Dance!
Adult Classes & Workshops
Kerry is a popular folk dance teacher at clubs and festivals and with community projects across the country. She runs her own classes and is one of the organisers of the Eurobash Festival of European music and dance.
She’s a diverse dancer, footing it about the dance floor as a percussive step and Appalachian dancer, and just loves to get people up and dancing together for an English ceilidh or European social dance. Increasing accessibility and inclusion in dance is an important aspect of Kerry’s work.
Kerry’s wide range of workshops can be geared to suit most levels and abilities. She is particularly keen to encourage those new to dance as she believes no one has two left feet, they just need to discover the music that moves them!
Classes & Workshops:
Social Dance
English folk
European partner dance, specialising in Swedish and French
Appalachian Percussive Dance
Southern Stepping
Performance
Appalachian dance
Traditional dance performances and presentations
Private lessons
One-to-one and small groups
Kerry is available to come to your club to teach. She prefers to work with a group’s own musicians where possible but is happy to either bring her own or use recorded music.
“… thanks for your teaching and enthusiasm at Towersey … one of the high spots of the festival … I think we’ve almost got the Polska twirling!” Chris and Katie Brimley
Covid-19 During the pandemic all regular classes, social dances and Bals are currently online via Zoom and are FREE. If you would like to, you can make a DONATION for a class or for using the resources - you can do so here: paypalme/folkdanceKerry
Regular Classes
New dancers at all levels are always welcome, contact me for details - so get your dancing shoes on and see below for your chance to join in the dance! Autumn dates & times coming very soon ...
Appalachian Percussive Dance
Faversham, Kent
Thursday evenings in term time: St Catherine's Schoolroom, Preston Lane, Faversham, Kent ME13 8LG
Holwell, Hertfordshire
Monthly Saturday mornings: Holwell Village Hall, Holwell, Nr Hitchin, Hertfordshire SG5 3SS
European Partner Dance
Faversham, Kent
Once a month on Monday evenings: St Catherine's Schoolroom, Preston Lane, Faversham, Kent ME13 8LG
Community Dance
Kerry is an experienced workshop leader, with a passion for collaborating with artists, organisations, schools and participants, and who loves to get her teeth into bespoke projects for adults and young people. Her projects are typically based on local heritage and history, using traditional local material interwoven with new choreography, often with inter-cultural and inter-generational participants.
Kerry is a regular tutor at the English Folk Dance and Song Society, Sidmouth Folk Festival and Halsway Manor.
Past projects include:
The English Folk Dance and Song Society's The Full English Learning Programme, delivering two dance projects in schools, at key stages 4 and 5, and developing resources for this national project. Stantonbury Campus: Tradition and Composition Video Resource. Impington Village College: Love me or Leave me, Contemporary Folk Dance Fusion Video Resource
With Folk Dance Remixed - commissioned by EFDSS to deliver outreach projects for U.Dance, National Youth Dance Festival.
East London Dance projects, Folk Formula, with Rosie Whitney Fish and The New Canning Town Folk Dancers - enjoy this wonderful film of all the Dancing Voices of East London.
The Calling Tree, with Rosemary Lee and Simon Whitehead, leading participatory dance for the audiences.
Professional Development
How to Teach English Social Folk Dance
A practical dance training day for dance educators, folk dance callers and others who wish to expand their knowledge and skills in teaching traditional English social folk dance (country, ceilidh and barn dancing) - in schools, community settings and adult learning.
An English Folk Dance and Song Society professional development course.
Further & Higher Education
Kerry has taught Entertainment Business studies at Morley College, London, and the University of Greenwich and is a visiting lecturer in foot percussion and playing for dancing on the Folk and Traditional Music BA (Hons) at Newcastle University.
Choreography
Stage & Screen
Kerry has choreographed for stage and screen, notably working with assistant choreographer, Nikki Belsher, on the miners’ scene for the London West End stage production of Billy Elliott; with Rosalind Cressy and the cast on Fresh Glory’s touring production of Huck; and with director Roger Michel for the Christmas scene on the feature film My Cousin Rachel.
Kerry is also sought after as a specialist folk dance consultant/tutor for projects such as Jeanefer Jean-Charles' Black Victorians.
Folk Dance Remixed
Folk Dance Remixed was founded in 2010 by Kerry and Co-Artistic Director Natasha Khamjani, to create unique fusions between folk and contemporary hip hop styles, with live music. We are an Associate Company of the English Folk Dance and Song Society and partners with East London Dance and Stanley Halls.
We believe in diversity, creativity and spreading joy. Our inspiring shows and workshops bring people together to watch, and then gets them up and dancing, truly touching all that come into contact with our work!
Other past adventures in choreography and performance
JigJaw – singing to dancing & dancing to singing. Concert and Euro ceilidh band.
Circa Compania – Karen Tweed’s music & dance concert ensemble.
Stepback – In Concert : powerful English traditional dance and exuberant American percussive dance show.
Broken Ankles : Appalachian percussive dancers. Highly acclaimed performance team.
4K Plot : New Constellations for Wind, Sole and Drawing Instruments. Innovative collaboration with Karen Tweed (accordion), Karen Wimhurst (clarinet), Keith McIntyre (artist) and Kerry Fletcher(dancer). Commissioned by Folkworks and performed at BALTIC Centre for Contemporary Art.
The Chase : a sensual swirl of new music and dance spun from the tangled threads of European traditions. An evening of performance and social dance
Shaking the Tradition II : Kerry and contemporary dancer Jessica Cohen have led several research projects at Chisenhale Dance Space, London (collectively known as Shaking The Tradition), experimental approaches to traditional dance, music and song. Shaking the Tradition II is Zephyrus (The English Bagpipe Orchestra) and six dancers from the traditions of ballet, contemporary, jazz and folk.
The Return of the Compleat Dancing Master show: The Albion Band with the Albionettes.
