Mícheál Quinn was born and reared in Mullaghbawn in South Armagh and now lives in Leixlip, Co Kildare. His inheritance of traditional song came directly from his father Miceal Ned (Mick Quinn) and his grandfather, John Ned Quinn, who were well known traditional singers before him. His repertoire is heavily influenced by his family, birth place and the rich tradition of Ulster singing. Mícheál has been a guest performer at the Frank Harte Weekend, the Góilín singing club, the Inishowen Singing Weekend, the Frank Finn Singing Weekend in Sligo and was a guest at the Róise Rua festival on Árainn Mhór.

Bennery Quinn was born and raised in Leixlip, Co. Kildare. She has been surrounded by Irish traditional music and song since she was a child. She comes from a long line of singers from the Ulster tradition. Her late grandfather Miceal Ned (Mick Quinn) is well known in the traditional singing world as is her father Míchéal Quinn. Aside from singing Bennery also plays the flute and tin whistle. She has been a guest performer at the Góilín Singing Club, the Inishowen Singing Weekend, the “Revival of Life Festival” in Lucan in 2021 and she was a guest at the Frank Harte Singing Festival in 2022.

Morris Oxford are a two-piece folk song and tune act, based in Warwickshire. They provide lively music for ceilidhs and dance workshops and will sing you a funny song if you ask them nicely

Orly Krasner loves to share the joy of English Country Dance as a dancer, choreographer, and teacher. She is a regular part of the teaching rotation in New York City and is a frequent guest for dance evenings, special events, and festivals across the USA and abroad. She has taught at Pinewoods Early Music Week and trained teachers in Japan under the auspices of the National Federation of Teachers of Folkdance. Orly loves a challenge: she’s been studying traditional Japanese dance (and how to wear a kimono) in addition to learning Baroque dance (and anticipating a minuet-step revival)! As a choreographer, Orly is working on her second collection of original dances. Celebrations, her first book and CD, includes “Algorhythms,” “Longevity,” and “When Laura Smiles.” In real life, Orly credits her discovery of country dance with helping her finish her PhD dissertation; she currently teaches in the music department at the City College of New York.

Contrary Faeries arise from Sheffield to delight, entrance and enthral! Their tunes and songs whisk dancers away to a land where you will forget your troubles, your cares, and the life you lived before… and if you’re lucky you might get to return.

Contrary Faeries are Joshua Rowe (they/them) on fiddle and Sol Loreto-Miller (they/them) on piano, who first played together at Sheffield Scratch Contra. Recognising a fellow chaotic fae spirit, they formed Contrary Faeries on a 4am drive back from Whitby Folk Week 2019 and swore to wreak fabulous havoc on the contra dance world, or at the very least steal the occasional name. Since then they have played at dances up and down the country to enthusiastic response.

Alison is a highly experienced ceilidh caller, known for delivering calm and clear instructions with patience and humour. She enjoys choosing dances that are interesting and fun for dancers of all skill levels. Alison has worked with many renowned bands including Blackbeard’s Tea Party, Whapweasel, Out Of Hand, Granny’s Attic and the Glorystrokes

Magpie Lane is a five-piece band from Oxford, specialising in traditional English songs and dance tunes, playing lesser-known material from the archives alongside well-worn favourites.

The band’s front man, Ian Giles, is blessed with one of the finest voices on the folk scene: warm and mellow, but with great power when required. With four lead vocalists the quality of the singing – whether individually or in harmony – is never in doubt. This vocal strength is matched by the band’s instrumental prowess, accompaniments being sensitive or rollicking as each song demands. And when it comes to playing dance tunes, the front line of Mat Green and Andy Turner on fiddle and concertina has few peers. Jon Fletcher and Sophie Thurman complete the line-up, with gorgeously-played guitar, bouzouki and cello. After 30 years of live performance, and with ten critically-acclaimed albums under their belt, this is the band’s Whitby Folk Week debut.

Fosbrooks play Great British Music to accompany their unique clog dance routines. After 40 years of successes they have been considerably reduced in numbers by the pandemic but are still enthusiastic and determined to continue. The dancers performing at Whitby will be from 12 to 28 and these will represent all ability levels of the current group. They are all delighted to be back at Whitby again!

