because of Covid-19 it has been postponed until June 2021. We had been planning a wonderful ball with beautiful costumes and lots of great dancing. Tonight we can only dream about past balls and look forward to a really grand Cinderella Ball next year. We hope you are all well and coping without dancing!