Webfeet : FAQ

• What is Folk Dance?
• What is a English Folk Dance or Barn Dance?
• How do I spell Caylee? Cailey? Kayli? Kaylee?
• What is English Ceilidh?
• Do I want a Barn Dance or an English Ceilidh?
• .. you mean there's a difference between English Ceilidh and English Country Dance?
• Isn't there a better name than English Ceilidh?
• How do I hire a band?
• How much will a band cost?

• What is Webfeet?
• Searching Webfeet?
• How do I get my band listed in Webfeet?
• How do I get my event listed in Webfeet?
• Where did these questions come from?
• Where did these answers come from?
• Can I have a Second Opinion?

• Where can I find...?
• Where can I find Irish Dancing Classes...?
• Where can I find details of Morris Steps...?
• What, no Latin or Ballroom?
• Where can I find Belly Dancing...?

• A deceptively simple question - but no simple answer. Certainly any description which includes names of dances, styles or music or steps or dance movements is going to be incomplete. 'Folk Dances' are more those which are part of a culture, tradition or community, typically ones where you say "I don't really know where I learned that". Answers include in the ways which refers to the manner people learn the dances, that folk dances are more community-orientated than commercial.
• The webfeet attempt at answering the question is to say look around at the dancers, if you've got a generation or more of of people dancing then you're at a folk dance, if you've got a narrow age range, despite the dances, you're elsewhere.

• English Folk Dances, Barn Dances, Country Dances etc (there's no end of names for them) are first and foremost social dances.
• Recognisible by a fairly regular structure - squares, circles or line - a fairly regular pattern - one couple does something, the second does it, the third does it.
• The dances can be done without having to learn particular steps or without having to remember complex sequences of instructions. There is a large range of dances done but it is normal that instructions (or reminders) are called out as part of the dance.

• Not an easy word and more variations appear every day :-) There's Ceilidh, which seems to be how it is spelt in Scotland, and Ceili, which is more definitely Irish. English Ceilidh is follows the Scottish spelling.
• Wikipedia is a good starting off point.

• English Ceilidh is the wilder side of English Folk or Barn Dance.
• There's no real dividing line between English Ceilidh and a Folk or Barn Dance, the dances overlap, sometimes the same tunes are used in both. The major difference is in the attack, as described in the link above, you would hunt out your training shoes to dance at an eCeilidh gig.

• An answer lifted straight off the EC discussion list - If you're asking the question you want a Barn Dance
• In response to the perplexed 'Eh?'. The term 'Barn Dance' is certainly better known than 'English Ceilidh'. People would recognise a barn dance from various fund raising events such as arranged by school Parent Teachers Associations. People know the term 'English Ceilidh' from dance series, folk festivals etc.
• If you are putting on an event, a lot more people would know the term barndance.

• Now we are into the area where the questions really are Frequently Asked...
• Maybe there's two questions nestling together here - does 'English Ceilidh' need a separate label and why use a Scottish/Irish term?
• The Webfeet answer to the first question is yes, there needs to be a separate label although this is discussed, often at length on the mailing list, and for the second that if there is a better name, it hasn't turned up and made it into common usage.
• (You'll hear 'eCeilidh' but that's 'English Ceilidh' squashed into one word)

• This depends on where you are: in the US, 'English Country Dance' (or ECD) refers to the graceful, stately, Playford-type dances and those you see in those Jane Austin TV series. There is a big difference between these and English Ceilidh.
• In the UK there's a difference in terms of the music, eCeilidh music is taken from all over, certainly not limited to tunes from the British Isles. On the other hand the term English Country Dance music does seem to imply that the tunes have English roots.

• Everyone will tell you it's not, the bands, the agents, the people putting on the barn dance in the village hall, they'll all say that anyone can do it. It's probably true, it's not Ballroom dancing, Riverdance or endurance training after all
• There's two things in its favour, you don't have to worry too much about the feet, there won't be any of those pictures showing an indeterminate number of footprints trying to waltz, and you don't have to remember too much either, there'll be a caller reminding people of what's coming next until he or she's sure that everybody has got it

• This used to be a question of 'do you know one', if so ask them, if not, find an agency.
• Nowadays it is possible to browse the collected web pages (start local!), look for recommendations from the various newsgroups. However there is still a place for asking an agency, particularly if you want a dance as part of an event (say a wedding). You probably don't want to bother with the details, the agency will try to find a band and caller which fits your wishes.
• Webfeet maintains a short list of Booking Agencies, doesn't do this sort of work itself.
• The uk.music.folk FAQ also has a section on this.

• Well, there's a chance you'll find a band who plays for the love of it or who accept your offer to do their replumbing the next time. If not, you'll have to accept that you can be paying 3, 4, 5 or more people for 'X' hours work, driving back and forth, the wear and tear on the collection of instruments and equipment, insurance costs and potentially the Agent's fee as well.
• Now, of course, you want figures - so assume 60 to 100 pounds per person (don't forget the caller) and you should not be too far off. Some bands will be more, maybe some less. You are more likely to be at the high end of this range in the south of England and cheaper in the north.

• Webfeet is described in the overview and help pages - but in short it is designed to be a focus for English Ceilidh, Folk Dance, Barn Dance information etc on the Web. It includes indexes to bands, events, recordings and samples (MP3's for example), diaries and a search engine.

• Searches find pages in webfeet itself and 'neighbouring sites', which is to a first approximation any page that Webfeet points to.
• See the search page for more information.

• Just send webfeet an Email with the URL of your website or text of what you'd want in a simple page. There's no charge....
• If you've got a web page, don't forget to include where you're based in it!

How do I get my event listed in Webfeet?