May Heydays at Evesham:
Caller Training

Eastbourne International Folk Festival had a strong commitment to Caller Training, and we are pleased to continue this tradition.
Good new callers are hard to find, and we want to give them every encouragement!

The following notes are from the 2023 Festival.



Kathryn and David WrightIn 2023 the Callers sessions will be run by Kathryn and David Wright.

The three Callers' Workshops are aimed at:

The content of the sessions will depend to a great extent of the levels of experience of those attending so, ahead of the festival weekend, we will be asking participants to pre-register and give some information about themselves to assist in the planning of the workshops.

The first session will take to form of a discussion about various aspects of teaching and calling dances and ways to produce a good experience for both callers and dancers.

In the second session we will be joined by Rod and Frances Stradling as musicians and will look at the relationship between the dance and its music and ways in which callers and musicians can work together to support the dancers.

The third session, with Rod and Frances again providing the music, will give participants the opportunity to call and to receive one-to-one feedback from Kathryn afterwards. Guidance on the choice of dances will be issued to callers ahead of the weekend.

All of the sessions are potentially of interest to dancers who are at the receiving end of calling and we will certainly welcome dancers to the third session to be guinea pigs for callers to practice on.

Gendered terms will be used in the workshops, although emphasis will be placed on strategies to make calling clear and supportive.

Could those who are planning to participate in the Callers' Workshop Sessions register their interest to Kathryn and David before 1st March, giving a brief indication of their level of calling experience?  This will assist in the planning of the sessions and also give an indication of the number taking part in the practical calling session.  Guidance on the choice of dances to call will be circulated to participants in early March.

Although those who wish to call will need to pre-register, others will be welcome to attend and in particular will be needed as “Guinea Pig Dancers” in the third session.

Kathryn and David can be contacted at You must enable JavaScript to see this email address.


Louise Siddons

The Caller's Round will be led by Louise Siddons.

This is your chance to ask questions about any aspect of calling, discuss, even disagree, in a friendly and supportive atmosphere.

Louise is experienced at calling both American Contras and Playford-style English, and will encourage you to express your ideas and maybe air the problems you face as a caller.