The Legendary Black Veil Beltane Bash

Name: The Legendary Black Veil Beltane Bash
Start: 2025-04-26T15:00:00+01:00
End: 2025-04-26T22:30:00+01:00
Location: Coedpoeth Parish Hall

Schedule

Sat Apr 26 2025 at 03:00 pm to 10:30 pm

UTC+01:00

Location

Coedpoeth Parish Hall | Wrexham, WA

Come and celebrate Beltane with Black Veil and Sophia Smithers!
We are delighted to announce that we are hosting Sophia for a sword improv workshop, which includes a showback spot at the Hafla for anyone who wishes to join in, ahead of our legendary Beltane Hafla this year! Details below.
When: Workshop 3pm - 5pm, Hafla 7pm till 10.30
Where: Both events at Coedpoeth Parish Hall
How much: Workshop £15 in advance, Hafla £7 in advance or £10 on the door. Please send advance payment via PayPal to [email protected]
All proceeds go to charity, after all expenses have been covered.
Workshop details:
Liquid Steel - in this two-hour workshop we will start at the basics: anatomy of the sword, safety, grips, basic moves and balancing tricks. We will work on your confidence with the blade, building up from standard movements to some more unusual and elegant ones that might be new to you. At the end we will aim to have you dancing with confidence and fluidly with your sword as your dance partner - and we'll get to show off what we have learned in the evening show!
Please bring costuming in black and silver: skirts, pantaloons, belts and bras and/or cholis. I will set up a group for ideas for costuming and to share the music in advance so you know what we will be dancing to. This workshop will be open level with something for seasoned warriors and blade novices alike!
About Sophia:
Sophia is a familiar face on the UK improv and fusion belly dance scene with a passion for dancing with swords.
She started dancing in school and studied dance as a GCSE and has a long history as a performer. However it wasn't until she moved to Nottingham that she encountered group improv bellydance and thought 'I want to do that!'. Next week she joined a class, quickly becamin a regular performer and then teacher at haflas and festivals around the UK.
Sophia was one of the original members of the 'pro-core' of Black Peacock, has performed with the Juniper Project including the Juniper Ascending theatre show in 2021, and is now one of the founding members of the midlands-based performance aggregate Collexive. She is also the social media mistress for Gothla UK.
Sophia started dancing with swords twelve years ago, focussing on FCBD and Boho Blade formats. Her love of dancing with blades matches perfectly with why she loves bellydance; it empowers dancers of any age or fitness level to connect with their bodies in a safe, healthy and sustainable way, and to awaken their inner warrior