Cotton Shed Master Class : Dancing in Circles | Lunatraktors

Introducing Cotton Shed Master Classes... 

Additional workshops open to all members led by local & national artists.

We are delighted to welcome to host our first master class, Lunatraktors.

Choreographer / percussionist Carli Jefferson and composer / singer Clair Le Couteur want to work with you to create a new folk dance style – simple, euphoric, passionate, rhythmical.

Location : Horse + Bamboo, 679 Bacup Road, Rossendale.  BB4 7HB

Date : Thursday 23rd Feb 2023

Timing : 6pm - 7.30pm 

Price : £8 per member

--

Circle dances are a primal human activity, linking diverse people together through many times and places. The circle is a structure honouring togetherness: equality, sharing, listening and being listened to. We will combine simple dance steps with body percussion and harmonic singing, drawing inspiration from the rhythms, tunes and stories of the British folk tradition. Whether you are an experienced singer and dancer bringing your own knowledge, or just taking your first steps and eager to learn something new, you will be equally valued by the group. Clair and Carli are a queer couple and Clair is partially sighted; people of all ages, abilities, body types, genders, ethnicities and cultural backgrounds are welcome in the circle.

We will introduce participants to some tools for working creatively and somatically: an integrated form of expression giving our bodies more voice and our voices more body. Combining basic techniques from body percussion and overtone singing, we can not only expand our individual sense of power and resonance, but we also open our ears and hearts again to each other. Participants will get a glimpse inside the Lunatraktors method of composition and songwriting, learning about our archival research and discovering some little-known traditional material. Working with these resources and our own intuitive, somatic practice immerses us in the anachronistic – the looping of time, repeating patterns of our sufferings, our triumphs, our hopes and collective strength. As we move through traumatic, isolating times, re-learning how to commune and how to share space together is a pressing concern. Across the world and throughout history, music and dance have brought people together and allowed them to express and transform their feelings, generating joyful togetherness. Taking part in the folk tradition helps us find hope and power through the things that no-one can take from us: our voices, our bodies, our desire to find new pathways and to rebuild compassionate, creative communities.