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Monaro Folk Society
Welcome to the Monaro Folk Society (MFS) web site. For quick reference to this site, please see the alphabetical Index in the navigation pane to the left.
Contents |
LATEST NEWS
Last Saturday Dance
This Saturday
BUSH DANCE
AT
COOK HALL
SATURDAY 25 MAY
Cook Hall, 41 Templeton Street, Cook
8pm - 11.30pm
see more...
Bush Dance Class
Bush Dance Classes next Monday and every Monday to 3 June. Mondays in March through November at
All Saints Church Hall 9 Cowper Street Ainslie.
Learn lively dances to live music, or come along and help introduce newcomers to this wonderful activity. Musicians, callers, new & experienced dancers and helpers all welcome.
see more...
First Saturday Dance
BUSH DANCE at
All Saints Church Hall 9 Cowper Street Ainslie SATURDAY 1 JUNE
Music by the Bush Capital Band.
8pm - 11.30pm
A great fun night of bush dancing for the public brought to you by the Monaro Folk Society Bush Dance Group.
and the Monaro Folk Society is playing a big part in the celebrations.
We are providing not one but two dances in the Kick Up your Heels series, which is a program of twelve dances that remembers and evokes every decade of Canberra's existence. (For more information visit the KUYH website.)
The Society "kicked off" the KUYH series on Saturday 2 February, with our Shearers' Ball at Yarralumla Woolshed as the inaugural dance in the program.
Our Shearers' Ball on 2 February 2013 was SOLD OUT, and old-timers were saying it is the first time since the 1970s that a MFS dance at the Woolshed has reached the floor capacity.
The next MFS special event to celebrate the Centenary of Canberra is the Founders' Ball, on Saturday 7 September at Albert Hall, the ninth in the KUYH series.
This is the Monaro Folk Society's 33rd Annual Ball and will be "the ball they couldn't have in 1913 !! "
For information go to the Founders' Ball page, and for bookings email foundersball@hotmail.com, or buy tickets securely online on our Payments page.
If anybody has quality photos from any of the KUYH dances (including the ten dances not run by MFS) that you would allow be published on the Internet (and saved in the ACT archives of the Centenary for future generations), please send them to info@socandance.org.au. Please ensure you have permission from the photographer (if not you) and any identifiable subjects. Please also note the names of the photographer, and any people in posed shots.
For other dates, please see the Calendar.
Full-time students are offered half price entry to all bush dancing events, just show your student card.
Come and Try: Entry to your first bush dancing event at All Saints Ainslie or Cook Hall is FREE.
Upcoming Events Calendar
Please see the Calendar for upcoming events of interest to members of the Monaro Folk Society, and members of the public who may share this interest.
Welcome
The MFS is a non-profit community organisation operating in the ACT-Monaro region providing access to both entertainment and direct involvement in a wide range of folk music, dance, and spoken word activities. See: What the Monaro Folk Society does
The MFS is based in Canberra, Australia. For more information please see: About Monaro Folk Society
If you are a current financial member of the Monaro Folk Society, please read our further information about the Members Only Wiki.
This wiki is a collection of Web pages designed to enable any MFS member who wishes to, to contribute or modify content. The collaborative encyclopedia Wikipedia is one of the best-known wikis. Ward Cunningham, the developer of the first wiki software, WikiWikiWeb, originally described it as "the simplest online database that could possibly work".
"Wiki" (/wiːkiː/) is a Hawaiian word for "fast".
If you are not a current financial member of the Monaro Folk Society you are welcome to browse this public Wiki, but only members are authorised to log in and contribute to its development. We also welcome non-members too!
Joining the Monaro Folk Society
Membership of the Monaro Folk Society is open to any person. There are many benefits of membership, and you are supporting a worthy community-based organisation by joining.
MFS members are admitted to virtually all paid-entry MFS events at a preferential rate (see Music, Dance for examples), and also receive the monthly Monaro Musings by mail. Members can also take part in the Society's music or singing sessions or dance display groups.
And one more thing - MFS is a very friendly social environment, for listeners and watchers as well as players, dancers and singers at all levels of skill.
For further information, read our article on Joining the Monaro Folk Society.
Events Diary
The activities of the Monaro Folk Society, and activities of interest to Monaro Folk Society members and those with similar interests, are listed in the Calendar.
Our calendar ID is "monarofolk.org.au_1ojt99d8ntbjh5cp8e3vs285p8@group.calendar.google.com" (excluding the quotes). If you have your own Google calendar, you can do things such as overlay our calendar on top of yours, subscribe to notifications, etc. If you don't know what any of this means but are curious and want to experiment, try clicking on the + icon in the bottom right of the calendar.
If you want to edit the calendar (as in add or remove events), try clicking on the + icon in the bottom right corner of the calendar. If you think you don't have the necessary permissions, try sending an email to calendar@monarofolk.org.au requesting access.
MFS Publications
- Monaro Musings - the magazine of the Monaro Folk Society.
