Review of our Cotswold Morris workshop held on 14th November 2021, attended by aound 20 participants on Zoom to learn the jig – ‘Nutting Girl’ in the style of Ducklington. The workshop was kindly run by dancers Andrew (Drew) Knight and Lin Steel, and musician Tony Warren on mandolin from the Knights of King Ina jig team in Somerset. You can see the video of the Ducklington ‘Nutting Girl’ jig workshop on the MF YouTube channel.
Jo Smyth of Cuckoo’s Nest Morris attended the workshop and writes:
“
As a relative newcomer to dancing – just 2 practice and 1 dance out season before the great lockdown – I was a little apprehensive about attempting to get my brain and feet around a jig.
“I had lurked in the background for the Lumps of Plum Puddingr zoom workshop in Feb ‘21 but at the time wasn’t able to give it my full attention – never ideal!
“Initially I learnt that Ducklington is a reconstructed tradition and that although we were learning Nutting Girl as a jig, it can also be danced as a set of 6.
“As Cuckoo’s Nest Morris as a side dance ‘Princess Royal’, this is something that I will be able to take back to my side to potentially include in our repertoire at some point – although it’s unlikely that I will be involved in the teaching…!
“The workshop was brilliant thanks to the clear teaching by Andrew and his team from Knights of King Ina.
“Each element was explained, demonstrated and then practiced – step by step – sorry couldn’t resist 🙂 gradually adding a chorus, another figure, another chorus etc until we had covered the entire jig.
“There were plenty of opportunities for to ask for clarification, repeat elements and also to share hints/tips, ideas from within the group.
“Personally I found the foot view camera particularly useful to be able to really fine tune stepping.
“At the end of the workshop we had several opportunities to dance the full jig which really helped to embed both stepping and arm movements which I still find something of a challenge.
“Although I did have a speedy glance through the YouTube links which had been circulated in advance, I would have found it useful for Andrew to have danced through the entire jig at the very beginning of the workshop – something which might be considered for future workshops.
“Thanks to Pauline, Andrew and the team for continuing to provide such useful learning experiences via Zoom.
by Jo Smyth, a member of Cuckoo’s Nest Morris in Brighton, Sussex
Donations from workshop participants raised money for Yeovil Freewheelers Blood Bikes: https://www.yfwbloodbikes.org/
Resources
You can see the video of the Ducklington ‘Nutting Girl’ jig workshop on the MF YouTube channel. Plus these other resources:
– A folder containing: Dance Notation and music dots for ‘Nutting Girl’ Ducklington Jig in the MF Notation Library
– Video: Andrew Knight and Lin Steel dancing: ‘Nutting Girl’ in the style of Ducklington – Front View and ‘Nutting Girl’ in the style of Ducklington – Back View and ‘Nutting Girl’ in the style of Ducklington – Side View (2016)
– Video: Warming up and Cooling Down for Morris Dancers on the MF YouTube Channel
