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Week 19: The Global Vännens Långdans

Posted on 13 May 2022 by Vicki

Read Time:42 Second

Hello!
I finally managed to edit the Global Vännens Långdans and so it is here! I loved every single video that was sent to me. Something I really loved was the range of abilities - from the more experienced player to complete beginners that had only been playing for less than 48 hours. This is exactly what I wanted - something for everyone! Thank you to everyone who sent a video or two in!

Now that World Nyckelharpa Day is done for this year I can work on some new videos! There are some exciting workshops this year as I head off to Italy, Portugal and then Germany to teach nyckelharpa. These are indeed exciting times!

In the meantime I have videos to put out! This week we have:
Shepherd and Shepherdess
Schottis in C

More next week!
:))
Vicki

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Week 18: Dance, dance, dance

Posted on 6 May 2022 by Vicki

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Week 18: Dance, dance, dance

Hello!
It's all been about dance this week, some of it ECD, some of it contra and some of it medieval! We've been on the road for nearly seven weeks and we're looking forward to a bit of time where I can edit the Vännens Långdans and a few other things I haven't had time for! So this week I'm moving new lessons over from the old site. They're all contra dance tunes:
Fiddling About
Pinkie and the Cradle
That Mallet Moment
Enjoy!
:))
Vicki

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Week 17: Byss-Calle

Posted on 28 April 2022 by Vicki

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Hello!
What a day that was! World Nyckelharpa Day was epic!! Now it's time for everyone to get their Global Vännens Långdanses in. I've had a few already and it's looking great!
I put out the three Byss-Calle tunes for World Nyckelharpa Day and played them as duets. So it was quite easy for me to be able to bounce out a minus-1 version for people to play along with. So go along to their lessons and give them a go!
Byss-Calle 10
Byss-Calle 11
Byss-Calle 19
We didn't managed to complete the playlist this year - but maybe it'll happen next year!
Enjoy
:))
Vicki

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Week 16: World Nyckelharpa Day

Posted on 22 April 2022 by Vicki

Read Time:45 Second

Hello!
It’s the Friday before World Nyckelharpa Day and I’ve been full on working on the website. I’m now on the road with limited access to the internet, so to find out what’s going on pop on over to the World Nyckelharpa Day website! However you'll find me doing these things at these times!

Saturday 23rd
21:00 – The Global Byss-Calle 25 Mosaic

Sunday 24th
09:00 – Vicki Swan presents something a little Left Field
11:30 – The Halsway Manor workshop perform Byss-Calle Number 31
11:45 – The Global Vännens Långdans Playalong (Vännens is at 12:00)
14:00 – Vicki Swan & Jonny Dyer’s WND Session
19:00 – Vicki Swan performs Byss-Calle Number 19
19:15 – Vicki Swan performs Byss-Calle Number 11
19:30 – Vicki Swan performs Byss-Calle Number 10
19:45 – The 2nd Global Vännens Långdans – Vännens is Midday Pacific time (8pm UK)

That'll keep you going!
:))
Vicki

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Session 14 – World Nyckelharpa Day 2022

Posted on 16 April 2022 by Vicki

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Hello!
Sunday the 24th April 2022 is World Nyckelharpa Day and we absolutely had to have a session! So here it is!! We chose to do only tunes that we had written and somehow put places names in them, a little. It was a but of a shoe horn, but they're fun tunes that we use to play for dance!
Enjoy!
:))
Vicki
Hawaiian Contra / Seth's Jolly Contra
Incognito Ian / JoLaine’s Jig
Italian Pants / Dot Dot Dot
Vintage Puget
Hyde & Seek / The Japonica Jig
Hands Across the Pond
PDF of the tunes

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Week 15: World Nyckelharpa Day here we come!

Posted on 14 April 2022 by Vicki

Read Time:37 Second

Hello!
It's all hands to the pump for World Nyckelharpa Day at the moment! There is lots of filming and editing going on! The most important thing is the global Vännens Långdans is all ready to go! Just like last year there are going to be two sittings for this. The first is at midday UK time and the second is at midday Pacific time. (8pm UK time) There is lots of Byss-Calle happening around the house! Cables are everywhere!

I added two Scottish Smallpipe lessons this week. Incognito Ian and Bruce's Birdie.
I also added Vintage Puget, which is the final lesson required for our session for World Nyckelharpa Day.
:))
Vicki

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Week 14: briefly at home!

Posted on 6 April 2022 by Vicki

Read Time:35 Second

Hello!
It was an amazing two weeks at Halsway Manor and now we're at home for a couple of days before scooting off on a quick tour up in Scotland. So what's new? We are rapidly approaching World Nyckelharpa Day and we have filmed a session specially for the day, so I need to get some lessons up! I posted up Hawaiian and Seth's Jolly Contra. So this week we have Incognito Ian and JoLaines Jig.

Whilst we were at Halsway we filmed some Vännens Långdanses, so that's in the bag. You'll have to wait to see the result. In the meantime - it's time to film your version too!

Take care and stay safe!
:))
Vicki

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Weeks 12 and 13 – from Halsway Manor!

Posted on 28 March 2022 by Vicki

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Hello!
We're right in the middle of a two week stint at Halsway Manor. It's been brilliant! Over the course of 7 days we've had 25 nyckelharpa players ranging from advanced to complete beginner. We've covered technique, tunes and even done filming for World Nyckelharpa Day! I'm busy working my way through the resources to send out to people, it's going to take a little while as we're about to start our second week at Halsway playing for dancing. Over the week if I manage to upload some of the new tunes I'll do it, but the internet is really slow here and I mean r e a l l y slow!

So I've managed to upload:
Et To Tre
Frere Jacques
Seth's Jolly Contra

Transferred over to the site we have this week:
Gruvan

More as it comes!
:))
Vicki

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Week 11: Preparations

Posted on 18 March 2022 by Vicki

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Hello!
It's been full on preparation week this week. Which means of course I decided that World Nyckelharpa Day needed badges and T-shirts. You can get the badges from the World Nyckelharpa Day website. The design is also available on T-shirts from RedBubble. I've ordered a hoodie - I'll post pictures next week when it's arrived! I also spent time with the WND mailing list, so everyone I could think of should have had an email! If not get yourself signed up to the list!

I've also done a lot of filming - but I've not had time to edit it all yet! The important video was the guide on how to film yourself for a mosaic video. Mostly it's short and sweet - but there is a large section at the end showing you how I go about editing the final video together. We filmed our session for World Nyckelharpa Day - we're on the road for most of the time between now and then so I decided it was really important to get that in the bag and up! I filmed all the lessons for the tunes and will continue to edit and upload those as the weeks progress. So this week we have:
The Hawaiian Contra

My next update will be from Halsway Manor itself! Maybe I'll take you on a bit of a tour!
:))
Vicki

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Week 10: The Danceable Playford Session

Posted on 12 March 2022 by Vicki

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Hello!
I thought this week was a good time to focus on the Danceable Playford Virtual Halsway Manor Session. We're at Halsway for two weeks and I'm in the middle of creating our dance pads. These tunes all feature in what we'll be playing, so it seemed like a good week to feature this session! We'll be filming again this week as we've got some new tunes that we've been playing for contra that I'd like to share!

We are so excited to be heading off to Halsway! We'll try to get some good videos when we're there! We're back in Symmetry on Sunday 13th March at 6pm UK time. So if you fancy coming along the dots are up on the Zoom dance page.
Enjoy!
:))
Vicki