The Morris Federation

Following on from Barry Goodman’s recent posting, can I suggest you watch the pilot for the “2012 Got to Dance”. This is scheduled to go out on the 18th December on Sky. You might be pleasantly surprised !!

Listen out for “It’s Got Bells On” ~ Radio 2 Monday 12th December 10:00 p.m..

‘Strictly’; ‘Britain ‘s Got Talent’; ‘So You Think You Can Dance’… there is extraordinary enthusiasm for dance in many forms. But there’s one dance that never gets featured, and its England’s own – the Morris.

Stewart Lee puts this to rights in ‘It’s Got Bells On’ …though he’s a comedian Stewart is an enthusiast for English traditional music and dance. This is the stand up who had the Black Swan Rappers (dancers not MCs) open for him at a gig in Yorkshire, and the Forest of Dean Morris Men at his wedding reception.

Stewart discovers that the best young folk musicians, such as Jim Moray, Tim van Eyken and Laurel Swift all dance and all develop the form, that hip hop and morris merge in the work of The Demon Barbers and that contemporary choreographers are turning to the tradition. When danced by athletic young men, or women such as the Belles of London City (in their corsets) the morris becomes as sexy as salsa, as fearsome as flamenco.

Stewart hears from Ashley Hutchings and John Kirkpatrick, who gave a boost to the revival in the 1970s with classic albums ‘Morris On’ and ‘Battle of the Field’, when morris went electric. There is lots of fantastic music, including some from William Kimber, from whom Cecil Sharp collected his first morris tunes in 1899. All this, and a quick glance at rapper and clog dancing, too.

Produced by Julian May.

Let’s hope it’s as good as it looks!

The Big Dance Face book page is at http://www.facebook.com/bigdance2012#!/bigdance2012

Please log on and post your dismay at the omission of Morris and all related dance forms in the list of dance styles published on their website.

The Big Dance “…will feature 9 days of dance in unusual spaces throughout the UK – shopping centres, parks, galleries, and lidos – showcasing the diversity of dance styles in the capital and across the country. Everyone is invited to join in and make dance part of their lives in 2012 and beyond.”

However, there is NO MENTION of Morris dance, Country dance, Traditional dance, Sword, Clog or Molly dancing in the list of dance styles published on the Big Dance website.

If you think this is wrong, please post on their Facebook page, making it clear that England’s traditional dance should be represented along with all the other dance styles.

PUBLICITY WORKSHOP: SATURDAY 3rd MARCH 2012.

A workshop to discuss and plan effective publicity for Morris Sides focusing on the types of media available and how to get the best out of publicity for the benefit of all Morris Sides throughout the Country.

The workshop will be held at:
The Samuel Barlow, Alvecote Marina, Robeys Lane, Tamworth, Staffs. B78 1AS. From 11am to 4pm.

As with last year’s Recruitment Workshop it is hoped that Sides will bring ideas to the table and these will be collated and a document will be produced after the event to circulate to all Sides.

Speakers and session leaders will include Jemma Gurney from Pecsaetan Morris (websites and related topics), Mike Everett, Archive Officer of the MF (designing flyers and brochures), Martin Banks, ex-Redbornstoke Morris (dealing with the broadcast media) and Grace Beardsley of Phoenix Morris (press releases and dealing with print media).

The cost of £10.00 per delegate includes a buffet lunch which will include a choice of sandwiches, salads, hot roast potatoes and Yorkshire puddings with stuffing, a selection of meat and a vegetarian pie.

To book your Side’s delegate(s) in, please send a cheque payable to PHOENIX MORRIS* for £10.00 per person to Michael Stimpson, PO Box 115, Rickmansworth, Herts. WD3 1WB to arrive no later than the 23rd of February 2012.
* Phoenix have agreed to act as “bankers” for this event on behalf of the three Morris Organisations.

Barry Goodman
President
The Morris Federation

Hello I Squire a fledgling Border Morris team in Hull.

Rackaback only started January 2011 we are still somewhat wet behind the ears I hope to make contact with teams both near and far as we make our way in the world.

Also anyone in the Hull area wishing to get involved with a border team would like to hear from you.

Look us up at:

http://rackabackmorris.com/

Or E-mail:

Rackaback@gmail.com

The new website is now open for business;

www.wolfsheadandvixen.co.uk

All enquiries, invites and abuse can be sent to our new (2012 )Secretary: whandv@hotmail.com

In the last month the Morris Federation Blog has had one genuine registration and eight spam registrations.

The spam registrations (14 so far altogether) seem to be all generated by the same person or robot and although I have blocked his/her/its IP addresses new ones keep appearing.

I have therefore been forced to put registration under moderation for the time being, i.e. I will have to approve each one.

I apologise for any consequent delay or inconvenience.

The Morris Federation Blog has added a feature to link new posts to the Morris Federation Facebook page.
This should happen automatically for all new posts to the blog.
If anyone wants this feature removed for all their blog posts, this can be done by the blog admin on a user-by-user basis.
It can also be disabled by the user on a post-by-post basis.
The blog gives users a more permanent and feature-rich environment, whereas the Facebook page gives a wider audience and ease of use for readers.
Hopefully this addition will allow us to combine the best of both.

Thanks to all the teams who came along to the Fleece at Bretforton for the AGM day of dance on Saturday 24th September. A well-attended and lively AGM in the afternoon completed a splendid day, organised very efficiently by Pebworth Morris and Belle d’Vain. Thanks also to Nigel at the Fleece for his amazing hospitality! See you all next year on 29th September in Otley.