What’s on: Boss Morris at The Brits; MF online talks 25-26 Feb, 5 Mar; to book – MF DoD&AGM Shropshire 30th Sept; JMO Exeter, JMO 20th DoD Norwich & Newcastle; ‘Teaching Folk Dance in Schools’ 4th March EFDSS; Hooden Horse and Folk Costume exhibitions Feb-June;
In the media
The big news! On a Saturday night … prime time TV … Boss Morris dance for Wet Leg performing “Chaise Longue” at The Brits on Sat 11th February 2023: 
See here for the video of their performance, and they tell all to Tradfolk about their journey: https://www.morrisfed.org.uk/2023/02/13/boss-morris-wet-leg-the-brits/
Dance like a Boss! On Sat 22nd April, Boss are giving a workshop and dance displays at Kings Place, London, as part of a Folk Weekend: https://www.kingsplace.co.uk/whats-on/folk/boss-morris-dance-workshop
This may be a good time to capitalise on the national publicity for morris dancing and advertise your own workshop/team? See our IT Marketing & Recruitment workshops below for ideas.
Boss and Banksy being very much in the news that week, Dorset Morri’Arty has produced his own tribute:
MF Events – Online
- Talk – “Carnivals, Contests and Coronations, a social history of Morris Dancing in Trafford before the second world war”– Richard Nelson – Sat 25th February 16:00-17:30. Image: Linotype and Machinery Morris Dancers, 1930
Workshop – “Exploiting IT for your Outreach and Marketing” – Brian Kelly – Sun 26th February 11:00-13:00
- Workshop – “Recruitment Ideas and Experiences” – a JMO event – Sun 26th February 16:00-18:00
- Talk – “Dancing with Giants, Hobby Horses and Morris” – Stephen Rowley – Sun 5th March 17:00-18:30
- Talk – “The Ancient Festival of Abram, called the Morris Dance” – Peter Bearon – Sat 25th March 17:00-18:30
- Talk – “Dalliance[s] with Dance … Clogs, Bells, Horns and Straw!” – Doc Rowe – Sun 26th March 17:00-18:30
- Talk – “More morris than you can shake a stick (or handkerchief) at” – Michael Heaney – Sun 2nd April 16:00-17:30.
See all our events at: MF Events
MF Events – Days of Dance
JMO Day of Dance – Sat 22nd April 2023 in Exeter hosted by Beltane Border Morris on behalf of Open Morris. Bookings still open. See lots more info at: jmodayofdance.com
MF Day of Dance and AGM – Sat 30th September 2023 in Bishop’s Castle, Shopshire hosted by Shropshire Bedlams & Martha Rhoden’s Tuppenny Dish. Bookings open! Much more info and to book a place for all – or part – of the weekend, see: sbmrtd.org.uk/fedagm/. See also their MF AGM 2023 Facebook page
September & October 2023 – JMO 20th Birthday – Regional Days of Dance to celebrate 20 years since the first national DoD in Trafalgar Square:
- Sat 9th September in Derby
- Sat 16th September in Norwich – bookings open!
- Sat 23rd September in Chester
- Sat 7th October in Newcastle – bookings open! book by 31st May
- Sat 7th October in Bath
- Date TBC (probably Sat 21st or Sat 28th October): in London
The latest and correct list of our events is at: MF Events
Events from our members
Green Dragon Border Morris write: we will be holding our Day of Dance on Saturday 9th September in our home town of Bury St Edmunds, Suffolk, to celebrate our 30 year anniversary. If your side is interested to join us (any style of morris) please contact Kev on gdbagman@gmail.com
Events from other orgs
Until April 2023: EFDSS – Vaughan Williams Memorial Lectures, January-April 2023
8th February – 17th June 2023
Animal Guising and the Kentish Hooden Horse at Maidstone Museum says this exhibition unites Maidstone Museum’s two old Hooden Horses with their early surviving cousins; Morris Dancing revival horses; Northern skull horses; the Old Tup; Mari Lwyd; Obby Osses; and stag disguises. It explores the Christmas house-calling custom of Hoodening and its reinvention as Autohoodening, a new kind of folk performance about the precarity of contemporary seasonal working. Special performances on 1st April 10:00-15:30, free entry:- in the museum – the Whitstable Hoodeners and Dover Tales; in Fremlin Walk – Invictus Mugistis Equinus (IME) from the Broadstairs Folk Festival.
11th February – 11th June 2023
Making Mischief: Folk Costume in Britain at Compton Verney in Warwickshire, says that it will be the first exhibition dedicated to the rich tapestry of folk customs found in the UK today. It will explore the central role played by costume in local and seasonal folk customs, bringing together over 40 costumes created, customised and worn by individual practitioners, many of which have never been exhibited before.
February to August 2023
Folk Camps
: share your expertise to teach others and give a few hours to help run the camp. The 2023 Folk Camps Programme is now out!
March 2023
DERT (Dancing England Rapper Tournament) – Fri 10th – Sun 12th March 2023 in Rochdale, Greater Manchester. Plus a new App!
Launching in Spring 2023: FolkScape Live – a folk music streaming service
EFDSS What’s On: https://www.efdss.org/whats-on
The Folk Forecast – a what’s on summary of folky events
Tradfolk – news and articles about folky things
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