Events

Michael Jackson will briefly cover the history of clog making in Britain.  He will consider European influences on British clogs, and vice versa, as well as comments of wooden footwear around the world. Heritage clogs and wooden shoes, and clog-making tools, will be used to illustrate the talk, plus photographs and other old pictures. Click on the link below to book a place and you will be sent a Zoom link to access the event.

2 consecutive workshops on 7th & 14th March. Melanie Barber will teach the Whitby Toesday Waltz for Intermediates, comprising of ten steps, which she wrote for the Whitby Folk Week Community Facebook Group in 2016.  As it's an intermediate workshop, participants should have a good basic knowledge of clog techniques such as shuffles, swanees and crunches. A series of two 1.5 hour teaching sessions (over Zoom) to build to the performance of a clog stepping routine. Click on the link below to book a place and you will be sent a Zoom link to access the event.

Beginners Pipe & Tabor Workshop (Shepherds' Hey Bucknell) with Andy Richards. Pipe and tabor is a super and fun instrument for dance, just as it was in the earliest morris we know about in the 15th and 16th centuries, or in the 17th century when we get the earliest reference to a Cotswold morris tradition. Click on the link below to book a place and you will be sent a Zoom link to access the event.

Rhys Boorman is running a 'return to dancing fitness' programme starting with a 'live' session on Sunday 21st March, and another 'live' session 6 weeks later on Sunday 2nd May. In between the two 'live' sessions, Rhys and the Morris Federation will be sending you workout sessions to focus on improving your fitness in preparation for (finally!) returning to dance practice and/or dancing out.. Click on the link below to book a place and you will be sent a Zoom link to access the event.

The Kirtlington tradition - a brief history and introduction to the dances. Talks and a practical workshop with contributions from Paul Davenport, Tim Radford, Nigel Holt, Bob Dunlop and Dillon Browne, with music by John Leslie. Approx 5 mins musical inttoduction, 45 mins talk, 45 mins dance workshop, 25 mins Q&A. Click on the link below to book a place and you will be sent a Zoom link to access the event.

Andrew Knight and Lin Steel, with musician Tony Warren, will teach a Cotswold morris jig (solo dance) for those with some experience of Cotswold morris, also suitable for those who attended our beginners Cotswold workshop in November/December.  The dances are 'Nelson's Praise' and 'Jockey to the Fair' in the style of Ilmington.  Click on the link below to book a place and you will be sent a Zoom link to access the event.

This workshop introduces young dancers (age 7+) to a variety of ceilidh and morris dances, all adapted to suit our current zoom environment.  No previous dance experience is necessary, so whether you are a veteran dancer or giving it a go for the first time we hope you will join us!  All dances will be suitable for solo dancers, and can be adapted to suit whatever space you have available, so all you need to bring is your energy and your dancing feet. Click on the link below to book a place and you will be sent a Zoom link to access the event.

An Overview of the Morris Revival from Pageant to Public House and back again.

Born out of a widespread fervour for ‘Merrie England’, the morris dance revival was part of a campaign to locate and restore an English tradition of music and dance.

This talk will provide a brief overview of the revival movement from the ‘Shakespearean Bidford Morris’ of the 1880s through to the Festival of Britain in 1951.  Along the way, we will encounter antiquarians and composers, social workers and radical vicars, artisan weavers and rural revivalists. Click on the link below to book a place and you will be sent a Zoom link to access the event.