Cat's Calling Academy
Cat's Calling Academy offers a unique opportunity for callers to develop and showcase their talents, as well as reflect on and hone their calling skills in a supportive environment, and receive input and feedback from some of the country's top ceilidh callers and musicians.
- "Excellent workshop, lots of information put across in a friendly, non-patronising and often amusing way."
- "Useful to get targeted feedback in a friendly and supportive environment."
- "As an absolute beginner I am finding the course enormously helpful and informative."
- "Nice to work with such talented musicians and callers"
Are you caller with experience doing private bookings, wanting to hone your technique for the ceilidh scene and make a bid to be booked at Oxfolk in the 2012-13 season? Or would you like to give calling a try for the first time and benefit from expert advice and tips from professional callers and dance musicians? Maybe you're somewhere in between? Well this could be just the opportunity you have been looking for!
- "Being able to ask questions about calling situations I might not have experienced yet was useful"
- "Hearing these people have different opinions was reassuring... there’s no one perfect way to call... it’s ok to have "your" way as long as it works!"
Cat's Calling Academy has two distinct strands: calling workshops that are open to everyone, and one-to-one mentoring with a booking to call at an Oxfolk ceilidh.
Calling Workshops
Oxfolk will be hosting two calling workshops during the 2012-13 season, both run by Cat Kelly with guest callers and musicians The workshops are open to anyone, regardless of experience or background, and will specifically focus on calling on the current English ceilidh and festival scene.
Saturday 13th October 10am – 5.30pm
Guests: Barry Goodman, Simon Care and Cate Bannister
Followed by an evening ceilidh with The Diatonics
and featuring Calling Academy guest caller Lizzy Harrall
Saturday 12th January 10am – 5.30pm
Guests: Nick Walden, Saul Rose and Mike Courthold
Followed by an evening ceilidh with Haddo
Guest caller to be announced.
These workshops will feature discussions in small groups, a whole group open forum, and the chance to call a dance with live musicians and receive feedback from Cat and the guest callers.
Tickets are £30 for one workshop or £50 for both
The workshops are held at
Drayton Village Hall, Lockway, Drayton, OX14 4LG*
on Saturday 13th October and
Kennington Village Hall on Saturday 12th January.
To book your place or to find out more please
visit Cat's site
or contact Cat.
Calling at Oxfolk
We are also throwing open the whole Oxfolk season to showcase callers who are new to the ceilidh scene, providing a unique opportunity to be mentored by Cat Kelly and to call with a top ceilidh band at an established ceilidh series. To be considered for calling at an Oxfolk ceilidh you MUST attend at least one of the workshops. If you are interested in this then please let Cat know when booking your workshop.
Cat’s Calling Academy was first run as part of Oxfolk's 2010-11 season of dances, when we offered a chance for callers from a variety of backgrounds and with a variety of experience levels to develop and show-case their talents. As well as calling at Oxfolk, many of those callers who took part have gone on to do further calling at ceilidh series' and festivals. We are delighted to welcome back Lizzy Harrall (a participant in the original CCA) to open the 2012 season for us.
Cat Kelly is a caller and mentor with over a decade of experience calling on the English Ceilidh and festival scene.
Oxfolk is a well-established ceilidh series currently running in Kennington, Oxford. We strongly believe in providing opportunities for new artists, and are delighted to offer this opportunity for callers who are new to the ceilidh scene.
* Please note this change of venue