The Membership Secretary of Lichfield Folk Dance Club has contacted us to share their reminiscences about HM The Queen and the Royal Family’s influence on folk dance:
‘As we mourn the death of Her Majesty Queen Elizabeth II, and the end of her reign which began in the same year as Lichfield Folk Dance Club, perhaps we should remember that, indirectly, we probably owe our existence to her late Majesty. The Club was formed at the height of the Square Dance Boom of the early 1950s which came about after the then Princess Elizabeth attended a Square Dance during a visit to Canada.
‘Of course the Queen’s late sister Her Royal Highness the Princess Margaret was, until her death in 2002, the President of the English Folk Dance and Song Society to which Lichfield Folk Dance Club is affiliated.
‘There are more details on The Square Dance History Project.
‘Wouldn’t it be good if our new Prince and Princess of Wales could come to a dance?’
We thank the Lichfield Folk Dance Club committee for reminding us about this Royal visit, and wonder: how many other Folk Dance Clubs – in Canada, in England and elsewhere around the world – owe their origins to this event?
Photo: The Square Dance History Project