6 April 2020

DERT Rapper Tournament 2020 #DERTnotDERT

On the weekend of Saturday 4th – Sunday 5th April 2020, the DERT-not-DERT rapper tournament was unleashed into our homes.

Rapper teams from across the country, and over the pond, were planning to compete at DERT 2020 in Lincoln, hosted by Whip the Cat Rapper and Clog. Unfortunately, along with so many other events, DERT 2020 has been cancelled. Instead, we had DERT as it has never been seen before (and hopefully never will be again!) with everyone able to enjoy it from the safety of their own homes. Teams were invited to enter some long-distance competitions under the following categories:

DERT 2020 Tower Ravens — Tower Ravens solo

Solo Rapper
Stepping
Music
Character
Buzz Factor
Best use of Steep Hill (a steep hill in Lincoln – does what it says on the tin)

These categories were very much open to interpretation, and there were many inventive and surprising entries!

See all the competition entries and results on Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/rappertournament/

For more info on the hosts, see: Whip the Cat Rapper and Clog

#DERTnotDERT, #IMProvising, #DERT2020

28 March 2020

Learn a morris jig

Owain Boorman Fieldtown Nutting Girl photo — Owain Boorman teaching

While morris dancers are self-isolating during the Covid-19 outbreak, The Morris Federation has asked several jig dancers up and down the country to video themselves teaching a morris jig so that other dancers can learn a solo jig dance at their own pace.

The first one is Fieldtown – Nutting Girl – danced and taught by Owain Boorman of Clausentum Morris from Southampton, with musician Rimini Dick-Carr.

Now is your chance to learn a new morris jig.

See The Morris Federation’s Youtube channel for this video and more as they become available.

22 March 2020

#LoneMorrisFestival – Sat 21st March 2020

Morris dancers up and down the country are feeling isolated.

Kath Brickell, Anonymous Morris, Poole, England — Kath Brickell, Anonymous Morris

Pat Arrowsmith, Ansley Morris, England — Ansley Morris, England

Kath Brickell of Anonymous Morris came up with a great idea to get us outside with our morris kit on – the first Lone Morris Festival #LoneMorrisFestival happened at 14:30 on Saturday 21st March 2020. The plan was that as many dancers and musicians as wished would join in and either go outside in their gardens, their close locality, or stay indoors dressed in full kit and do some morris dancing. They would be either alone or have their husband, wife or whoever lives with them, thus the Lone Morris Festival.

Nina Kalinkos, Thornden Morris, Syracuse NY, USA — Thornden Morris, Syracuse NY, USA

When clips of lone morris dancing started to be posted on facebook, instagram, youtube etc., it was clear that the Lone Morris Festival had gone worldwide with people joining in from UK, America, Canada, New Zealand and the Ukraine.

The morris community were smiling, having fun and doing something normal. There were dancers, musicians, children and even pets joining in.

S River Nuri, Queen's Capers Morris, North Carolina, USA — Queen’s Capers Morris, North Carolina, USA

Bill Brown, Foggy Bottom Morris Men, Kyiv, Ukraine — Foggy Bottom Morris Men, Kyiv, Ukraine

Dances were done with sticks, handkerchiefs, feather dusters and even a horseradish! It was amazing to see so many happy smiling people.

Following this success, the next Lone Morris Festival events will be on Saturday 25th April (the nearest Saturday to St George’s Day) and dawn (yes, dawn) on Friday 1st May.

Saturday 25th April at 14:30 will be the St George’s Day Lone Morris Festival. Morris dancers up and down the country will put on their full morris kit and dance & play their instruments in their gardens or close locality. If they cannot leave their homes, they will do it inside.

Dawn on Friday 1st May will be the following event, although this should be a silent Lone Morris Festival so as not to annoy the neighbours.

Crit Larson, Surly Griffin Morris, Canberra, Australia — Surly Griffin Morris, Canberra, Australia

Anni Julitha Watkins, Jack Frost Morris, Dunedin, New Zealand — Jack Frost Morris, Dunedin, New Zealand

Look out for video clips and selfies on the ‘How many Morris Dancers are on Facebook’ group, or search for the hash tag #lonemorrisfestival. Participants are encouraged to post the name of their morris/dance team and the name of the dance they are lone dancing.

See #LoneMorrisFestival on ‘How many Morris Dancers are on Facebook’

Or to see it in action, look at the compilation video on Youtube and a speeded up version called the Safety Dance made by Save Heritage and Morris (SHAM).

See more about Anonymous Morris from Poole, Dorset.

20 March 2020

Coronavirus Covid-19 and The Morris

No doubt you have all heard that folk and morris-related events in March, April, May and June have been cancelled, with more sure to follow; many teams have cancelled their practices until further notice, to keep us all safe.

Although Morris/Molly/Sword/Mumming/Clog Step/Appalachian dancing is “essential” to us personally, we know that we need to look after each other and make sensible decisions.

In this time of people being physically distant, some are returning, or coming afresh, to social media to stay in touch, and there has been a lot of good humour in the chatter on social media.

image of New Esperance Morris practice by video conference — New Esperance Morris practice by video conference

Several teams are experimenting with using video conferencing technology to meet ‘virtually’ with team members at their usual practice day/time, either for a chat and a wave, or to actually practice jigs and clog stepping. They are an innovative bunch of people and love their hobby so much that they don’t want to be without it in their lives, even for a short time.

When the threat of this virus has passed, and we are once more allowed to perform on the streets, there will be so much excitement there will be no stopping us! We are all looking forward to that day.

Enjoy New Esperance Morris’ experiences with video conferencing on the New Esperance Morris Facebook site

20 February 2020

Malkin Morris awarded grant for portable Maypole

photo of Malkin Morris - youngest and oldest members — Malkin Morris – youngest and oldest members

Malkin Morris, based in Roughlee near Pendle, Lancashire, have been awarded a grant by The Morris Federation for the purchase of a portable Maypole to be used to teach maypole dancing in schools.

Malkin Morris specialises in researching, performing and promoting the dances and tunes of Burnley, Pendle, Hyndburn and the Ribble Valley in Lancashire. They offer workshops to schools and community organisations on north west processional morris clog dance, step dance, and local tunes.

In particular, Burnley has its own maypole songs.

For more information on the team see: Malkin Morris

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