Nothing keeps good memories from a past event better, beside good feelings, than photos or a video recording. As usual, we are we are producing this audiovisual material from the Summer School which will remind you of it. First there were videotapes, from the 5th Summer School we tried a DVD and that is the case this year as well. At first the videos tried to capture not just the atmosphere of the event but also some steps as a form of reminder for the dancers. Due to growing influence of An Coimisiún rules on the continent the teachers‘ steps became prohibited and thus they are not included anymore.

15 August 2009
The day starts and proceeds as during all seven previous summer schools which were organised in Prague: taking over the school, creating a working area, signposting the way from the nearest bus stop, signposting inside, installing the sound systems etc. That is linked with transporting the teachers from the airport and their accommodation. This takes place with abundant help from the Loužecký couple; I cannot imagine the Summer School without Martin’s graphic design independence. I drive to the airport myself around noon to pick up the teachers from Dublin (Tereza, Ronan McCormack, Gerard Butler) and two Irish ladies, Chris and Jenny, who came to Prague to attend Gerard Butler’s lessons. They are accommodated in Jedličkův Institute and we go back to school. In between, school participants are arriving, registering and settling in.

    Dancing lectors - photo by Milan Hašek
 

We start off with the evening ceilí – with the help from Roman Kozák we mix dances from various areas – American country, Brittany, Scotland, Ireland. Some eight dances were done in two hours. One more journey to the airport in the middle of the night to pick up Michel Sikiotakis and Eileen Quinn whose airplane from Paris had a five-hour delay.

The Summer School is definitely over and its participants and teachers travelled back to their homes. As organisers of this educational event we are hoping that the participation was not perceived as a loss or waste of time by anyone and that everyone received an appropriate „boost“ for the beginning of the new season, regardless whether a dancer, musician or Irish speaker.

Next year’s Summer School – just with the name Bernard´s Summer School 2010 – is already being prepared. It is not completely easy to think through such a composition of workshops which would attract the largest possible spectrum of interested participants.

Irish Ceilí Evening will be in Wednesday 19th August at KC Novodvorská, Praha 4 from 7:30 p.m. This evening is a part of 9th Summer School of Irish Dancing - Bernard´s Summer School 2009. Music: Shannon - Prague Irish music Band; lectors of summer school and guests. Dancing under leading dance lectors of summer school. Come to Dance.

The possibility that is given to the Summer School participants is „balanced“ by a complicated process of arranging the time schedule. It is based on the fact that there are fixed dance lessons and the music lessons and Irish have to complement them so that as many applicants as possible can accommodate their interests.

After the first application closing date, which was Monday the 15 th of June, we have 140 participants entered for approx. 180 classes (that means some people will be attending 2 or even 3 different classes), which is very good.

According to the CLRG rule book, An Coimisiún "may formally designate a workshop as an 'open workshop', and grant an exemption to the person conducting the workshop". This exemption is from the adjudicating rule. That means, dancers from CLRG schools are allowed to join Bernards Summer School. They only have to ask their own teachers for permission. 

It is only a week left to deadline for this year summer school. After then, we have to assess the actual occupancy of all classes. Effort to accommodate everybody with various interests in Irish traditional culture brings us to release wide spectrum of classes. Unfortunately financial support for summer school is infinitely small. If there are not enough students for the class, we are forced to cancel it.

Bernards Summer School 2009 was confirmed at the meeting of the rules committee (CLRG) as a open workshop.

Hello Vaclav,

Yes your application was successful for your summer camp this year. If you look up www.clrg.ie it will be on there stating that is was approved by An Coimisiun through tyhe rules committee.
I thought you would have received confirmation on this.

All the best.

Charles Moore
Chairperson Rules Committee.

Based on yet officially unconfirmed news, the 9th Summer School of Irish Dancing - Bernards Summer School has been approved by An Coimisiún Le Rincí Gaelacha as an OPEN WORKSHOP. This happened at a Commission Meeting which took place in Dublin on the weekend of 16-17 April.

We obtain aplication forms from following people:

Michaela Jaborníková, Michael Andrysek, Alena Leiská, Marcela Ciubucanová, Anna Limlová, Karel Neumann,

As of today 17 April 2009 the Czech version of the Application form is available. Consider carefully which lessons you want to attend, what you want to improve. There are many possibilities and little time left.

This is our letter from 12th February 2009 to CLRG. We ask An Coimisiún Le Rincí Gaelacha for declaration of Bernard´s Summer School as open and endorsed by this organisation. But nobody answered to 20th March. We asked people in contact of CLRG this day for answered. Now is 31st March and we have no answer. I think it is a little unrespectable.
Václav Bernard

The list of lessons available and their teachers at the 9th Summer School is now complete and closed. Now we’re only fine-tuning the schedules and very soon the complete syllabus of the Summer School and the application form will appear on this website.
So who will be teaching in Prague this year?