My sense from reading your notes is that Zesty Playford is what I'd
think of (as an American who has danced English in the SF Bay Area,
Boston, etc) as good English dancing with extra playfulness.
Questions: Is "Playford" the Brit usage where you mean what US means by
"English" dancing? (Since the linked video is of Jenny Pluck Pears,
which fits both categories, I couldn't tell.)
My brief experience of "Extreme" / "Trash" English was that it was
really specifically an attempt to bring US-urban-contra aesthetic to
English dance / music. Music could be played sleazily, etc - but with
energy. Lots of twirls/flourishes.
(In the video I was seeing some improv - in one set the women did an
elbows-linked back-basket, which I'd never seen before - but not so much
contra-style flourishes. [Which I think are generally great in contra
but must be used sparingly in English lest you lose the satisfaction in
fitting the geography to the music.] So I'm arguing that Extreme
English seems not quite to be the same thing. I'd like to see all
English over here be more Zesty.)
-- Alan
On 4/27/2013 12:44 PM, Colin Hume wrote:
Rhodri Davies and I are both running Zesty Playford workshops at
Eastbourne Folk Festival in a weeks' time. I've written a set of
notes, some of which I intend to use then, and would welcome feedback
either through the list or direct to me.
http://www.colinhume.com/dezesty.htm
Colin Hume
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