Ewan Wardrop is an actor, dancer, multi-instrumentalist and musical comedian. He began his career as a dancer for Matthew Bourne’s dance company, performing around the world, on Broadway and in the West End. As an actor he has appeared in productions for Shakespeare’s Globe, The RSC, The Old Vic, Kneehigh Theatre and Complicite amongst many others. In 2012 Ewan wrote and performed in a critically acclaimed one man show on the life of George Formby for the Edinburgh Festival. He has been a member of The Ukulele Orchestra of Great Britain and step dances and plays banjo ukulele with The Servants Ball. He also created the experimental Morris side, The Bo Diddlers. He has most recently appeared as Matthew Pyke in the RSC’s Buddha of Suburbia.

Bellamira hail from Sheffield, the folk capital of England. They bring influences such as klezmer, Appalachian, morris, and eurobal, and forge them together with the sensibilities of punk, EDM, ska, and fusion. Always a breath of fresh air and a dancer’s treat. With Josie Wexler on fiddle and vocals, Robyn Wallace on squeezebox, Patrick Rose on guitar and vocals, and Mina Rowan on drums.

The No Lazy Dancing Dance Band was formed after meeting the melodeon player and historian, Bob Ellis at a Dales dance in Kettlewell, Wharfedale. Bob had spent nearly a decade researching musicians, callers, tunes,and dances throughout the Yorkshire Dales. From this research he published a book, “There Was None of this Lazy Dancing!” as well as establishing an archive at the Dales Countryside Museum in Hawes. His vision was to revive the traditions of music and dance in the Dales which faded away in the 50’s and 60’s. Our band was formed to participate in this project. Our repertoire consists of tunes from Bob’s book and from other manuscript sources from Yorkshire and the North including those of Joshua Jackson, Laurence Ledley, John Clare and William Calvert. The bands musicians are Tom Richardson on guitar; Alan Nuttall on English concertina; Georgina Lawes on flute; Mark Wallace; Amy Chestnut on fiddle; Peter Barnard on Anglo concertina and Kate Bilmore on bass clarinet.

Ken Watson and Nina Hansell are father and daughter, hailing from Grimsby, and are both musicians and dancers with many years of experience playing for ceilidh dances, clog and morris teams and leading English music sessions.

Ken has been playing melodeon for morris, clog and step dancing for more than 50 years and is adept at accompanying many different styles of dance. He is well known for his precise style, light touch and perfect tempo and is a joy to both dance and listen to.

Nina has been playing violin since she was 6 and has been dancing since she was 8 years old. Now living in Oxfordshire, Nina is probably best known for her bouncy fiddle playing in ceilidh bands The Bismarcks, PolkaWorks and Oxford NAGS. She aims to provide functional dance music that people find impossible to sit still to.

Jean started clog dancing in September 1988 when she joined Newcastle Cloggies which opened up a world of folk festivals at home and abroad. She was a member of the Instep Research Team and the Instep Dance team for a number of years before forming Twostep, a dancing partnership with Ian Craigs. This led to the development of their own duet routines creating new steps and and adapting steps borrowed from established clog traditions. Jean retired from formal performance following Whitby 2022 but still enjoys teaching and dancing in more informal settings.

Winners of Dancing England Rapper Tournament (DERT) 2024 will be running Rapper dance workshops for us as well as performing around the town – catch them at official dance spots throughout the week, though no doubt they’ll also do an evening crawl or two around the pubs!

Campden Morris Dancers are known for dancing their own unique tradition, which is not performed anywhere else in the Morris world. Deceptively simple, it is beautiful when done energetically, particularly in a large space. They pride themselves on being a welcoming and friendly side with several strong family bonds stretching across the generations. They  are proud of their tradition and can trace their history back to the 1700s. Whilst they are a traditional Cotswold side, they look to the future and plan to keep Campden Morris Dancers alive and well in the 21st century!

Harlequin Morris are a tribute to what they see as living traditions from the Cotswolds, that are exciting, energetic and uplifting for both dancers and audience members. The side was formed in June 2013 by a small group of friends from around the country, who wanted to learn and dance more difficult and challenging traditions in a polished manner. The side dress in an array of different coloured shirts, black and white ribbons and black waistcoats, so they hope this will help you spot them from a distance!