Events

From Tudor Treasury records, through gentry household accounts and local newspapers, join Jameson Wooders on a trawl through the archives in search of some of the actual people who performed and witnessed the morris between the fifteenth and the nineteenth centuries.  Think you know the history of morris dancing?  You may be in for some surprises! Click on the link below to book a place and you will be sent a Zoom link to access the event.

'Lockdown' is a North West style dance for 4 distanced dancers written by Hazel Old of Chinewrde Morris.  She wrote this dance during the first lockdown, and some of Chinewrde were dancing it outdoors as soon as the guidelines allowed. Hazel will be teaching the dance in a 1hr 30min session suitable for all, especially for those with some morris experience.  Click on the link below to book a place and you will be sent a Zoom link to access the event.

Ray and Bev Langton from Shrewsbury Morris will outline how the team’s  Septimus Giant Puppet Project took place and all of the outcomes. The project was undertaken with professional puppeteers and successful funding applications. Ray and Bev hope to inspire others, to think about how a Morris side can look for creative opportunities beyond weekly practices, regular dance-outs, festivals and a pint or two! Click on the link below to book a place and you will be sent a Zoom link to access the event.

Workshops at 2 levels on 2 consecutive weeks, 13th & 20th February.  Appalachian clogging basics taught by Abby Ladin and Sam Bartlett from the USA.  Abby teaches the dancing, and Sam provides accompaniment on 5-string banjo. Level 1: The fundamental steps, how to string them together and keep a rhythmic pulse. Level 2: Build on the basics, add more steps to our repertoire, work on musicality and tone, improvise and trade rhythms. These workshops are being jointly hosted with the North American Morris Dance Organization (NAMDO). Click on the link below to book a place and you will be sent a Zoom link to access the event.

Ray & Bev Langton with Graydon Radford from Shrewsbury Morris will outline the journey the Shrewsbury Morris Twitter account has taken to reach 101k +Twitter followers. They will outline the rationale, top tips, issues, awards and other things they have encountered along with how the use of social media has embedded the presence of Shrewsbury Morris into the town of Shrewsbury and the benefits it has bought to the team. There is no silver bullet to working with social media but it is hoped that this afternoon will make others think about how social media can be used to raise the profile of any morris side. 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 dance is 'Lumps of Plum Pudding' in the style of Bledington.  Click on the link below to book a place and you will be sent a Zoom link to access the event.

Morris Music - a History - or "Whatever did the old dead guys ever do for us?" A talk by Stephen Rowley on the history of morris music, followed by a discussion chaired by Andy Richards including how to obtain tabor pipes for anyone wanting to learn. Click on the link below to book a place and you will be sent a Zoom link to access the event.

Keith Leech will talk about the history of Sussex Bonfires and why they are so big in the county compared with elsewhere. There will be time for Q&A. Keith is a Founder of the Hastings Borough Bonfire Society and a member of the Sussex Bonfire Council. Click on the link below to book a place and you will be sent a Zoom link to access the event.

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.