Welsh Folk Dance Society

The Welsh Folk Dance Society (Welsh: Cymdeithas Ddawns Werin Cymru) is an organisation which supports, maintains and extends Welsh traditional dancing.[1] It is also a registered charity.[2]

Welsh Folk Dance Society
Formation1949
TypeNonprofit organisation
PurposeResearch, study and promotion of Welsh folk dance
Region served
Wales
Websitehttps://dawnsio.cymru/en/

History

Formation

A public meeting was held in The Castle, Shrewsbury, on Saturday, July 23, 1949, where the Welsh Folk Dance Society was founded.[3] The society was formed in order to both revive and promote old traditional Welsh dances and create new ones.[4]

Recording dances

After Ceinwen Thomas had left college she met Walter Dowding of the Welsh National Folk Dance Society. She told him about her mother's recollections of folk dancing in Nantgarw. He put her in touch with Doris Freeman. Together Catherine Margretta Thomas, Ceinwen Thomas and Doris Freeman worked to notate the dance steps from the traditional dances that Catherine Margretta Thomas could remember.[5] These notes were then passed on to the Welsh National Folk Dance Society by Ceinwen Thomas.[6]

Resurgence

Since the founding of the Society, Welsh folk dancing in has had significant success in Wales and abroad. Workshops, lectures and courses arranged by the society typically have significant attendance. Dance events at Eisteddfod's also enjoy significant audience.[7]

The Welsh Folk Dance Society celebrated its 70th anniversary in Pembroke on June 15, 2019. Celebrations included traditional Welsh dancing by multiple groups across Wales in traditional clothing near Cardigan castle.[8]

Publications

The society has produced a number of published works including:[9]

  • Danwsiau yr ugeinfed ganrif - Twentieth century dances
  • Cadw twmpath : cant arall o alawon dawnsio gwerin Cymreig = One hundred more Welsh folk dance tunes
  • Dawns lleweni
  • Dawnsiau bardd y brenin : circa 1785 = Dances of the king's harper
  • Dawnsiau ffair Nantgarw
  • Dawnsfeydd ac arferion traddodiadol yng Nghymru = Traditional dance and customs in Wales
  • Tair o Fôn : Dawns y Castell, Dawns y Rhuban, Dawns y Traeth
  • Rhiwfelen
  • Ffair Castell-nedd = Neath Fair[9]

References
  1. "Dawnsio". Dawnsio. Retrieved 2022-07-10.
  2. "CYMDEITHAS DDAWNS WERIN CYMRU ( WELSH FOLK DANCE SOCIETY ) – Charity 1023817". register-of-charities.charitycommission.gov.uk. Retrieved 2022-07-10.
  3. "Article Categories History". Dawnsio. Retrieved 2022-07-10.
  4. "Cwmni Dawns Werin Caerdydd". www.cdwc.org. Retrieved 2022-07-10.
  5. "Easter Course Address (English)". dawnsio.com. Welsh National Folk Dance Society. Retrieved 16 September 2011.
  6. "Tom John's Rally / Comments". thesession.org. Retrieved 16 September 2011.
  7. "Welsh Folk Dancing – Almost lost without trace". National Museum Wales. Retrieved 2022-07-10.
  8. "Welsh Folk Dance Society celebrate beneath the castle wall | tenby-today.co.uk". Tenby Observer. 2019-07-01. Retrieved 2022-07-10.
  9. "Welsh Folk Dance Society". 2022.
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