Here you find information on noteworthy events I participated in and that are related to folk bal dances: workshops, summer schools or just bals. The reports are cross-indexed with the folk bal dance explanation page.

Dances from Brittany with Thierry Riou, Leuven, Dec 27-29, 2004.

A three-day workshop on various dances from Brittany, mainly from the Poher and Vannetais regions. I shot 18 video clips, and oh, yeah, they are here on line !

(Dutch version available on Folkroddels)

Dances from Poitou with Benoit Guerbigny and Robert Thebaut, Gooik, 05/05/2004.

As an introduction to the monthly Boombal in Gooik, Benoit Guerbigny and Robert Thebaut introduced us to six dances from Poitou. The tricky thing about most of these dances is that they share features with bourrées but are nevertheless distinct. Unexperienced dancers might encounter difficulties in paying attention to these differences.

Wallon folk bal dances with Michaëla Marginet and Christiaen D'huyvetter, Gooik, 07/04/2004.

As an introduction to the monthly Boombal in Gooik, Michaëla introduced us to four dances that are regularly danced at folk bals in Wallony, but are rather unknown in Flanders. Since I welcome any initiative to bring more variation in the folk bal repertoire of Flanders, I can't resist sharing the dance descriptions with you.

Scottish, Mazurka and Waltz for advanced dancers with Koen Dhondt, Asse, 20/03/2004.

Koen Dhondt's bal folk dancing is based on the style commonly used in France. In this workshop, he focused on the differences with the Flemish style and introduced some variations.

Hambo and Zwiefacher Workshop with Klaus Fink, Meerbeke, 14/03/2004.

Hambo is a polska variation which is occasionally played at folk bals in Flanders. Zwiefache is a couple dance most popular in the South of Germany, parts of Austria and the Elzas in France. Why are they the topic of one workshop? Simply because the instructor, Klaus Fink, is a German who spends a lot of time in Sweden.
Quite a lot of video material is available in the report of this workshop. Have a look, and enjoy it!

Advanced workshop on variations for Bourrée, mazurka, and scottish.

A 2-day workshop (31/01-1/02/2004) organised by Folk Wattrelos, with Bernard Coclet, founder of Le Grand Bal de L'Europe in Gennetines. An overall impression of the workshop is available through the Flemish Folk website Folkroddels (in Dutch).

Bourrées workshop with Michaëla Marginet and Christiaen D'Huyvetter.

Two workshops focusing on the bourrée as danced in Berry.