Trinity Community Arts

Caper Ceilidh ft Shavaghera

2024-07-16T14:50:00Z

A Caper Ceilidh is a play on the word "capercaillie" and is one of a series of ceilidhs raising money for rewilding and other conservation charities around the UK.

Ceilidhs are organised, very fun and energetic dances, to Gaelic folk music. You don't need to come with a partner or any previous ceilidh experience, as there will be a "caller" on hand to tell you all the steps.

Fancy dress as your favourite native wildlife is non-compulsory but very much encouraged! There will be a prize for the best dressed. However, bear in mind that riotous ceilidh dancing means that you will want to keep layers and extra potentially-eye-gouging-appendages to a minimum, and trainers/ comfortable shoes are highly recommended.

Come join in an evening of frivolity, good cheer and dancing, with Shanvaghera - a Bristol-based Irish folk band, playing pure-drop foot-tapping traditional Irish music on fiddle, flute, tenor banjo and guitar.

The last event raised just over £1000 for Somerset Wildlands Trust. All proceeds will be donated to Trees For Life, a charity working to restore the Caledonian Pine Forests in Scotland to their formerly wild and abundant glory. Part of their work also focuses on giving people the opportunity to reconnect to nature and themselves by partaking in rewilding weeks across the Scottish Highlands.

Bristol Equality Summer Tea Dance

2025-06-17T14:05:00Z

Bristol Equality Summer Tea Dance Celebrate diversity on the dance floor in this dance social for LGBTQ+ people led by Norma Daykin (Bristol Equality Dance) and Jacky Logan (Jacky’s Jukebox).There will be latin and ballroom dancing as well as salsa, tango and fun line dances. There will be a warm up class at 1pm where you'll have a chance to learn the steps. You don't need to bring a partner. Tea and cake is included in the price.

How to get involved
This event is open to beginners as well as experienced dancers from Bristol and beyond, especially LGBTQ+ dancers from all cultural backgrounds, their friends, allies and supporters. Please wear something you feel comfortable moving in.

About Bristol Equality Dance
Bristol Equality Dance was set up in 2022 by Norma Daykin, a qualified dance teacher based in Bristol who has for over 20 years offered inclusive practice for all members of the community groups including LGBTQ+ people, older people, people with disabilities and refugees. In 2022 Norma received a community award from the UK Equality Dance Council for her long services to the LGBTQ+ dance community. Jacky Logan is a well-established London DJ who cofounded the Pink Jukebox Dance Club with Ralph Schiller. In 2021 Jacky was awarded a British Empire Medal for her services to same-sex ballroom dancing.

Bringing Dance Back to Bristol Harbour Festival

2024-07-24T15:45:00Z

Bristol Harbour Festival 2024 - Image Credit: Amy Fern

We were delighted to be welcomed back to programme the vibrant dance stage at this year's Bristol Harbour Festival - one of the biggest events in the city welcoming over 250,000 visitors across the weekend.

'This cocreated dance piece has been a wonderful creative project that brought dancers together from different backgrounds from across Bristol to create a unique, emotive piece' - Penny Marie, Dance Workshop Facilitator

Taking over the stage in Queens Square, we platformed a huge range of dance styles and traditions present in Bristol’s dance community; from Indian to Irish Dance, Voguing to Turkish Belly Dancing.

Some highlights from the weekend included Anna K, Bristol Ballroom Community, D-Wild Fitness and RSVP Drummers. We also platformed established resident dance groups based at The Trinity Centre, such as Gerry’s Attic, a dance group for older people who rehearse at Trinity every week.

In the lead-up to Bristol Harbour Festival, we commissioned Dance Facilitator, Penny Marie, to lead a series of participatory dance workshops in which attendees co-created a new dance piece to be performed at the festival. Across five workshops dancers of all abilities and backgrounds collectively devised a 15 minute dance piece entitled 'Our Light Within' that they performed on the Saturday of the festival.

Alongside this, HYPE Dance, who offer weekly street dance sessions at Trinity, hosted the Ultimate Dance Championships 2024 – a competition open to all dance styles for ages 12 and above. Winners of this competition showcased their dancing skills in front of the Harbour Festival audience and a panel of judges that included professional dancers Bethany Kyle, Tesleem Adeyemi and Candice Scott. Alongside this, HYPE brought performances from Lil Hype, Hype Dance and Hype Carnival Squad.

We wanted to say a massive thank you to everyone who made the takeover at Bristol Harbour Festival 2024 such a success; from the facilitators, the talented dancers, the technical team behind-the-scenes, our partners Movema, Gerry’s Attic and HYPE Dance, and of course to everyone who came along to watch the performances and support dance in Bristol.

Programming the Dance Stage is one of the many ways we are creating pathways for communities to connect and celebrate together though culture. Click here to find out more.