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About us.....

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Formed in Woolston, Southampton in 1997, Southern Lights display ladies' folk dance mainly in a Southern style (no clogs, no marching, no big drums or big flowery hats!).

Our aim is to keep the dancing tradition alive, give it modern relevance and bring it to the public's attention.

Most of our repertoire consists of dances created for the side, using traditional steps and formations in an innovative way.

We dance to our own band, who play not only traditional dance tunes, but also contemporary tunes from some of today's finest composers in the world of folk music. Some of the tunes were especially written for us by our original accordion player, Carrie Jones.

Southern Lights regularly dance at major (and minor) folk festivals in the Southern counties, but also enjoy performing at country shows, fetes, folk clubs, indoor concerts, the occasional pub (guesting with other dance teams) and commercial events - any income received from events goes towards rehearsal hall hire, insurance and costumes.

We rehearse on Wednesday evenings at Woolston Community Centre, Church Road, Woolston, Southampton, in between the chat and laughter.

Go to www.woolstoncommunitycentre.com for more details.

 

We also have a facebook page :- 

 www.facebook.com/pages/Southern-Lights-Ladies-Traditional-Dance-Team/171011536286257

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GIGS.....

 

The forgettable period (or is it unforgettable) 2020 - 2021 has passed and now our silver anniversary year 2022 has also passed, and we have scored zero on the gigs scale. We are keeping up the practices and hoping that our minds and muscles can still cope, but for the time being Southern Lights are taking a sabbatical from public displays.We haven't set a target to re-emerge into the light; we'll just see how it goes in 2023.

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Why not see what our friends are up to? :-

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Beggar's Belief

https://beggarsbelief8.wixsite.com/my-site

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Barry Wake

https://barrywake9.wixsite.com/my-site-1

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BAND NEWS.....

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Since 2016 and the loss of our dear friend Roy Eccles, the band has gelled nicely as a four piece with the addition of Liz Trueman on accordion. Liz is very adept in coming up with melodic harmonies to enhance the texture of our sound. The fiddle, banjo and guitar are nodding in agreement!

We love what we do and may the ideas and unusual arrangements keep on coming!

We are constantly on the look-out for fresh music to add to our large and varied repertoire and to inspire our brilliant dancers to new heights - making them jump higher? 

Here's a couple of clips from a typical SL practice night, complete with clashing sticks, thumping feet and occasional shrieks of absolute joy.....

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GET IN TOUCH.....

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Secretary -  Liz trueman     liztrueman2015@gmail.com

 

Dance co-ordinator - Maureen Wake   wake@talktalk.net

 

Band business - Barry Wake   wake@talktalk.net

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