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- Subscribe - Contact Us - Rate Card - Place an Ad Archives Revels Classifieds Real Estate Guide Weather Subscribe Contact Us January 19, 2005 Dancing Old School By Bill Choy Ashland Daily Tidings A group of eight- and nine-year-olds have gone old school, way old school - learning medieval dances at the Willow Wind Learning Center. Willow Wind students practice celtic dance in preparation for their recent performance. Denise Baratta | Ashland Daily Tidings For more than a month, Judy Kennedy, the former choreographer of the Green Show at the Oregon Shakespeare Festival has taught the students these dances. Their hard work paid off with a performance in front of parents and fellow students at the learning center on Thursday. One of the dances they learned included the "Torch Branle." In this dance, the children circle around while one or two people carry a lit torch around the circle and choose the next person who will carry it. In the Willow Wind version, they used a decorated, unlit candle. The dance comes from a book published in 1589, Kennedy said. The children also performed the "Pease Branle," where dancers alternately step sideways and perform a jumping motif. The performers also demonstrated an English Country dance where two lines of dancers walk simple patterns alternately. In one pattern, the dancers formed two chorus lines and walked in figure eight patterns together. Teacher Judith Ann McBride said her class had been studying medieval times and she wanted that time period to come alive for her students. "Music and dance was an intricate part of that culture and time period," McBride said. "It shows them how things are connected to one another and hopefully, will give them a better understanding of the culture and what life was like back then." On a recent afternoon, the students worked intently with Kennedy on their dance steps. The children had big smiles on their faces as they danced in a circle, trying to remember their steps, as Kennedy gently guided them. "Remember to drop your hands when people need to get through the circle," Kennedy said. "Because it's hard on people's backs." Raven Borgilt, 8, said she loves to dance by herself at home, and liked the fact she was learning something new. "I like being able to dance here because I don't have to worry about my sister saying, "'Raven stop dancing,"' she said. "I like medieval dancing. It's not like modern dancing. It's unique and it's been fun to learn." While unsure at first, Nick Chouard, 8, said it had been quite an enjoyable experience. "I didn't really want to do it at first because I thought it was going to be two person dancing," he said. "But doing circle dancing like this is easier. It's fun to do this." Erin Keoppen, 9, also had a good time learning the dances. "Before, I didn't even know what medieval dancing was," she said. "By doing this, we're helping keep this type of dancing going. It's really pretty dancing and we don't want to get rid of it." For Kennedy, teaching students this young these dances has been an enjoyable experience. "These dances are not hard, but fun," she said. "It was important to have dance steps they could learn and enjoy. They really get a chance to do something unique and to learn a little bit more about what people's lives were like back then." DailyTidings.com Home Page Archives | Revels | Classifieds | Real Estate Guide | Weather | Subscribe | Contact Us Copyright 2005 Ashland Daily Tidings and Ottaway Newspapers All Rights Reserved Slippers Women's Slippers men's slippers Ceramic Piggy Banks heloc libor rate Calenders 2005 Calender 2005 Accelerate Weight Loss Programs Memory Foam Mattress college loans alternative student loans Matchmaking & Dating Scripts Adventure Travel Conference Calls - $50/Month Security Systems student loan consolidation trillion cut diamonds Currancy Exchange Click Here Site Search: .:Advertisements:. RESOURCES - Mail Tribune News - ODOT Road Cams