Ceilidh Ap-Farendar is many things ——a dancer and performer, a natural healer, a modern-day Celt, a traveller, a storyteller, and a behavioural scientist ——still, most of all ——she is a woman of the land and a protector of the forest. Born into a familial knowing amongst traveller folk, she spent a childhood on the road, living off grid and moving from place to place, performing as she went. She attributes her healing abilities to her DNA, sensibilities she has chosen to channel into more formal modes of study ——psychotherapy, Taoism and Medical Chi ——these now come together and merge with Ceilidh’s understanding of healing through performance and ceremony, ideas that form the basis for the Horde. She uses an innate ability to unleash and channel a raging inner fury ——with writing and performance choreography stemming from a primal scream, literally and metaphorically. Her connection to a Celtic past is umbilical, and her use of Cymraeg, the oldest language native to the British Isles from an ancient Celtic tongue, breaches time itself and forges a path back to an ancient world carried on The Horde’s modern song. The Horde are an eclectic mix of folk who bring their talents and individualism to Ceilidh’s vision and perform to honour the changing seasons with precision and artistry ——bones, body paint, headdresses and intricate detail ——make their attire at once elegant, dark and wholly primitive.
