Here are photos and videos from our Playford-to-the-Present 2024 English Country Dance Ball. We were almost back to pre-pandemic attendance for our 2024 ball, with dancers coming locally from Los Angeles, Culver City, Monrovia, Pasadena, and Anaheim, as well as out-of-towners from Northern California, San Diego, Las Vegas, and even as far as Virginia and New York. A great time was had by all.

The ball was held on Saturday, October 19, 2024, at the Scottish Rite Cathedral in Pasadena, California. We enjoyed wonderful dancing, expert calling, exquisite music, and fabulous company at our Final Review on Friday, October 18, our P2P Ball on Saturday, October 19, and at the HTDS advanced workshop on October 20. It was an amazing weekend, thanks to the generosity and hard work of so many people who made it happen:

• Our incredible talent for the weekend: Washington DC-based dance leader Anna Rain, our incredible trio of musicians, Audrey Jaber, Ben Jackson, and Chip Prince, and our wonderful sound engineer, Victor Garza
  
• Our amazing committee of volunteers, including program co-chairs Patricia Keating and Mickey Waring, registrar Aileen Poehls, program advisors James Hutson and Renée Camus, refreshments coordinator Kaye Evans, and many others on our committee who made everything run smoothly
  
• And of course, thanks to all of you who attended and helped make it such a magical event.

Want to know more about the history of our ball? Check out our page A Brief History of CCECD.

Here are photos from the 2024 Playford-to-the-Present ball

(Click on an image to enlarge.)

Playford-to-the-Present 2024 Program of Dances (in program order): Midnight Ramble (S), Jacob Hall’s Jig (S), Shawberry Delight (I), All the Rage (I), Wink (C, FTWK), The Maid’s Last Wish (S-I), The Road Not Taken (C, FTWK), Bar a Bar (I), Heartfelt (C), The Young Widow (S-I), A Jig for Joanna (S), Saint Margaret’s Hill (I-C, FTWK), New Long Room at Scarborough (S-I), Turning of the Hour (I), Quay to My Heart (I)
(S=Simple, I=Intermediate, C=Complex, FTWK=For Those Who Know.)

All images used with permission as noted. CCECD thanks Brady Bell, Todd Brun, Renée Camus, Cara King, and Chip Prince for sharing their photos with us.

Playford-to-the-Present 2024 Videos

Here are videos of dances from the Playford-to-the-Present 2024 ball.

Jacob Hall’s Jig

This dance is Jacob Hall’s Jig. Playford, 1695. Cecil Sharp, 1916. The tune is Under and Over. Thanks to Cara King for filming and sharing this video with us.

The Road Not Taken

We have two videos of this dance. The dance is The Road Not Taken, by Anna Rain, 2019. The tune is The Green Route, by Dave Wiesler. The first video focuses specifically on one set. Thanks to Renée Camus for filming and sharing this video.

Thanks to Rhonda Haley for filming and sharing this video of the ballroom as a whole.

Saint Margaret’s Hill

This dance is Saint Margaret’s Hill. Playford, The Dancing Master, 1710. Bernard Bentley, 1962. Thanks to Laura Riley for filming and sharing this video with us.

Wink

We have two videos of this dance as well. The dance is Wink, by Renée Camus, 2022. The tune is Wink and She’ll Follow You, traditional. Thanks to Rhonda Haley for filming and sharing this first video.

Thanks to Renée Camus for sharing this video.

Want to see more of our videos? Check out our Videos page, and be sure to subscribe to our YouTube channel.

Did you miss the ball this year? Be sure to join us next year!

See more Playford-to-the-Present photos.