Archive of South West | LeisureCourses.net - short courses & residential study breaks in great locations - Part 6
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Argyll Scottish Country Dancing Weekend
Listed on February 18, 2016 by Dillington in Featured CoursesSuitable for those who already have a good working knowledge of common steps and formations in Scottish Country Dancing, this weekend will provide you with an opportunity to improve your technique, learn new dances and enjoy all social aspects of Scottish Country Dancing. There will be social dancing on Friday and Saturday and classes both...
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Singing For Larks – Jazz & Swing Harmonies
Listed on February 18, 2016 by Dillington in Featured CoursesSinging with others is an exhilarating and liberating experience that everybody can enjoy. Singings for Larks workshops, run by Faith Watson, are based on the tradition of learning songs by ear. This approach makes the joy of singing with others easily accessible to those who are new to singing, whilst offering more experienced singers the...
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Bobbin Lacemaking – British and European
Listed on February 18, 2016 by Dillington in Featured CoursesThis is a practical course for all abilities of lacemakers from those who have a knowledge of only the basic stitches to those who wish to study advanced techniques in the British and European laces. Many of the continental laces are taught with the aid of a colour-coded diagram to help students continue their work...
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September In Somerset
Listed on February 18, 2016 by Dillington in Featured CoursesDillington is located in a region that is steeped in history and has a rich and varied landscape, from moor to sea all within easy reach. Enjoy a three night stay in the beautiful surroundings of Dillington and be free to explore the wonderful counties of Somerset, Dorset and Devon. Return to a delicious evening...
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Shakespeare 400
Listed on February 18, 2016 by Dillington in Featured Courses2016 marks the 400th Anniversary of Shakespeare’s death and as part of the celebrations during this short course we are hoping to include a visit to Stratford to watch the magnificent Sir Antony Sher in his performance of King Lear (*see below). The course is designed to engage with some of the key issues surrounding...
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News From the Fronts: August – September 1916
Listed on February 18, 2016 by Dillington in Featured CoursesThis standalone day course is one of a rolling series covering the centenary of events as they occurred during the Great War. The approach taken is broader than the conventional narrative treatment. Each course starts with a strategic overview of events across all Theatres of the war thus highlighting the immediate problems confronting the leadership...
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Creative Writing Workshop: “The Child is Father to the Man…” (Wordsworth)
Listed on February 18, 2016 by Dillington in Featured CoursesWhat are the most important influences which make us the adults we are today? Nature, nurture or our education in the widest sense? During this day we will explore the many areas of education we had as children: the teachers who inspired us with a love of learning and conversely those who sadly made us...
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Music & Revolution
Listed on February 18, 2016 by Dillington in Featured CoursesDuring this weekend we shall explore the work of four great composers whose careers, and the very different paths they took, illustrate clearly the impact of the huge changes that came about in Russia in the early twentieth century. They are: Serge Rachmaninov, who fled his homeland just before the Revolution in 1917; Igor Stravinsky,...
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Edward I & Queen Eleanor
Listed on February 18, 2016 by Dillington in Featured CoursesKing Edward I (1272-1307) is best remembered for his Welsh and Scottish wars, and his great series of castles around Snowdonia. Less well known, but more significant, were his promotion of law, parliament and currency reform, as well as his patronage of the arts. His wife, Eleanor of Castile was less well known, and this...
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Singing Workshop: Best of Bacharach & David
Listed on February 18, 2016 by Dillington in Featured CoursesDynamic song-writing duo Burt Bacharach and Hal David dominated the pop music scene during the 1960s and 70s, penning 52 Top 40 songs and bringing a new sophistication to the traditional ‘pop’ sound with their unique combination of memorable melodies and unsentimental, bittersweet lyrics. Spend a day with experienced vocal coach Jo Sercombe delving around...
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Let the Train Take the Strain: Planning Your Own Travels Through Eastern Europe
Listed on February 18, 2016 by Dillington in Featured CoursesThis day course takes the form of a workshop for planning your own travels by train through Eastern Europe. This year Mike Shaw extends his focus to the Western Ukraine, Rumania, Bulgaria and on to Istanbul. He will explain the origins of each of the national networks, the resulting choke points and how to avoid...
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Pop-Up Tree House
Listed on February 18, 2016 by Dillington in Featured CoursesTree houses have fascinated us for centuries and here is an opportunity to make one yourself albeit a pop-up model of one! We make a 180-degree pop-up on a base comprising over fifty separate pieces all interlocked into the one structure. All-comers welcome.
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Nordic Noir & Nordic Film
Listed on February 18, 2016 by Dillington in Featured CoursesScandinavia has been a great recent international hit in terms of both its influential films and its crime literature. We will look at such successful films as Together (Sweden), Trollhunter (Norway), and Oscar winners Babette’s Feast (Denmark) and The Man without a Past (Finland). Our dip into literature will include Stieg Larsson (Girl with a...
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Finland & Iceland: Art, History & Culture
Listed on February 18, 2016 by Dillington in Featured CoursesWe will discuss Finland’s battles with Russia, and the Kalevala, a 19th-century epic poem of myth and legend. Sibelius will supply haunting music and there is striking art from Albert Edelfelt, Gallen-Kallela and Hugo Simberg. In Iceland we will look at the world’s oldest parliament, its volcanoes and geysers, the music of Sigur Ros and...
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Denmark: Art, History & Culture
Listed on February 18, 2016 by Dillington in Featured CoursesWe look at Denmark’s proud history, and the way that its empire shrank over the centuries, including its naval battles with Britain. Art will include Denmark’s ‘Golden Age’ from the early 19th century, and the paintings of two great women artists, Bertha Wegmann and Anna Ancher, as well as the brilliant P. S. Krøyer. Music...