- MFS-Announce - the Monaro Folk Society announcements e-mail list.
Music
Performance
- The Merry Muse is the Monaro Folk Society's principal music performance venue.
- Every 3rd Friday of the month, The Merry Muse hosts a Ceili with blackboard/walk-up performances.
Music Sessions and Bands
- Tuesday Night Music group - is the intermediate level session group.
- Wednesday night Music Group - is the more advanced session group that also plays for dances.
- Bush Capital Band - the band that plays regularly for the Bush Dance Group events - open stage for Monday Bush Dance workshops, and regular line-up for First Saturday of the Month Bush Dances.
- Woolies Home Band - a band made up of the Wednesday group musicians.
- Canberra Contra Club Ensemble - an open stage band that plays regularly for Contra Dance workshops and dances.
- Dancing In The Park Musicians - an open stage band that plays for the Monday evening summer season of "Dancing in the Park" on Stage 88 in Commonwealth Park. see - Dancing_in_the_Park
MFS Committee and other Contacts
For contact information please see Contact Us
Dance
MFS Dance Activities
- Dancing in the Park (DITP) - a season of dances, free to MFS members and the public, held on Stage 88 in Commonwealth Park.
- Bush Dance Classes - Monday evening bush dance classes
- First Saturday of the Month Bush Dances - First Saturday of the month dances run by the MFS Bush Dance Group
- End of Month Bush Dances - a program of lively Saturday evening dances throughout the year, run by the End of Month Dance Committee.
- Contra Dances - a program of Saturday evening contra dances throughout the year.
Special Events
- Australian Heritage Dance - Celebrate ACT Heritage Week for dancing to dances from our past
- Bush Capital Ball - Celebrate the beginning of Autumn with the Bush Capital Ball
- Colonial Ball - the premier annual dance event of the Society, which in 2013 will be themed as the .....
- Founders' Ball - the Ball they couldn't hold in 1913 - because there was nowhere to hold it until Albert Hall opened in 1928
- Dancers Dances - Bush Dancers Dances and Multi-Genre Dancers Dances.
- Gala Ball - special grand ball in May at the Albert Hall.
- New Years Eve dance - a special dance on 31st December to bring in the new year.
- Shearers Ball - a special dance held in the Yarralumla Woolshed.
Dance Groups
- Bush Dance Group - a cooperative group of dancers, callers and musicians that runs [Bush dance] workshops, monthly bush dances and balls.
- Irish Set Dance Group - a cooperative group of dancers, teachers and callers that run regular [Irish Set Dance] classes, ceilis and a weekend of dance.
- Canberra Contra Club - a cooperative group of dancers, callers and musicians that runs American [Contra dance] workshops and dances.
MFS Dance Display Groups
- The Bush Dancers display group - promoting bush dancing and Australian traditional music.
- Monaro Colonial Dancers - a group committed to presenting our rich heritage of music and dance to the public.
- Set In Their Ways display group - a specialist Irish Set Dance display group.
Member's Activities
- Bundanoon Bush Dance Weekend - The June long weekend Bundanoon event has been a great success, join the next June longweekend
- Jane Austen Festival Australia 18-21 April 2013 - annual event held in Canberra every April attracting hundreds of visitors from around Australia and even from overseas. Small soirees, concerts, a costumed promenade, theatre, archery, fencing, Napoleonic Re-enactors, fashion, food, talks and of course LOTS of dancing feature over three days and four nights, plus there is an opportunity to attend two grand Jane Austen Balls! [Aylwen Gardiner-Garden]
- Earthly Delights Historic Dance Academy - historical social dance classes at the ANU & Yarralumla; special themed balls, dance display group, musicians, historical costumes, dance instructions, books, CDs and an email dance newsletter. Ph (02) 6281-1098 . [Aylwen & John Gardiner-Garden]
- Dancecal.info - See what every dance group in Canberra (and beyond) are doing on any day of the year. Google calendars of all participating dance groups are overlaid on top of each other so that dancers can plan their week of dancing :) Easy for dance groups to join the system. Also has information on festivals. "Tell your friends!" [Nesa Simon David]
Volunteers
The Monaro Folk Society is run by a small army of volunteers. If you would like to join this merry band, please enquire of any existing volunteer, or email Info(at)mfs(dot)org(dot)au to discuss ideas. You will be made welcome either way.
For volunteer resources, please see the Document Catalogue. The catalogue includes important information for all volunteers, such as the MFS Code Of Conduct and the Risk Management Plan.
Resources
On Line Resources
Members' Services
MFS members can place notices in these areas offering services to folk culture activities.
- Bands, Musicians and Choirs
- Dance Callers and resources
- Teachers
- Instrument makers and repairers
- PA and other sound resources
- Publications
- General
Sales
Sales - Get your copy of the history of the Society book.
Links
Links of interest to Monaro Folk Society members and those with similar interests.
Content Manager: MFS Web Manager; Status: Work In Progress



