Andrew
Shaw
Andrew was dragged kicking and screaming to
his first country dance as a teenager in the 60s. Initial reluctance overcome,
he was quickly attracted to the dances and their music and went on to gain a
basic grounding from some of the more fearsome instructors of the day. But it
was not until many years later, inspired by his friend and mentor Tom Cook,
that the pleasurable social activity was to develop into an enthralling
interest in and enthusiasm for the history and performance of the English
Country Dance. As an interpreter and exponent of these dances he teaches at
weekends, festivals and other courses at home and abroad. For a list of his
forthcoming engagements, click here.
In 2001 Andrew inaugurated his own annual
dance weekend at Halsway Manor in Somerset. The first series, entitled “Wit
& Mirth: Or, Pills to Purge Melancholy”, after the 18th century
song collection of that name, ran for 6 years and featured music from Paul
Hutchinson, initially with Paul Sartin and latterly with John Hymas. Late-night
song recitals by Liz Park, accompanied by Tony Battilana, illustrated the link
between the song and dance tunes of the period, which was an underlying theme
of the weekends. A recording of a selection of their songs is available: click here for details. After an “Entr’acte”, led by
Philippe Callens in 2007, Andrew began a second series of dance weekends,
entitled “For the Furthur Improvement
of Dancing”, in 2008. Lists of the dances taught at these events can be
downloaded by clicking the following links:
For the
Furthur Improvement of Dancing
Andrew’s interest in the dances of the late
17th and early 18th centuries, especially those composed
by Nathaniel Kynaston, has resulted in the publication of four dance
collections to date:- Mr. Kynaston‘s Famous Dance in 2000, The She
Favourite in 2002, Emperor of the Moon in 2006 and Farnicle Huggy
in 2009. The She Favourite also throws light on the activities of the
little-known dancing-master Richard Motley, whilst Farnicle Huggy
features dances “Compos’d by a Person of Quality Recommended to Mr. Nathaniel
Kynaston”. The recordings accompanying the first three collections all feature
Paul Hutchinson on accordion: the first two in association with Paul Sartin on
violin and oboe as Belshazzar’s Feast, and the third in
association with John Hymas on violin and viola. The most recent was recorded
in California by the multi-instrumentalists Rebecca King, Jon Berger and Jim
Oakden.
In-between
times, in 2004, Andrew also edited The Dances of Brian Wedgbury, in
memory of this fine dance composer and near-neighbour who died in 2002. The
book and accompanying CD by John and Sue Stapledon on English concertina,
keyboards and violin contain the notation and music for all 22 dances written
by Brian.
For price and availability of all Andrew’s
publications, click here.