2014   Great Alne Long Weekend   :   Fri 25th - Mon 28th April  in 2014
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    • A less hectic day with its tables-out, SIT-DOWN MEAL
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  • 2013
    • 2014 Fri25th - Mon28th April
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  • What we do
  • Our FLIERS
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    • DO VISIT US AT ANYTIME. Just come and take part: FOOD is available for you.
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    • Contact us. click HERE
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    • If you plan on bringing your CARAVAN or a CAMPERVAN
    • Wish to CAMP: in/outdoors? CONTACT US HERE !
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  • Thanks
    • Also, with much appreciation, WE REMEMBER HERE - Those we have lost.
  • Site archive
Evening Dance or Day visits welcomed: Great Alne Long Weekend:  Our site's Home page. Contact us -here.
 A cool, sunny April spell was enjoyed for Karin's visit: our 2013 30th Anniversary. See what we did in each day's programme: JOIN US for similar in 2014.
If you have never visited before -
The Long Weekend Programme at Great Alne has considerable similarities from year to year -

Discover what took place - View details of our April 2013 event cLICK on EACH  DAY FOR THEIR  PROGRAMMES - 
Detailed Apr 2013 programme: Dance/Song/Activities: click above to view each day.
These 2013 details give you presently some guide as to how the 2014 event will be arranged.
(The What we do page is also useful.)
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Join dance, music, song & more. Share a joyful, active 2014 Spring break !
Karin Bellaart from The Netherlands - was our main 2013 teacher of International Dances.
KARIN's REPERTOIRE from which her dances were selected, you may view it here.
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We intend to continue our NEW Friday Innovations -
We BEGAN with a walk on cLICK FRIDAY - then International - then a sit-down roast meal.

A wonderful Geoff Cubitt Contra followed: bourées for LNE.
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Much goes-on each April in this English Warwickshire Village Memorial Hall.
Drop by !   Be welcomed at ANY time !
Pre-booking you do not need !
BUT you WILL again be able to: GET A BARGAIN -
with our "Early Bird" Season Ticket offer.
"Early Bird" (details will be on this site) from December for the April 2014 Event.  
Join in ! come along ! Participate in a wonderful series of folk events !

Countryside & surroundings of Great Alne village here in the UK are delightful.  Come out - explore :
Especially lovely in Spring.  See how delightful the area is - try some of the suggested WALKS - 
SAMPLE over the Long Weekend - varied dancing, music, song, handbells, walking, cycling & more.
Ideas of where to stay when you visit: on the Accomodation page.
Map: route directions (with a selection of interesting local walks) - on the MAP - etc page.
NB. Our Caterering lets you enjoy all this without need to prepare sandwiches, or cook at home.
Picture
Copyright James Hobro 2005. CLICK pic. to enlarge.
What happens at Great Alne each year?

The extended weekend explores varied traditional folk activities & dance from around the world.

You can sample a whole range of different kinds of dancing here.
Always with some General International Dancing -
Last April, we enjoyed also the lively rhythms of Balkan Dances; Hambo, Cajun, Scottish -
Then there was French with Pete Grassby with an extra session of Set Bourées -
Not to mention the fun of Border Morris or undoing those patterns plaited around the Maypole.
In 2014, hope for Morris in the sunshine: Maypole dancing out on the green & patterns through the daisies.


Join to play music, share Song, ring handbells & much more.

Welcome to the white and raftered hall in this beautiful English Warwickshire village.

We're ALL learners at some activity:
Many are experienced in some aspect of dance/music: We have skills to share.

Join and participate with us in the dancing, music & song
.
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Our musicians on stage - most are members of the cLICK  Cole Valley Ceilidh Band - based in the Midlands.  
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HERE: The most skilfully entertaining of web folk videos !  cLICK  BELOW to PLAY -
An ace quiet, spontaneous moment. Sunday Eve LNE 2008. (Try then to stay on THIS website, without getting distracted within YouTube.)
Pete Grassby shows simultaneously his skills both as dancer AND Musician: whilst he waltzes with Linda Moon.
HOW brilliantly accomplished !
The melodeon & its straps are closely around Linda's back. Pete you hear entertainingly to remark "She can't get away".
Visit Pete Grassby's website - or that of Coventry based Aardvark Ceilidh Band which Pete leads (and founded).
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Personal items  in the hall. Leave in view in front of the stage, else at the very back of the stage.
Please NOT at the hall sides.  A danger for dancers !
Do NOT let your bag or chair become an obstacle causing a dancer to FALL!
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You may presently notice still, a little duplication here on the website. We're almost through major site overhaul.

This was much helped last year by a special adaptation from "Weebly" - the hosts of our site,
- Greatly appreciated, this allowed our second line of available "pages" under the title picture.
André as web-writer recently personally invested in a newer, but faster laptop.
This greatly speeds the more cumbersome page-juggles which overall Weebly changes now necessitate whenever editing changes are made.

