With May Day being only a few, short weeks away and summer just around the corner, why not take a bit of time out from dusting off those bell pads to check out some of the exciting events listed in this Events Roundup Fedcast, including a Yoga For Morris Dancers online workshop, information on the Federation AGM 2024 weekend in Cardiff, an update on our Buzzing Britain / Schools Project, and news from other orgs including the results of DERT (Dancing England Rapper Tournament) 2024.
Online Talks and Workshops
- Workshop – Yoga For Morris Dancers
– Sunday 28th April 2:00pm – 3:00pm
This online yoga session for Morris dancers, hosted by Carla Wilson, a qualified yoga teacher and member of Slubbing Billy’s Northwest Morris, will include: a warm-up that can be used as a warm-up before dancing, practices for strengthening the core and improving balance, stretches for the backs of legs, and finally a relaxation with mindfulness.
- Morris Census 2023 – the Results – Zoom session – Mon 20th May 18:30-19:30 (note change of date from 29th April)
Jack Worth will present the key findings from the latest Morris Census, which was conducted in winter 2023. Please come along to the session to hear more detailed findings and join the discussion about what they mean for the future of morris, sword and step dancing.This is a Joint Morris Organisations (JMO) event, open to members of all teams in the Morris Federation, the Morris Ring and Open Morris. Also open to members of teams in EFDSS and overseas teams.
Morris Federation AGM and JMO Days of Dance 2024
Register your interest for: MF DoD and AGM in Cardiff, Sat 21st September 2024 – hosted by Cardiff Morris and friends.
18 - 39 Weekend (Sussex). SAVE THE DATE
One for the younger members...
Are you a young dancer or musician between the ages of 18 and 39, or will be in March 2025? Are you keen to meet, dance alongside and get to know other Morris folks of the same age? If so, this is the event for you. We are going to be hosting our very first 18 - 39 mixed workshop weekend in March 2025, and would like YOU to come and be a part of it. More details are to follow soon, but for now please block out those spaces in your diaries and watch this space.
When? Friday March 14th – Sunday March 16th 2025
Where? Sussex
Who for? All Morris dancers and musicians aged between 18 and 39 in March 2025.
Projects News
Buzzing Britain!
Our Arts Council England-funded project “Old dances, new people, new age” is well underway, with teaching in schools in Derbyshire, Preston, and Kirklees having started.
Funding has been used to create a series of short videos, showcasing the different traditional dance styles of England. Filmed in summer 2023 at Warwick and Bromyard Folk Festivals, the videos are being released weekly from January – April 2024, each focusing on a different style of folk dance, from Cotswold, Border and North West Morris, to Rapper sword dancing.
The videos form the basis of a called ‘Buzzing Britain’, written by Sally Smith, which introduces Morris and sword dancing to 18 primary schools across three ‘levelling up’ areas (Preston, Kirklees, and North East Derbyshire) with diverse cultural communities. The classes will also be provided with kit bags, made by Jenny and Mike Everett of the Morris Federation, and expert teaching, provided by Damien Barber’s Breaking Tradition (Preston, Kirklees) and Folk 3D (Sarah Matthews / Sarah Rose) in North East Derbyshire.
Classes are being taught a range of traditional Morris and sword dance styles throughout the spring and summer 2024 terms, culminating in three regional showcase events for the schools to come together to display their dances. If you are interested in the videos, you can find them on our ‘Buzzing Britain’ video playlist showcasing different styles of Morris and sword dancing. We have so far released 15 of these videos, featuring a selection of teams including NYFTE, Liberty Hill, Chinewrde and Wakefield. Please check out the playlist and give us a “follow” to be notified on updates..
Other Projects News...
In other Projects news, the EFDSS, English Dance and Song Magazine (April 2024) featured two articles of relevance to us; one on our Buzzing Britain / schools project above, and another on the JMO Songs Survey: ‘Songs in Morris Dance Performance’ presentation by the JMO EDI Panel at the Vaughan Williams Memorial Library’s Folk Dance Conference at Cecil Sharp House in November 2023.
In The Media
It’s been a busy time for Morris in the media. Here’s a few things of interest, in case you missed them.
- Tradfolk – 21 Morris events to visit in 2024
- Tradfolk – Where to see Morris Dancers on May 1st. A list of Morris events taking place across the globe to welcome in the summer season.
- BBC iPlayer – For Folk’s Sake: Morris Dancing and Me. If you missed this when it was originally aired, now is your chance to catch it! This documentary captures Richard Macer’s personal journey as he learns to dance Morris with Manchester Morris Men. Login is required (free). 59 mins length, first aired in 2019.
- Joint Morris Organisations’ Day of Dance Sees Hundreds of Morris Descend on Newark. – An article in the Newark Advertiser shares the success and joy of the JMO Day of Dance 2024, held on Saturday 13th April.
Events From Other Organisations
April 2024
- The results of DERT (Dancing England Rapper Tournament) 2024 in Whitby are now out. Congratulations to all the teams who won awards!
October 2024
- Illustrious Order of Fools & Beast Unconvention – Fri 11th – Sun 13th Oct 2024 in Birmingham. Save the date.
April 2025
- DERT (Dancing England Rapper Tournament) 2025 – Fri 4th – Sun 6th Apr 2025 in Peterborough. Save the date.
Anytime
- EFDSS What’s On: https://www.efdss.org/whats-on
- Folk Camps – book a weekend or week long fun
- Folk Forecast – a what’s on summary of folky events
- Folkscape Live – concert video recordings (some free, some paid-for)
- Halsway Manor – What’s On
- Tradfolk – news and articles about folky things
Events From Overseas
If you fancy something a bit further afield, check out these overseas events from CIOFF (International Council of Organizations of Folklore Festivals and Folk Arts)
