Lois Blake

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Lois Blake
Born
Lois Agnes Fownes Turner

21 May 1890
Streatham, London, U.K.
Died19 November 1974 (age 84)
Marshfield, U.K.
Occupation(s)Folklorist, dance scholar

Lois Blake (21 May 1890 – 19 November 1974), born Lois Agnes Fownes Turner, was a British folklorist and "the driving force behind the revival of folk dancing in Wales."[1] She was the founding president of the Welsh Folk Dance Society in 1949.

Early life and education[edit]

Blake was born in Streatham, London, the daughter of Henry Fownes Turner and Amy Dickes Turner. Her mother died in 1893, and she was raised in the household of an aunt and uncle.[2]

Memorial plaque on an exterior wall in Llangwm. This plaque was placed to honour Lois Blake, who was the driving force behind the revival of Welsh folk dancing in the 1930s. She was an Englishwoman who moved from Liverpool, where she had been a member of the English Folk Dance Society. On moving to Llangwm, she was amazed to find that very few folk dances were performed in Wales and she set about researching Welsh dances and dancing. She became a founded member and first president of the Welsh Folk Dance Society. The plaque was unveiled by her daughter Felicity, on the occasion of the 50th anniversary of the Welsh Folk Dance Society.
Memorial plaque, Llangwm. The plaque was unveiled by her daughter Felicity, on the occasion of the 50th anniversary of the Welsh Folk Dance Society.

Career[edit]

Blake served as a nurse, driver, and cook during World War I, in Serbia, Romania, and Russia. She was a member of the English Folk Dance and Song Society, and while she was living in Wales made a study of traditional Welsh folk dances, and taught dances to children. She "almost singlehandedly rescued the remaining fragments of a once common Welsh tradition".[3] She was the founding president of the Welsh Folk Dance Society in 1949.[4] She was a dance judge at the National Eisteddfod, lectured to local groups on her work,[5] and helped the Urdd Gobaith Cymru youth organization on teaching Welsh dances to young people.[6] She was admitted into the Gorsedd Cymru in 1960.[2]

Publications[edit]

  • Welsh Morris and other Country Dances (1938, with W. S. Gwynn Williams)
  • Welsh Folk Dance (1948)[7]
  • Dances of England and Wales (1950, with Maud Karpeles)
  • The Llangadfan Dances (1954, with W. S. Gwynn Williams)
  • "The Three Merry Dances of Wales" (1958)[8]
  • Welsh Folk Dancing and Costume (1965)[9][10]
  • "The Nantgarw Dances" (1966)[11]
  • Traditional Dance and Customs in Wales (1972)[12]
  • "The General Characteristics of Welsh Folk Dance" (1974)[13]

Personal life and legacy[edit]

Turner married marine engineer Leonard James Blake in 1917. They lived mainly in Llangwm, Wales, and had two children, Felicity (born 1920) and James (born 1918). Her son died in 1945, and her husband died in 1959. She moved to Bristol in widowhood, to live with her daughter, and died in 1974, at the age of 84, at Marshfield. There is a Lois Blake Memorial Trophy presented at the National Eisteddfod, for performing one of the Nantgarw dances Blake documented.[14]

References[edit]

  1. ^ Hyde, Dale (2012). "Welsh Folk Dance History". Folk Dance Federation of California, South. Retrieved 2024-03-17.
  2. ^ a b Palfrey, Eiry. "Blake, Lois (1890 - 1974), historian and promoter of Welsh folk dancing". Dictionary of Welsh Biography. Retrieved 2024-03-17.
  3. ^ "Welsh Folk Dancing - Almost lost without trace". Museum Wales. 10 April 2007. Retrieved 2024-03-17.
  4. ^ "Welsh Folk Dance History - Dawnsio". Retrieved 2024-03-18.
  5. ^ "West Mid-Glamorgan Group Meeting". The Glamorgan Gazette. 1951-03-09. p. 7. Retrieved 2024-03-18 – via Newspapers.com.
  6. ^ "Aberfan Folk Festival Planned for June". The Glamorgan Gazette. 1964-04-03. p. 6. Retrieved 2024-03-18 – via Newspapers.com.
  7. ^ "Review of 'Welsh Folk Dance', by Lois Blake (The Gwynn Publishing Co., Llangollen, North Wales, 1948.) 20 pp". Journal of the International Folk Music Council. 1: 65–66. January 1949. doi:10.2307/835952. ISSN 0950-7922.
  8. ^ Blake, Mrs. Lois. "The Three Merry Dancers of Wales." Journal of the English Folk Dance and Song Society (1958): 166-167.
  9. ^ Blake, Lois (1965). Welsh Folk Dancing and Costume. Gwynn Pub.
  10. ^ Roberts, Gwilym (1954-04-22). "Day to Day in Wales; Welsh folk dancing". Liverpool Daily Post. p. 1. Retrieved 2024-03-18 – via Newspapers.com.
  11. ^ Blake, Loïs (1966). "The Nantgarw Dances". Folk Music Journal. 1 (2): 102–106. ISSN 0531-9684.
  12. ^ Blake, Lois. Traditional Dance and Customs in Wales. Gwynn Publishing Company, 1972.
  13. ^ Blake, Lois. "The general characteristics of Welsh Folk Dance." Welsh Folk Dance Society Journal 75 (1974).
  14. ^ "Memories in music". The Vale Advertiser. 1996-07-12. p. 4. Retrieved 2024-03-18 – via Newspapers.com.
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