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Beautiful Brick & Sublime Stone: How Building Materials Have Shaped Britain’s Architecture
Listed on February 18, 2016 by Dillington in Featured CoursesThe rich variety of building materials is one of the most striking things about British architecture. Look around you in any town and you’ll see stone church spires, red brick houses, shop fronts decorated with tiles, perhaps an older timber-framed house, an Edwardian theatre with an ornate plastered facade, or a market hall with a...
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Verdi and the Force of Density
Listed on February 18, 2016 by Dillington in Featured CoursesThe hammer blows of cruel fate drive the plot of this dramatic tale, one of Verdi’s longest, richest and most incident-packed operas. We explore the tragedy befalling Leonora and the men in her life - her lover Alvaro, and her vengeance-obsessed brother, Carlo. But mostly we focus on Verdi’s superb score with its plethora of...
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Meeting Me on The Cloud
Listed on February 18, 2016 by Dillington in Featured CoursesDo you feel that you would like to keep up with family events and share your news online but are daunted by just how to start using social media, and nervous of who’s out there? Keep up to date with friends and family, news, research, reviews and more; social media is more than just a...
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Stumpwork Pansies & Violas
Listed on February 18, 2016 by Dillington in Featured CoursesInspiration for this course comes from the beautiful costumes and books of Elizabeth I, where the emblem of the pansy and viola was widely used. Raised work techniques work extremely well for these lovely flowers, which come in a wealth of colour combinations. Try something new and learn how you can incorporate real flowers in...
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Botanical Illustration
Listed on February 18, 2016 by Dillington in Featured CoursesBotanical Illustration is precise detailed work, a combination of art and science. This studio based watercolour course is for all ability levels; no experience of art or botany is required, just commitment. We aim to enjoy working in an atmosphere of relaxed industry. Students will work at their own pace on the subject of their...
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Spanish Cinema: The 1980s
Listed on February 18, 2016 by Dillington in Featured CoursesThe 1980s were a fascinating decade for Spain. Franco was dead, the repressive regime had been dismantled and for the first time in its history, Spain breathed a climate of artistic freedom. In the cinema, the 80s were a decade of dramatic change. The 'New Cinema' was led by the iconoclastic Pedro Almodovar and for...
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Sweden: Art, History & Culture
Listed on February 18, 2016 by Dillington in Featured CoursesWe examine Sweden’s place in the history of Scandinavia, involving unions with Finland and Norway, and battles with Denmark and Russia. Art will feature many fine landscapes and the portraits and nudes of Anders Zorn. More recent Sweden will include the Moomins and the Ikea phenomenon, and music will feature Swedish Rhapsody by Hugo Alfvén...
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A Nordic Adventure – The Art, History & Culture of Scandinavia
Listed on February 18, 2016 by Dillington in Featured CoursesFive day courses, all complete in themselves, but amounting to a week exploring the broader group of countries collectively known as the Nordic Nations: Norway, Sweden, Denmark, Finland and Iceland. Each day we will examine the art, history and culture of each of these countries and on we will delve into Nordic Noir and Nordic...
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The Joy of Spanish
Listed on February 18, 2016 by Dillington in Featured CoursesThis is a week for people who love Spanish and Spain, who know enough Spanish to have a conversation and find the prospect of five days speaking, listening and learning Spanish irresistible. The focus of the course will be intense language sessions during which participants will be encouraged to speak and discuss; items from the...
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Collage Workshop: Paper Into Art
Listed on February 18, 2016 by Dillington in Featured CoursesCollage is a quick, versatile and easy way of creating and developing visual ideas. The work can stand for itself or become a springboard for a more sustained and ambitious piece of work. In this workshop you will be introduced to a variety of techniques and approaches before being let loose on your own individual...
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Antiques Repair Workshop
Listed on February 18, 2016 by Dillington in Featured CoursesThis practical and enjoyable five day course will give you an opportunity to participate and learn from an expert ‘everything you ever wanted to know about furniture but were afraid to ask’. You will spend each day in the tutor’s own workshop in Wellington where specific problems will be overcome and techniques demonstrated. In addition,...
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Hidden Landscapes, Hidden Treasures of the West Country
Listed on February 18, 2016 by Dillington in Featured CoursesOff the beaten track and boasting stunningly beautiful landscapes, each of the areas to be visited during the week possess a unique set of characteristics and a wealth of evidence of human occupation over the last five thousand years. Each day you will visit, hear and see about events, places, buildings, monuments, people, the geology...
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Norway: Art, History & Culture
Listed on February 18, 2016 by Dillington in Featured CoursesWe look at the history of Norway from the days of the Vikings onwards, including its fight for independence and the ‘Heroes of Telemark’ in WW2. Inspirational pictures of the mountains and fjords will be supplemented by art that reflected Norway’s growing Nationalism in the nineteenth-century, not forgetting Edvard Munch. We will also look at...
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Dillington Summer School Week Two
Listed on February 18, 2016 by Dillington in Featured CoursesWeek Two offers a programme of full week courses but there is an opportunity to take time out from these and join a day with Dr Jan D. Cox on his Nordic Adventure or Chris Pollard on Spanish Cinema on Wednesday (subject to availability).
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Gustav Holst – The Man & His Music
Listed on February 18, 2016 by Dillington in Featured CoursesDespite the huge success of ‘The Planets’, Gustav Holst has always been hard to pin down. His fascinating life story is full of abrupt changes of direction, multiple influences and a vast breadth of inspiration. English folk music, oriental mysticism, the doctrines of William Morris – it’s all there, expressed in terms of glittering orchestration,...
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