ABSTRACT
This chapter begins with the premise that Bellowhead produces a musical shift through a popular sensibility. It examines how dance acts as an agent for Bellowhead's popularization, recontextualization and revision of the codes and modalities of traditional English music, and it explores this in relation to the movement aesthetics that the band members bring to their stage performances. The category of 'folk' appears to be less a coherent collection of music and dance forms than an aesthetic and ideological creation. The idea that Bellowhead can access cross-over audiences is evident as the band has moved beyond the folk club circuit to play at classical and popular music venues, such as the Royal Festival Hall and Shepherd's Bush Empire in London, and at outdoor pop music festivals. The dance serves to comment critically upon the band's musical philosophy.
