HISTORY OF THE FOLK COMPANIONS

We’ve been dancing in the area for almost thirty years, how did we get here ?…. The group was founded to attend a festival in Stuttgart at Whitsun 1971 to display some English folk dances - at this stage just Country Dancing and Morris. This festival was to celebrate the 25th anniversary of the Stuttgarter Spielkries. The idea to form our group grew from a conversation between two school teachers (who were touring Gothenburg in Sweden with Bristol Morris) and a German folk dancer they met by chance whilst sheltering in a bandstand to avoid the rain. On their return Peter Sumner (with his wife Diane) and Alan Davies decided to merge the folk dance groups that they were running in the two secondary schools in which they taught (Thornbury Grammer School [now Marlwood School] and Patchway High School) … and the rest as they say is history……

International festivals

The Folk Companions have subsequently attended the following international folk dance festivals to represent England:

Hannover

1975 (B)

Stuttgart

1972 and 1975 (B)

Oldenburg

1979 (B)

Kempton

1983 (B)

St Niklas (Belgium)

1984

Aachen

1987

Plochingen

1999

Ostfildern

2002



(B) – Bundesvolkstanztreffen run by the Deutsche Gesellschaft für Volkstanz

Exchange visits with groups in other countries

We have entertained groups from a variety of European countries - for long and short periods - often on a reciprocal basis, with the Folk Companions then visiting the foreign group. These have included:

Germany

Stuttgarter Spielkreis (several times)

Volkstanzgruppe Hegnach

RSK Esslingen (several times)

Volkstanzgruppe Wuntsdorf

Tanzkreis Hannover

Benthullen-Harbern

Spielchar Hesse

Itzehoe

France

Les Mainches

Finland

Turku

Sweden

SGV Malmo

Denmark

Copenhagen (Hjemstans Kobnhavn)

Aarhus (1945 Aarhus)

Vejle

Norway

Grimstad

Austria

Tamburitza Hornstein

Lutzs

Switzerland

Thun



We have also represented the Bristol area (twice) at the National Gathering of the English-Folk Dance and Song Society and taken part in other festivals in the UK.

Many members who started at school with the group and have subsequently moved away have continued to take part in folk activities. There is at least one ceilidh band founded by former members, and we have ex-members in many parts of the country and overseas who still enjoy dancing and/or playing.

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