Coming up soon are two big events – the JMO Day of Dance on Sat 24th April – everyone from all 3 morris orgs welcome. (The JMO is the Joint Morris Organisations – the Morris Federation, the Morris Ring and Open Morris) and our ‘Workshop Showcase’ Day on Sun 9th May – come along to perform together all the dances we’ve learned in our online workshops this winter, so get practising. Plus more exercise and more talks.
see all MF events & register
Click on the links below to find out more and to register. The latest and correct list will always be at: www.morrisfed.org.uk/events/. Also posted on Facebook at: www.facebook.com/MorrisFed.org.uk.
Online events in April
- Not one of our events but Derby Live have a St George’s Day celebration on Fri 23rd April with a dragon procession and a ceilidh.
- Joint Morris Organisations’ Day of Dance 2021 – Sat 24th April 10:00-17:00. All 3 morris orgs invite you to play and dance the day away. Two parallel streams: Music Session 11:00-15:00, and Dance Workshops 10:00-16:00 to learn the Bacca Pipes jig with Rachel Cole-Wilkin; ‘The Celebration’ North West solo dance with John Earnshaw; Mrs Marhoff’s single hornpipe clog stepping routine with Toby Bennett; and the Over the Hills Oddington Jig with Ollie & Matt Simons, followed by massed dancing 16:00-17:00.
- Talk – The Adderbury Morris Men – Sun 25th April 16:00-17:30. Find out about the Adderbury tradition in Oxfordshire that died out in the 19thC, what sparked its revival in 1975, and what happened next.
- In the media: Matthew Green on what links Morris Dancing to Raves – Thu 29th April 11:30-12:00 on BBC Radio 4. The unlikely connections between Morris dancers and ravers & what drives them out into the fields to dance at dawn.
Online events in May
- If you feel the need to get up for Dawn on May Day then Live to Your Living Room are putting on a May Dawn Dance – Sat 1st May 05:30 with Martin Green, Eliza Carthy, Maddy Prior, Adie Baako and Boss Morris.
- Last session of 6 Week Programme – Return to Dancing Fitness – Rhys Boorman – Sun 2nd May 10:00-11:00. Get dance fit with Rhys with his weekly videos (see the playlist linked from that page). This is the final ‘live’ session – no need to re-register if you registered for the first one.
- Talk – Who were the Sword Dancers and why did they do it? – Andrew Kennedy – Sun 2nd May 16:00-17:30. We take a look at the people who did sword dancing in Britain and northern Europe from 14thC to 19thC.
- Workshop Showcase Day – Sun 9th May [sorry – now cancelled]. Be a Lockdown Learner! Show off all your newly acquired skills and dances that you’ve learned at our workshops. For each Cotswold, Clog, North West, and Border dance we’ve done in the workshops, we’ll have a rehearsal then we can all dance it together and take a video recording for posterity.
- Talk – ‘Morris Dancers and Rose Queens’ Volume 1: 1888-1900 ‘Once over Lightly’ – Johnny Haslett – Sat 15th May 16:00-17:30. A tour of his book – an anthology of reported carnivals and galas in West Lancashire between 1888 and 1900, together with the accompanying morris dancing activity.
We are having a break from online weekend events after 15th May, and starting again next winter, so please contact us if you have one to offer.
Diary dates
2021
- Saturday 25th September 2021 – our AGM will be held online over Zoom. We’ve made the sad decision to cancel the Day of Dance in September with hosts Customs and Exiles, and ceilidh band The Diatonics, and thank them for all their hard work.
2022
Next year we’ll look forward to seeing you in person:
- Saturday 9th April 2022 in Liverpool for the JMO National Day of Dance.
- Saturday 24th September 2022 in Darlington for the MF Day of Dance and AGM with hosts Black Diamond Mixed Cotswold Morris.
