Two days of national folk dance celebrations in Gisborne

Guest dance tutors Michael Parmenter and Kate Grace will be teaching a Bal folk dance workshop as part of the Tūranga Bal, an annual folk dance event. Picture supplied

Folk Dance New Zealand’s annual gathering will take place in Gisborne/Tūranga this year, featuring guest dance tutors who are visiting especially for the event.

The Tūranga Bal is a weekend of folk dance being hosted by Jane Luiten and her local dance group Good Folk — Dances from Planet Earth.

It will begin on Saturday morning with well-known contemporary dancer Michael Parmenter taking a workshop of Bal folk dance with Kate Grace who teaches community dance in Dunedin. Musician Amanda Maclean will be taking a music workshop and is calling on Gisborne musicians to come along and learn some of the Bal music. The dancers and musicians will come together in an evening of Balfolk dance on Saturday night. Balfolk is a type of folk music and dance from France, Belgium, and the Netherlands. It is a combination of traditional folk music and modern dance music, and is often played at folk festivals and dances. The music is usually played by a band of two to four musicians, and the dances are usually done in couples.

Jane Luiten discovered folk dance when she was a young mum.

“I just loved the music. Folk dance is inclusive.  I like the fact it is accessible to everyone.

“It is a way of moving to the music and the movement is so satisfying because it is rooted in old traditions,” Jane says.

Jane will teach Balkan folk dance on Sunday afternoon and there will be Appalachian Clogging — a North American dance style taught by Elizabeth Raines on Sunday morning. Traditional Appalachian clogging is characterised by loose, often bent knees and a drag-slide motion of foot across the floor.

Jane’s son Paraone Luiten-Apirana will also take a Maori song and action session of waiata-a-ringa. The weekend of dance will end with an International folk dance party on the Sunday evening. Everyone is welcome and lunch is provided both days. People are advised to register online at the Folk Dance New Zealand website, www.folkdance.nz