Early Dance celebration comes to Rochdale

York Waits’ perform at Rochdale Town Hall in October

Rochdale Town Hall will come alive to the sounds and sights of the Middle Ages later this year, when the building hosts a prestigious national festival.

Visitors from across the country are set to descend on Rochdale for the Early Dance event being staged by the Early Dance Circle.

Early Dance (or historical dance) covers dances originally performed in Western Europe, in courts, country houses, taverns and theatres from the Middle Ages until the end of the 20th century.

Organiser Alan Hartley-Smith is delighted to see the event returning to Rochdale for the third time after the town first hosted it 13 years ago.

He said: “The beautiful Great Hall is an absolutely perfect location for Early Dance, so we are very much looking forward to returning.”

The event will begin with a special concert by the world renowned ‘York Waits’, who play music of the Tudor period. But don’t expect to see any electronic wizardry - it’s all played in full authentic costume on instruments of the period, recreating the sound and sights of these significant reigns in English history.

They’ll be playing an array of instruments including shawms, lute, recorders, bagpipes, fiddle, hurdy gurdy, together with the sackbut – an early form of trombone.

Groups will also give costumed presentations from the 15th to the 18th centuries. They will then enjoy a feast of dances, music, entertainment and food prepared from authentic recipes as experienced in the Georgian reigns of the 18th century.

The event takes place on the weekend of 14-16 October.