The Morris Federation

UK's largest Morris & traditional dance teams association

Morris on May Day on Guernsey

Belles and Broomsticks Morris in Guernsey danced out on May Day, not having to adhere to any local restrictions, and sent us this message to teams in the UK:

“It’s good to see that so many sides have been able to do something to celebrate May Day.  It must be so frustrating for you all not being able to get together.  Here we continue to be Covid-free so no social-distancing, just carrying on as ‘old’ normal.

“We’ve had a busy weekend.  Friday, we had our local ITV News team filming us for our dress rehearsal for May Day celebrations.  We selected one of our favourite locations (Liberation Monument) where we were able to also entertain workers going to and from our main town car park.

Belles and Broomsticks 2021“Saturday, we were up at dawn to greet the sun as it rose.  Our venue was one of our piers at the harbour, which is on the eastern side of the island.  Well away from anyone having a Saturday lie-in and of course no visiting yachtsmen this year.  We had a small appreciative audience and got through nine dances.  Unfortunately, there was a little cloud over the islands of Herm and Sark that obscured us witnessing a clear sunrise. But hey ho, you can’t have everything.

“Today was the summer opening of one of our castles, and we were invited to join in the opening celebrations.  There was a good size audience for us and the historical re-enactors.

“Tomorrow, although a Bank Holiday, we will be having our usual weekly practice as next weekend is our Liberation Day when we will be celebrating 76 years of freedom.  Sadly, this year, neither the Jersey Lilies nor Helier Morris Men, nor for that matter any sides from the UK will be able to join us to mark the occasion.  Roll on next year and hopefully better times.

“Here is a photo of the team from Saturday.  We were five short of our full complement, so a good turn-out.

“We look forward to a better year for all and being able to mix and dance freely with other teams.

Workshop – How to Love Tunes you Hate!

The Morris Federation launched a series of online workshops, talks and demos over Winter 2020-2021.  Here is a review of our first instrument workshop in December 2020 covering loads of ways to take the most boring, old-hat, overplayed tunes … and kick them back into life!

Ian Bradshaw writes:

Will Allen
Will Allen

“Will Allen’s talk  ‘How to love tunes you hate’ was a difficult subject to put over to an audience of around 70 people with presumably varying abilities, but I reckon that most would have come away with at least some ideas providing food for thought; I certainly did.

“He started with a suggested unliked tune ‘Uncle Bernard’s’, and promptly demonstrated numerous very subtle differences in playing the tune.

“He went on to discuss many techniques, waggling the left hand for rhythmic effect and unusual off beat emphasis on the left hand of the melodeon were two ideas I found worth experimenting with.

“Whilst mainly concentrating on melodeon, the fiddle and bouzouki were also used to demonstrate various points, so hopefully it would have been appreciated by most of those attending.

by Ian Bradshaw

Will Allen is the leader of Chiltern Hundreds Northwest Clog Morris and you may have also seen him playing for Tower Ravens Rapper, Motley Morris and Kent Korkers & Pork Scratchin’s.

Will is a professional melodeon and fiddle player.  He plays melodeon with Martin Clarke in the duo Brown Boots, and plays melodeon and fiddle with the Urban Folk Theory ceilidh band, in addition to many other collaborations.

Follow him on Facebook at Will Allen Music (Facebook) or subscribe to Will Allen’s YouTube Channel.

Cotswold for Beginners Workshops online

The Morris Federation launched a series of online workshops, talks and demos over Winter 2020-2021.  Here is a review of our first Cotswold Morris workshop held over 3 weeks in November/December 2020, for around 60 participants to learn ‘Jockey to the Fair’ in the style of Ilmington.

“I’d never thought about dancing Cotswold before 2020. I didn’t grow up with Morris, and when I discovered North West in my 30s, I thought I’d found my niche. Cotswold, with its capers and galleys, has always felt like something I wouldn’t be able to manage. But then the pandemic hit, and with it the realisation that the North West tradition has precisely one solo dance. So I decided to give jigs a try…

“The early months of the pandemic saw me out on the decking, phone in hand, as I slowly learned the Nutting Girl from my Chiltern Hundreds team-mate Owain Boorman’s instruction video. When the Morris Federation announced a series of three Sunday morning workshops with the Knights of King Ina, of course I jumped at it.