We trust that regular site visitors will like the changes; and all of the improvements longterm -
especially those from Karen. She put forward (and now manages) our brill "Early Bird" option.

Programme & details for THIS April's long weekend are prioritised.
The site Feb.'13 was entirely copied and stored. Any anomalies, duplications etc will now gradually be tidied-up.
Meanwhile - please helpfully SPECIFY any links not working or mistakes which you see.
Social dancing
On Friday, Saturday & Sunday evenings in 2013. Bonus late dances too!
Hot drinks are included in the entertainment breaks! There will be many similarities to 2012.
Find out what dancing happened in Apr 2012. 
Click here on 
Last Event p1 or the Last Event p2 pages.
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Workshops
You'll find Morris Dancing, Song groups and Handbells outside when we have sunny weather!
At popular times, these parallel workshops take place while there is dancing in the hall.

Workshops in dance, music, song & much more : through the day on Sat, Sun, & Monday.

Picture

Nel from The Netherlands shows some International Dance steps
.

Activities take place in a lovely area of English Warwickshire countryside
.

Explore the Walks section on the
Map/Walks Page.

T
he excellent floor of the villages' World War I Memorial Hall allows comfortable dancing in pleasant surroundings.


You are most welcome visiting singly: Equally with a partner.
Copyright; Tony Heaton  2004.

From the Netherlands, 4 teachers have visited:
Nel van der Laan guides (above) Karin Bellaart made several visits too
: also Emmie Buisman and Mariette.
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NB Sides of the hall are NOT a safe place for personal items, or to set-up chairs !
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How Great Alne Long-Weekend is made available for your participation in 2013:

Paul and Nicola, on a small committee, have shared in the tasks, especially preparation & finance.

This enabled
 its 29th year to have been successfully completed.
It will continue to be available -
for the participatory enjoyment of the many who take part.

André
sincerely appreciates these two friends who have taken on much "spadework" in our small team
.

This has allowed the ideas, effort and vision that many individuals put into the Great Alne Long-Weekend - 

now with an even further extended committee - to be a continuing reality through into the future.
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Why Great Alne Long-Weekend happens:
1)
To foster contacts ABROAD. To promote friendship & understanding through sharing folk dance, music & song.

2)To give opportunities for dancers, musicians and everyone coming to try out different skills.

It's a chance for you to try doing something new!

So when
you visit for a particular dance or workshop, why not come sooner and sample something else too.
Or perhaps instead, stay to sample what comes next.

No matter if the standard seems to be high. Better dancers/musicians/singers are there to SHARE their skills
.
And do please bring an instrument to try a few tunes in the friendly company of one of the music workshops.
"Great Alne" is organised as an opportunity to discover,
 exchange to pass-on these joys & skills. 

3)
 Gt Alne Long Weekend
aims ESPECIALLY to give young participants
an idea of the fulfillment -
That is to be found in active participation in all kinds of folk dance, folk music and traditional songs.

We hope to encourage all to come sharing a tolerant spirit -

Allowing everyone to enjoy the activities, and to be able to sample something different.

The PRICE STRUCTURE
tries to reflect these principles
.

The workshop leaders are not paid.

- Most leaders who regularly contribute just enjoy the weekend by participating in the workshops of others.
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Note: YOUR responsibility is for YOUR SAFETY if dancing, walking, cycling etc.
Parental responsibility is for safe, sensible behaviour of YOUR children.

Sides of this hall are NOT a safe place for personal items, or to set-up chairs.

Please generally 
take back a chair you've used as you get up to leave it
.

Do NOT let your bag or chair become an obstacle causing a dancer to FALL!
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Wish to bring a caravan?  Preferably leave YOUR name/tel contact. See Caravan/Motorhome page.

Thanks

Considerable thanks are due t
o all of the many contributors to each of the annual Great Alne Long Weekends.
Individual generosity has allowed the structure of  "open exchange" of music, dance and other activities to continue, and many have freely given much of their time, energy and travel.

- Thanks for 2010 were due to -

Janet Woolbar for selecting a variety of lovely dances and for coming, despite great personal difficulties, to show these so well.
To Dalila Heath for bringing her sunny personality, and more lovely dances, but from Israel and from her Armenian roots.

Especially though, to those who gave much, but were able to be rewarded through participation, rather little.

Most particularly thus thanking -
James Eisner who shared his wonderful skills in leading part song. Staying locally, he brought his wife Louise & little Benjamin.

Sue Rosen for her brilliant calling for the Sunday evening Contra and to Bruce, Meg and all who played in the band.
Then to Pete Grassby for his wonderful music and ace couple dances for Sunday's Late Nite Extra.


Also to Jo & Guy for having so kindly made their home available for two of our teachers to stay.

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    To receive by email updated information prior to this annual April event - please complete this:

Submit
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The 2009 Great Alne website still has some archive interest.
You may revisit the older layout of previous years if you -
 cLICK here. This will take you across to our older website layout Great Alne 2009's Home Page.
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To return to the top of THIS the present Home page -  CLICK here

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