Folk in Harmony was a project coordinated by folk club 't Smiske from Asse. The purpose was to create a blend of classical music and folk with famous artists from the region such as Birgit Bornauw, Ambrozijn, Eva De Roovere, and others.

Peter De Rop, main organiser of the event, invited us to bring a performance on Simple Gifts. We never had heard of this tune, but, so he told us, it was used as the main theme in Lord of the Dance. Well, I thought, I can manage a few taps on that kind of music, so I accepted with pleasure.
However, what a surprise when we received the audio clip! This wasn't at all what we expected. We found out that the tune was written by Elder Joseph Brackett, Jr. in 1848. It was first published in The Gift to be Simple: Shaker Rituals and Songs. Simple Gifts was a work song sung by the United Society of Believers in Christ's Second Appearing (more commonly called the Shakers, an offshoot of the Quakers), and for sure was never supposed to be danced on: listen to this. Then we found out that Ronan Hardiman, musical director of Lord of the Dance, had done really a good job in turning the song into a piece suitable for Irish show dancing when brought with traditional Irish instruments. But the atmosphere created by this harmony of over 60 musicians was quite different from the swinging reels and jigs that we were used to. Very nice but bombastic ! A solo or duo piece would not work.

So that's why we asked the assistance of folk dancing group Mallepietje. They were not familiar with Irish dancing, but given their skills in other sorts of folk dancing, we were quite sure to be able to prepare them for the show. We went a few times to their weekly dancing sessions, and learned them the basics of light jig and reel dancing in the traditional style, and some figures from The Clare Lancers. Then we put everything together thereby trying to match the look and feel of the different styles of dancing with the various atmospheres created by the music.

Did we do a good job? Well, judge for yourself.

• Here are some pictures of the crew and the dancing, some of them shot during the rehearsal session with the harmony (yes, we had only one such session for not more than about 15 minutes). We had practised on a recording that the harmony made one year before. Other pictures are taken by DJ Jak and Bart Denolf.
• A very first video-clip (mpeg, 39 Mb! Please download first using right click. Total duration should be 4'35". If the file is shorter, try downloading again.) of the final result, shot during the last performance. More clips were taken but I have still to edit them. Come back in a few weeks for more.
• Video clip: Celtic Bompa Bloopers (10 Mb).