Scandimoot offers one of the best opportunities you will find in the UK to learn tunes and dances from Scandinavian teachers. Each year we pick exceptional music and dance teachers from Norway and Sweden to come to this small, intimate event in Yorkshire. With such intensive work the standard of both your music and your dancing rapidly improves.
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Scandimoot 2024
Next year's Scandimoot will take place from
Fri 3rd May to Mon 6th May (BH weekend)
in and around Clapham, North Yorkshire
We will update this website as arrangements progress.
We also post on FB and Twitter or you can contact us on: <info@scandimoot.org.uk> and ask to be put on our mailing list
NB: The rest of the information on this page is from the 2023 event!
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Scandimoot is a member of the
EUROPEAN FOLK NETWORK
Scandimoot
The
Fifteenth Scandimoot
It doesn’t seem like 15 years since Yorkshire Dales Workshops came to a halt and Scandimoot took over, but that’s what the calendar says. Our tradition of holding an annual event of music and dance from Scandinavia in Yorkshire in May began in the late 1980s (thanks to Geoff and Liz Bowen, and Fliss Paterson) and continued from 2008 onwards as Scandimoot. An international pandemic and lockdown stopped us briefly in 2020, but in 2021 we rallied with our online event, Digimoot, and in 2022 we were back face to face again. A memorably joyous occasion that was.
Things have changed in fifteen years. In the 1980s not many musicians were playing Scandi tunes and even fewer people knew how to dance to them. A few faithful and familiar faces would appear on every occasion Scandi music was offered, but the genre was not generally well-known.
Now Scandi tunes appear on albums across the folk music scene and there are dozens of sessions, social media sites, and small and large groups of musicians and dancers in the UK who get together (when they can) to play and dance Scandi style. But Scandimoot is not just another of these. It is the place where, we believe, you meet and become inspired by the source; by the very best in their field, diving in deeply and intensively. And without even leaving the UK.
When Rowan Rheingans came to Scandimoot in 2014, she wrote:
‘You can do things informally; there’s lots of gatherings around, but not with tutors like these - not that I’ve come across. It’s a rare thing, to be able to spend a dedicated weekend working with someone who’s really an expert’
It would be impossible to list the ‘best’ of musicians and dancers from Sweden and Norway who have brought their talents to YDW and Scandimoot over the years.
When we look back over our list
of artists it reads like a ‘Who’s Who’ of Scandinavian folk talent;
many of them are award winners, internationally famous super
stars.
Our mission is ‘bringing the best of Scandinavian music and dance to the UK’
and that we are proud to say we do.
You will meet exceptional musicians here this year, as every year.
Don’t miss the opportunity!
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Scandimoot 2023 Artists Information:
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Meals
There will be very reasonably priced meals (prices pegged at 2022 rates) available throughout the weekend (except Sunday night when we go to Settle for the concert) and we hope many people will choose to eat communally.
It will be healthy home made vegetarian food. We can cater for most special diets (allergies and intolerances) if you let us know on the booking form.
On Sunday it will be possible to self-cater at Clapham Village Hall or we can suggest places to eat in Settle before the concert.
General notes about teaching
Dance: No previous experience of Scandinavian dance and no partner is needed, as you will be encouraged to change partner (and role). You do need to have had some dancing experience and be able to learn, by looking, listening and feeling - whichever works best for you. The workshops are progressive and not normally appropriate for anyone to drop in to. This year there will be one dance from a Norwegian tradition and another from a Swedish tradition. You should aim to bring shoes with a smooth sole to help the rotation of the dance.
Music: Tuition will be in three groups, the tutors will move between the groups:
You will be able to move between groups if space is available.
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We’ll make resources available (recordings, video & notation) after the event.
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Extra workshops
Besides the main music and dance workshops, we will be running various additional courses during the late afternoon of both Saturday and Sunday.
We plan to be able to offer:
Dance workshops for those wanting to learn or refresh some basic Scandinavian dance styles with Andrew Parr & John-Francis Goodacre
Playing for dancing with Fredrik Lundberg
Singing with Kersti Ståbi
There will also be opportunities for session playing
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Evening Activities
On Friday evening: we'll introduce the tutors, who will each give a short presentation. Afterwards you'll be able to play for dancing, or dance – or both!
On Saturday evening: you'll
again get the chance to dance and play for
dancing.
For musicians – we'll send a list of common “allspel” tunes a few weeks before the event, so everyone gets a chance to play together. There will also be opportunities to play solo or in smaller groups – or dance to our visiting tutors.
On both Friday and Saturday evenings we'll be in Clapham Village Hall. We need to finish by midnight.
On Sunday evening: we go to the
Victoria Hall in Settle for a concert from our guests, followed by
more playing and dancing – including an opportunity to showcase
what we've learned so far. We share transport so don't worry
if you don't have a car.
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Venues
The main venue for the 2023 festival will again be Clapham village, 1.5 miles west of Austwick and within the Yorkshire Dales National Park, a small but bustling village with pubs, cafés, pretty walks, and everywhere mentioned is within a few minutes’ walk.
The Friday and Saturday evening meals, Monday lunch and all breakfasts, the Friday evening introduction, Saturday evening dance and all the dance workshops are at Clapham Village Hall (LA2 8DZ).
The Sunday evening public concert will be held at Victoria Hall, Settle, an attractive market town within 15 mins drive of Clapham (BD24 9DZ).
All music workshops are at Ingleborough Hall. We also use this venue for Saturday and Sunday lunches. It is a few minutes’ walk from the dance hall, across a bridge and along a stream, and has gorgeous grounds.
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Accommodation
Many people book their own, but please remember to do so in good time.
Unfortunately there are fewer cottages and B&B's in the area than in previous years.
We have already reserved the Swallows Nest for our visiting artistes.
Ingleborough Hall.
We can offer bunk-bed spaces within Ingleborough Hall at £30 per night. This is an increase from previous years, but is the price set by Bradford Council. These are double bunks within rooms of either 8 or 10 bed-spaces, however we hope to limit occupancy so that no-one has to sleep on a top bunk. Bedding is included and there are plenty of showers. *You will need to bring your own towel*
Booking for the bunk-beds is included on the booking forms but contact Pat directly on info@scandimoot.org.uk for any queries.
Camping within Clapham
We have the use of a farm camping field next to Clapham Bunk with washing facilities and loo in adjacent car park and shower facilities at Ingleborough Hall. The cost is £3.50 per person per night and will need to be booked through Scandimoot.
Campervans
We have permission from Ingleborough Hall to
accommodate a limited number of campervans. They have to fit
into normal car parking spaces, so no large vans, sorry.
There are no hookups, but you will be able to use the basic
shower/washing/toilet facilities in the outdoor classroom.
Pricing will be £18 per van per night.
*Please contact us first if you wish to book a space*
There are other campsites, the nearest being:
The Dalesbridge (which also has cabins): <dalesbridge.co.uk> tel: 015242 51021
Guest Houses & Hotels
The New Inn in Clapham: <newinnclapham.com> tel: 01524 748500
In Austwick, try the Game Cock Inn: <gamecockinn.co.uk> tel: 015242 51226
Otherwise try the online booking sites, for cottages try <sykescottages.co.uk>
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Directions
The nearest station is Clapham (via Lancaster & Leeds) and we can arrange pickups from there.
Please let us know if you have problems getting to Clapham village or station.
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Donations through Localgiving
Many people have generously supported Scandimoot with donations through Localgiving, which can be Gift-Aided.
This year we have been awarded a Magic Little Grant to help us with developing our community events.
The 'Donate now' button links to our fundraising page.