The Morris Federation

Many of our traditional and customary events are in jeopardy due to the rising cost of public safety measures and a marked reduction in the willingness or ability of public bodies (such as the Police and local councils) to support events by providing these measures at no cost.

One way in which we can raise awareness of this issue, and perhaps get something done about it, is to sign a petition created by Keith Leech (of Hastings Traditional Jack-in-the-Green) calling for the Government to ratify the UNESCO Convention on Intangible Cultural Heritage.  The wording of the petition is given below.  Please go to http://epetitions.direct.gov.uk/petitions/46671 and sign the petition, and tell your friends to as well!

Britain has some of the most numerous and diverse traditional customs and crafts in the world. We believe that like our ancient heritage sites these deserve to be protected for future generations. Other nations have moved to protect their customs and traditions by ratifying the UNESCO Convention on Intangible Cultural Heritage,listing various customs and crafts as important enough to be protected. The government have failed to ratify the convention. As a consequence many of our traditional events are now under threat. We call on the government to ratify the convention as soon as possible to prevent any further loss of our traditional customs and crafts.

The last of the English Folk Dance and Song Society’s (EFDSS) creative artist in residence performances for 2012/2013 culminates in the premiere of a brand new orchestral commission, Morris Monday. The piece, composed by Alison Rowley, is an orchestral fantasia based on English Cotswold Morris tunes.

Taking her inspiration from the dances and tunes of the Beaux of London City Morris Men, this new commission is exciting and ambitious work.

24th March 7.30pm
Cecil Sharp House

Tickets £5
Book now
Musicglue
Ticketline | 0844 888 9991

Tickets can also be purchased from the reception desk at Cecil Sharp House (in person only), Monday – Friday, 9.30am – 5.30pm. No booking fee applies.

Full details from:
http://www.efdss.org/events/eventsdetails/eventsId/639/displaydate/2013-03-24

The organisers of the annual Chainmakers’ Festival are looking for morris sides to dance at this year’s event in Cradley Heath on Saturday 8th June. If your side may be interested, please contact Jason Hill for further details on moc.l1369007718iamte1369007718kcor@136900771845lli1369007718hnosa1369007718j1369007718

The Lock In dance show starts its tour today!  Damien Barber says he’s bowled over by the response from Morris sides to dance at the shows – 100+ dance groups taking part over the new few weeks with as many as 13 teams displaying at each venue.  Find out where your nearest show is at www.thelockindanceshow.co.uk/dance-displays-blog/

A message from Halsway Manor:

We are celebrating May Day 2013 with a full day’s programme of activities from dawn to dusk at Halsway Manor. Please help us to spread the word!

The day will include festivities for schools, youth groups, artists and audiences. We would like to invite youth dance groups  (either folk dance groups or other dance groups with an interest in folk dance) to perform at the first Halsway Manor May Day Youth Dance Platform on Wednesday 1^st May 2013 from 6pm to 8pm.

The May Day! celebration is hosted at Halsway Manor with both indoor and outdoor performance spaces available. The Youth Dance Platform is to enable youth dance groups to showcase their work, meet with other dance leaders and groups, and celebrate folk dance in all its forms.  Dance groups, soloists and community groups  with young dancers (under 18 years) are all welcome to perform. Performances should be no longer than 15 minutes.

Interested groups need to fill out an application – further details available from Clare Parker, Youth Dance Associate. Please call Clare on 01984 618274 or email ku.gr1369007718o.ron1369007718amyaw1369007718slah@1369007718ecnad1369007718 for further information.

The Southbank Centre is promoting an immersive weekend taking place at Southbank Centre on 2-3 February as part of their year-long festival The Rest Is Noise.

This weekend explores the rise of interest in folk music and culture in the early 20th century, with two days of talks, debates, discussions and films, including Shirley Collins (see attached pdf for full weekend listings). Plus there’s evening music from Show of Hands, Fisherman’s Friends & Katherine Tickell.

Day passes can be booked for just £12 or £20 for a weekend pass if booked before the end of Thursday 31 January.

See website for more details

Exeter University Folk Society are looking for someone to help us learn/improve our rapper dancing. Last year we took a team to DERT but would like to learn more movements and learn/write some new dances for 2012-2013. Preferably Monday Evenings, 19:00-20:00 before our ceilidh dancing practice. We may be able to cover some travel costs. Please get in touch with Peter Richards (pmcrichards(AT)hotmail.co.uk) or Morwen Williams (mw372(AT)exeter.ac.uk).

NOTE: Replace (AT) in email addresses with the @ symbol.

When the three Morris organisations met with LOCOG three years ago, it was suggested that Morris teams might perform in the Olympic Park for the entertainment of the public.  Suddenly, there is interest in this idea (with two weeks to go).

 They have an area called Britannia Row that they would like to populate with traditional British events and  Francesca Canty, of the Culture team at the London 2012 Organising Committee,  has once again urged London 2012 to include the Morris. In particular they are looking for small to  medium size sides to dance pretty well at any time – spread out – not a massed gathering on Britannia Row area

 http://www.london2012.com/mm/Document/Documents/Venue/01/24/89/77/olympicparkmap2_Neutral.pdf

 Britannia Row is in the lower central part of the map.

 They are interested in bids to perform over Olympic weeks 27th July to Aug 12th  &  Paralympic weeks 29 Aug – 9 Sept periods

 They are also looking specifically for a side(s) to perform a 45 min slot on the Britannia Row stage early in the day on 28th July.

 This is all voluntary, no fees or tranport costs available, but you do get a chance to do your own thing.

For further details contact  moc.s1369007718upomu1369007718illa@1369007718eilat1369007718an1369007718  leaving a telephone number and an offer of  

 ”We F . Bloggs Morris can dance at ….time on …..date” and so on . She is very excited and will be back to you quickly.

Good luck!

All three Morris organisations would like member sides to be aware of the following advice:

 There has been a suggestion that there may be sides planning “to organise ‘flash mobs’, who will mingle with crowds at the Games and, on cue, launch into apparently spontaneous demonstrations of their (Morris) skills. They also plan similar stunts along the procession route of the Olympic torch.

The original concept of flash mobs got us a bit of free press, which served to underline our frustration at being excluded from the Olympic parties.  In practice though, bearing in mind the security surrounding these events, launching potentially disruptive flash appearances could be disastrous for our image 

Media reports on Morris are getting better and public pride in our national dance culture has greatly improved.  We should hate to see all that effort undone so we must ask our member sides not to follow through with flash appearances.

Alton Morris are running a Folk Weekend in Alton town from the 13^th to the 15^th July 2012.  Please come, get involved and have a great weekend.

There are many interesting and varied fun activities involving Morris Sides, the local community, schools etc. These include singing, morris dancing, folk concert and ceilidh, open air ceilidhs, music sessions, workshops, storytelling etc. You can take part or just enjoy watching the events, most are free to enter!  If you can come as a side that would be fantastic, please get in touch so that we can include you in the working programme.

Check out the website for further details at: http://www.altonmorris.co.uk/