A round up of online talks, diary dates for dancing out, and in-case-you-missed-it recorded events.
Online FedTalks in December
Talk – “Coconut Dancing – more than just a Lancashire tradition” – Peter Bearon – Sat 4th Dec 16:00-17:30 – Comparing the coconut dance tradition in the Rossendale Valley, Lancashire, with that of Els Moretons in Manacor, Mallorca, potentially originating in the 1850s.
Talk – Morris Dolls in the Museum of British Folklore – Simon Costin – Sat 11th Dec 16:00-17:30 – Find out about the UK’s first ever museum dedicated to our seasonal customs and events, and what happened to the Morris Dolls you dressed and sent in.
Talk – “Straw Bear – 40 Years of Straw & String” – Brian Kell – Sun 12th Dec 16:00-17:30 – The history of the Whittlesea Straw Bear festival from the past to the present, along with the changes which have occurred throughout the years of the revival.
The latest and correct list will always be at: www.morrisfed.org.uk/events/. More online events coming in January to March. How to access an online event: Register for an event, and a couple of days before we’ll email you a Zoom link to access it. We are also recording most of our events, which will appear on the MF YouTube channel when they have been processed.
For more events see: MF Events
Dancing out in 2022
Bookings are open for DERT and the JMO DoD in Liverpool:
2022
- Saturday 26th March 2022 in Derby – DERT (Dancing England Rapper Tournament) – contact DERT for team registrations by Fri 17th Dec.
Saturday 9th April 2022 in Liverpool – JMO National Day of Dance hosted by the Morris Ring in the North West. Open to all members of the Morris Federation, Morris Ring and Open Morris. MF teams/sides can book a place by filling out our contact form and selecting the drop down for ‘Events’. PS If any individuals are available to help Marshall for a half/whole day, then please let us know and we’ll pass on your details.
Saturday 24th September 2022 in Darlington – the MF Day of Dance and AGM hosted by Black Diamond Mixed Cotswold Morris. Save the date for now.
2023
- Saturday 23rd September 2023 in Shropshire – the MF Day of Dance and AGM hosted by Shropshire Bedlams and Martha Rhoden’s Tuppenny Dish. Save the date for now.
(ICYMI) Who were the sword dancers?
“Who were the sword dancers, and why did they do it?” – Talk by Andrew Kennedy (1hr 27min) plus link to a PDF of his slides. Records of sword dancing can be found dating as far back as the fourteenth century, and enough books and articles have been written about it to form a small library. 
Much of what has been written focuses upon the action, the events. This talk takes a look at the people who danced, focusing on Britain and northern Europe from the fourteenth to the nineteenth century, and in particular at certain rare cases where we can investigate individual named dancers and find out a surprising amount about them.
See more talks on the MF YouTube Channel
(ICYMI) Festival time at Shrewsbury
Shrewsbury Folk Festival has most of its concerts from 2021 online on YouTube: see Shrewsbury YouTube channel
Events from other orgs
- EFDSS What’s On: https://www.efdss.org/whats-on
- The Folk Forecast – weekly what’s on summary
Hope to see you at an event soon.
