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Maud Karpeles
Maud Karpeles OBE, (12 November 1885 – 1 October 1976) was a British collector of folksongs and dance teacher.
Maud Pauline Karpeles was born at Lancaster Gate in Bayswater, London, in 1885. She was the third of five children. Her father, Joseph Nicolaus Karpeles, was a German immigrant who was born in Hamburg, and naturalised as a British subject in 1881. He worked as a tea merchant and stockbroker. Her mother, Emily Karpeles (née Raphael), was born in London. Both her parents were Jewish but nonreligious. Her family moved to Westbourne Terrace, Paddington, when she was about ten. Like her sisters, Karpeles went to boarding school in Tunbridge Wells, where she learned to play the violin and piano, and studied German. In 1906, she spent six months at the Hochschule für Musik in Berlin, taking piano lessons and going to concerts.
After returning to England, Karpeles was a volunteer with the Invalid Children's Aid Association. For three or four days a week, she visited disabled children and their families in East Ham and Barking, helping with hospital visits and providing developmental support.
Once a week, Karpeles volunteered at the Mansfield House Guild of Play in Canning Town. Started by workers at the Bermondsey Settlement, the guild's mission was to teach girls "vigorous happy dances for recreative purposes on educational lines." According to founder Grace Kimmins, songs and dances from "Merrie England" would help to counteract the negative influences of urbanisation. Maud's piano skills were useful in teaching music and movement, and after a while, her younger sister Helen started to help as well. Around this time, Maud Karpeles also became a member of the Fabian Society.
In May 1909, Maud and Helen Karpeles went to the Shakespeare Festival in Stratford-upon-Avon, where folk dancing competitions were being held. There, they met Cecil Sharp, who was an adjudicator at the competition, together with Mary Neal. Sharp had been working with Neal and the Espérance Club in teaching Morris dances and folk songs to girls employed in the dressmaking trade in London, and had had considerable success. The Karpeles sisters were "instantly entranced" by the style of folk dancing they saw at the festival. Starting in September, they audited Sharp's classes at the School of Morris Dancing in the Chelsea Polytechnic Institute. Their objective at first was to be able to teach the dances to children at the settlement in Canning Town.
In 1910, the Karpeles sisters formed an informal Folk Dance Club, together with a group of girls who had been practicing every week at their parents' house. On 3 April 1911, they held a fundraiser for the Invalid Children's Association at Baker Street in London. The Folk Dance Club roped male relatives to join them in dancing, and gave a performance in front of an audience of 500 people. Cecil Sharp gave a lecture and contralto Mattie Kay sang. The event was well received and raised an impressive £60.
The popularity of the Folk Dance Club grew quickly, as Maud Karpeles and her dancers started to give more public demonstrations, and Sharp traveled across the country to promote folk dancing. Maud and Helen Karpeles were soon teaching Morris, sword, and country dancing classes five hours a day as members of his teaching staff. At the Shakespeare Festival that summer, the Folk Dance Club gave performances each week in the Memorial Theatre Gardens. Following a public meeting in December 1911, the Folk Dance Club dissolved to make way for a new national entity, the English Folk Dance Society (EFDS). Helen then became the Honorary Secretary of the EFDS – a role which Maud would take over from 1922 to 1930.
In 1913, Maud Karpeles started working for Sharp as his amanuensis, after he developed neuritis in his right elbow. Initially, she wrote his letters in longhand, but quickly learned typewriting and shorthand. In May 1914, Karpeles was involved in Harley Granville-Barker's production of A Midsummer Night's Dream at the Savoy Theatre, which featured folk music and dancing. Sharp arranged the music and choreography, while Karpeles trained the dancers.
Maud Karpeles
Maud Karpeles OBE, (12 November 1885 – 1 October 1976) was a British collector of folksongs and dance teacher.
Maud Pauline Karpeles was born at Lancaster Gate in Bayswater, London, in 1885. She was the third of five children. Her father, Joseph Nicolaus Karpeles, was a German immigrant who was born in Hamburg, and naturalised as a British subject in 1881. He worked as a tea merchant and stockbroker. Her mother, Emily Karpeles (née Raphael), was born in London. Both her parents were Jewish but nonreligious. Her family moved to Westbourne Terrace, Paddington, when she was about ten. Like her sisters, Karpeles went to boarding school in Tunbridge Wells, where she learned to play the violin and piano, and studied German. In 1906, she spent six months at the Hochschule für Musik in Berlin, taking piano lessons and going to concerts.
After returning to England, Karpeles was a volunteer with the Invalid Children's Aid Association. For three or four days a week, she visited disabled children and their families in East Ham and Barking, helping with hospital visits and providing developmental support.
Once a week, Karpeles volunteered at the Mansfield House Guild of Play in Canning Town. Started by workers at the Bermondsey Settlement, the guild's mission was to teach girls "vigorous happy dances for recreative purposes on educational lines." According to founder Grace Kimmins, songs and dances from "Merrie England" would help to counteract the negative influences of urbanisation. Maud's piano skills were useful in teaching music and movement, and after a while, her younger sister Helen started to help as well. Around this time, Maud Karpeles also became a member of the Fabian Society.
In May 1909, Maud and Helen Karpeles went to the Shakespeare Festival in Stratford-upon-Avon, where folk dancing competitions were being held. There, they met Cecil Sharp, who was an adjudicator at the competition, together with Mary Neal. Sharp had been working with Neal and the Espérance Club in teaching Morris dances and folk songs to girls employed in the dressmaking trade in London, and had had considerable success. The Karpeles sisters were "instantly entranced" by the style of folk dancing they saw at the festival. Starting in September, they audited Sharp's classes at the School of Morris Dancing in the Chelsea Polytechnic Institute. Their objective at first was to be able to teach the dances to children at the settlement in Canning Town.
In 1910, the Karpeles sisters formed an informal Folk Dance Club, together with a group of girls who had been practicing every week at their parents' house. On 3 April 1911, they held a fundraiser for the Invalid Children's Association at Baker Street in London. The Folk Dance Club roped male relatives to join them in dancing, and gave a performance in front of an audience of 500 people. Cecil Sharp gave a lecture and contralto Mattie Kay sang. The event was well received and raised an impressive £60.
The popularity of the Folk Dance Club grew quickly, as Maud Karpeles and her dancers started to give more public demonstrations, and Sharp traveled across the country to promote folk dancing. Maud and Helen Karpeles were soon teaching Morris, sword, and country dancing classes five hours a day as members of his teaching staff. At the Shakespeare Festival that summer, the Folk Dance Club gave performances each week in the Memorial Theatre Gardens. Following a public meeting in December 1911, the Folk Dance Club dissolved to make way for a new national entity, the English Folk Dance Society (EFDS). Helen then became the Honorary Secretary of the EFDS – a role which Maud would take over from 1922 to 1930.
In 1913, Maud Karpeles started working for Sharp as his amanuensis, after he developed neuritis in his right elbow. Initially, she wrote his letters in longhand, but quickly learned typewriting and shorthand. In May 1914, Karpeles was involved in Harley Granville-Barker's production of A Midsummer Night's Dream at the Savoy Theatre, which featured folk music and dancing. Sharp arranged the music and choreography, while Karpeles trained the dancers.