Teaching & Calling
Teaching & Calling
Nicolas, who plays accordion, is a specialist in Playford and similar dance. He learned Country Dancing, Cotswold Morris and Longsword in Surrey in the '50s, later dancing with Whirligigs demonstration team, London (working closely with Pat Shaw), and danced Cotswold Morris with Cambridge, Travelling Morrice, London Pride, Abingdon and Glasgow.
He formed the Glasgow and Edinburgh Assembly in the early '80s, acting as teacher, musician and choreographer. He formed the Assembly Players in 1987, leading on accordion; he has led them for Balls, ceilidh dances and workshops here and abroad, and played on, directed and produced their 11 recordings of English Country Dances. He has also run several very successful musicians' workshops with his son Aidan.
He is a composer of tunes and dances (published 'The Assembly Dances') and researcher into C17th, C18th and C19th country dances (published 'Purcell's Dancing Master'). He has also proof-read and helped edit several other volumes of country dances, often supplying the harmonies for the tunes. Currently, the work in hand is a new edition of 'Holland as seen in the English Country Dance', which Antony Heywood is preparing with the help of Nicolas and Marjorie Fennessy.
Nicolas has taught at Eastbourne,Whitby, Broadstairs and Marple F.F., in the Netherlands and Germany, at Berea and Pinewoods in the USA, and has run Playford Balls from Cheltenham to Edinburgh as MC and/or band leader.
2002
April 13
Adlington Ball, Cheshire (with Aidan - violin and Louisa Ridgway - piano)
June 29
Assembly Ball, Crawfordjohn, Lanarkshire (with 'A&B')
2003
April 26
Lancashire Folk day of dance, Lancaster - afternoon workshop
June 28
Assembly Ball (with 'A&B')
Nicolas Broadbridge | Teaching & Calling | The Assembly | The Assembly Players | Books, CD's, etc | Bearded Collies