First post-Covid morris practice.  Been a year and a half since the last time we were together.

New hall, several of the team still avoiding meeting people indoors, so a lot different.

But we had a blast!

It's good to remember why I do morris - and here's the answer - Dancing makes you feel alive.  Playing music with other people makes you feel ( Read more... )

 Trust me, this is brilliant!

The range of entries is great and the winner was my personal favourite.

Click to view

This entry was originally posted on Dreamwidth where it has
( Read more... )

 A lovely piece of music that some of you will probably know already.

The composer was George Butterworth.  I came to his music via morris as he was an important early member of the Edwardian morris revival.  Like Vaughn Williams, he sought inspiration in traditional folk music and was a keen collector of folk songs.

Click to view

One of the earliest pieces of ( Read more... )

 If you like to know what traditional dances were recorded in your locality and you live in Yorkshire, then this is a must have.

If you like a good overview of the inter-relationships between different forms of dance and customs like plough stots and rushbearing, then this is also a very useful book.
It's not a book that writes a history for you; ( Read more... )

 It's a very busy time of year for morris dancers.  This is when everyone suddenly contacts you and says "Can you perform at our May Day (or event close to May Day) fete?"

To which the inevitable answer is that you need to book a year in advance to get Anonymous Morris for May Day and the bank holiday weekend will also be taken about a year ( Read more... )

 Paranoidangel asked how I got into morris dancing ( Read more... )

This is Nonesuch Morris, whom I've only just come across. They're a mixed team from Bristol and do traditional Cotswold morris that is truly excellent.

Just look at the precision of the teamwork and the leaps and the crisp hanky work.

Poor hanky work can look terrible, which is why Border morris sides shy away from hanky dances, but when they're done ( Read more... )

 We were dancing at Swanage Folk Festival this weekend and I had the usual use of our team first aid kit, a child with a scratched finger needing a plaster (it's hardly ever team members needing it).

However, not long after, a dancer twisted a foot mid-dance. He swapped out and tossed his stick to me and we finished the dance without missing a step ( Read more... )

 I'm definitely on too many committees.

I've just done the AGM minutes and updated the constitution for Anonymous Morris (but still have all sorts of stuff relating to bookings for next year and updating dance notation on the web site to do)

I have to hold a mini AGM for Southern Star Longsword tonight to see if we have enough people to form a ( Read more... )

 ONe of the up sides of unemployment is more free time.

It seems to be an age since I was regularly able to post here.  Commuting into Dorchester to work at the bookshop took up far too much time; then I'd get home feeling absolutely wiped and collapse.

I'm still feeling very stressed, but I'm finding ways of coping.

Therapeutic granddaughter is high ( