- The Playford Ball
- The Punt Party
- Jane Austen evenings
- The Old Round Party
- The Summer Round
- External events: IVFDF
Regular weekly meetings
A weekly meeting in full swing
The Round meets every Thursday during full term between 8 pm and 10pm in Wesley Church Hall, Cambridge, England (by the Jesus Lane Roundabout on King Street), after which we will often retire to the pub. Exact dates are on the Diary page
Visitors and those with no University affiliation are very welcome to come along. No experience is necessary — all dances are walked through and explained, though student-level fitness and ability to pick things up tends to be assumed. You don’t need to bring a partner — other people there will be ready to dance with you.
We dance to live music at some weekly meetings; for others we use recorded music. The last meeting of the term is a party, when we normally have a live band, and people bring finger food for the break in the middle.
Your first two visits to the weekly Round are free, and you get a free session whenever you bring a friend who hasn’t been before. Otherwise the following charges apply. If paying for the whole term, you can pay by bank transfer to The Round, 52-10-46, 16564685, giving "〈your name〉 Term" as reference, or you can pay by card at the meeting.
| Students | Others | |
|---|---|---|
| Single meeting | £2.00 | £4.00 |
| Membership and entrance for one whole term | £10.00 | £25.00 |
The Playford Ball
At the end of the Easter Term, the Round holds its Playford Ball, and invites past and present members of the Round to attend. It is a more formal event than our regular meetings, with a visiting band. The dances are mostly from the Playford era — late 17th and early 18th century — but with a few modern dances in a similar style. Details of last June's ball are here.
The Punt Party
On the Sunday following the annual Playford Ball there is usually a punt party to Grantchester Meadows. Details will be announced nearer the day.
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The punt party | Jane Austen evening, Downing Place URC |
Jane Austen evenings
From time to time the Round holds a Jane Austen evening. Jane Austen loved dancing, although she only ever mentioned one dance by name in her novels. We aim to do a programme of dances from the late 18th and early 19th century that she might have danced herself. They are not for the most part the dances that you may have seen in the films and TV series, which are usually dances from 100 years or more earlier, and would have been quite out of fashion by her time.
The Old Round Party
The Old Round party is held annually on a Saturday in February, usually from 2.30 to 5.30 pm at St Barnabas Church, Grove Road, Mile End, London E3 5TG, and all former members of the Round are welcome, and current members too. There is a shared tea, so participants are asked to bring food contributions. Tea and squash are provided. Email invitations to the party are sent out by early January to people on the Old Round list. You can sign up to the list at the Playford Ball, or by request to Fiona Smith. Consult her also for directions to the hall or any other queries. Her email address is fiona.smith1983.xyz@cantab.net with the “.xyz” removed. (It's there to frustrate spammers.)
The Summer Round
Meetings don’t stop in the summer just because term is over — weekly meetings continue on a more informal basis from 8 p.m. to 10 p.m. as usual. Since it is out of term it is not organised by the regular student committee — watch soc-round-chat for details. Places where it might happen include:
- Jesus Green (usually near the Maypole pub)
- The Ann Docwra Room of the Friends Meeting House
- The Old Library at Emmanuel College
- The Octagon of Wesley Church Hall
- Annex at CityChurch 12-14 Cheddars Lane, Cambridge CB5 8LD (next door to the huge Tesco on Newmarket Road)
External events: IVFDF
IVFDF (iv-diff) is the Inter-Varsity Folk Dance Festival, the country’s big annual student folk dance festival, The weekend is a frenzy of ceilidhs, workshops, dances, displays, sessions, more ceilidhs and late-night merriment. It is an unparalleled experience.
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| The final ceilidh in Sheffield 2003 | An IVFDF session |
Recent IVFDFs:
2017: Cambridge
2018: Sheffield
2019: Edinburgh
2020: Nottingham
2021: not held
2022: Sheffield
2023: Exeter
2024: York
2025: Sheffield