Sarah Sennett“Week one was fairly gentle, with a group of over 70 participants, mainly dancers in other traditions – although several people commented that they had lost fitness due to lack of dancing opportunities. Andrew and Lin took us through the basic steps that are the backbone of the dance, as well as emphasising the importance of warming up and stretching out at the end of a session.

“The second week took us through the rest of the chorus and the first slows (feet crossed – apart – together if you’re not familiar with the dance). I always thought I had strong legs, but half a dozen repetitions of slows and capers left me lying on the floor with shaking legs and a new-found respect for Cotswold dancers everywhere. More practice is needed I feel…

“Andrew had warned us in advance that the third and final session would involve some high kicking and to be well warmed up before we started. After recapping what we’d already learned, we went through the second slows; a sequence of claps above the head, under your leg (hence those warm ups!) and behind your back. And there you have it – in three sessions, we’d learned the whole thing and had the chance to dance it through a few times.

Andrew Knight“Andrew also impressed some style points upon us, including posture, owning the space and the importance of buying your musician a beer! I think all of us owe several pints to Tony, who sat in his car outside Andrew’s house so that they could hear each other and still not “meet” as per requirements. What a hero!

“So will you see me adding a Cotswold jig to my Morris performances when we’re allowed out in public again? Doubtful. But will I be seeking out workshops in my newly-learned style, both online and at future festivals? Can’t wait.

by Sarah Sennett, member of Chiltern Hundreds North West Morris in Watford, Hertfordshire

The workshop was kindly run by dancers Andrew Knight and Lin Steel with musician Tony Warren, all from the Knights of King Ina jig team in Somerset.

Donations from workshop participants raised money for Yeovil Freewheelers Blood Bikes: https://www.yfwbloodbikes.org/

Morris in the Museum in Bedford

It is not often Morris dancing can be said to have made history but Redbornstoke Morris (1976-2018) and Bedfordshire Lace Morris (1981-2016) are the focus of a new display at The Higgins Museum in Bedford.

The display uses the the story of these two sides to explore the nature of “Tradition” and how traditions can change over time.  Titled Innovation & Tradition: 40 years of Morris, the display is on until October 2021 so there will still be time to see it after the current lockdown. The display was curated by Chas Leslie, a volunteer at The Higgins who also danced with Redbornstoke Morris for 20yrs.

Both based in Ampthill, Bedfordshire, Redbornstoke Morris created their own style of dances, and Bedfordshire Lace was the first women’s morris team in Bedfordshire. The display contains items various items donated or loaned by members of the two teams including the rag coat Jenny Howard wore as the Bedfordshire Lace Fool and the smock Jerry Griffiths wore as Fool in the early years of Redbornstoke Morris.

See the exhibition: Innovation & Tradition: 40 Years of Morris at the Higgins Museum, Bedford:  https://www.thehigginsbedford.org.uk/Exhibitions/40_Years_of_Morris/

Redbornstoke & Bedfordshire Lace Exhibition Higgins Museum 2020

Liberation Lockdown in Guernsey

Are Belles and Broomsticks Morris in Guernsey the first morris side to dance out this season without having to social distance or follow any other restrictions?

They gave us this report, the full details of which will be in the next ‘Isolation Edition’ of the FedExtra magazine.

Belles and Broomsticks Morris, Guernsey
Belles and Broomsticks Morris, Guernsey, by Tom Videlo

“Unlucky for some, but taking advantage of the fine weather, we decided that Monday 13th July 2020 would be our first dance-out of this year’s season.

We decided to dance two ‘sets’ at two venues.

The first one at the Driftwood Hotel at Perelle, who now has the distinction of being the first place this season in the UK to host unrestricted Morris dancing. We had a small but appreciative audience and danced a set of five dances. One of which, appropriately, was Le Catioroc, a ‘round’ dance referencing the legend of the Witches dancing around Le Trepied dolmen on the Catioroc headland south side of Perelle. This is a dance of our own devising in the Ducklington tradition which we have renamed the ‘Canard-lington’ tradition.

Our second venue was at the Hotel Fleur du Jardin.  Here again, we entertained the outside diners with six stick or hanky dances of various traditions.  The Fleur now has the distinction of being the first place to host us performing our own Liberation Day lock-down jig ‘To Town on a Pushang’ (*) in the Canard-lington tradition:

A ‘Pushang’ is our local name for a bicycle. Liberation Day on 9th May celebrates the end of five years of Nazi occupation of the islands. Everyone went to town to greet the British liberating forces.”

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