Welcome to the home page of Janet Elizabeth (JE) ... folkie, Scottish country dancer, theatre-goer, concert-goer and armchair gardener. I believe in life-long learning, fairtrade, waste reduction, charity shops on the high street and online, Apple devices and travel without use of private motor vehicles.
I enjoy Dancing
I enjoy folk dance and especially the more complex Scottish Country Dancing which I find is the most satisfying. Dancing helps your heart, your lungs, your bones, and your balance - it even exercises your brain.I dance at weekend folk festivals such as the Chippenham Folk Festival and I am a member of several dance clubs such as Shoreham Folk Dance club, the Brighton and Hove Scottish Country Dance Club and the RSCDS Brighton Branch where I am the secretary and run the web site. Tap the links or the images for more information.
I like Singing and Music
I enjoy singing the way I want to sing. I especially enjoy being in a group of up to 90 like-minded people singing songs together, sharing their best-loveed songs, listening to each other, joining in the choruses with some singing natural harmonies. This happens in folk clubs, song clubs (acoustic please, no amps!) and folk festivals.
I also enjoy music and songs from the mediaeval, renaissance and baroque periods ("early music") such as are perfromed by the Bremf, the Brighton Early Music Festival, where I am a volunteer. I find their style has quite a lot in common with folk music performances.
Then there is the lusty, "chest voice" singing of Shape notes such as from the Sacred Harp book or, in the run-up to Christmas, singing with the Brighton Pub Carols. These are not for performance,they are for people to enjoy participating in like shanties.
Speaking of shanties, for several years I ran a monthly U3A Shanty Group and you can see my Shanty Notes online.
I've also written a few songs in the traditional style, my latest being All the Good Times are Yet to Come.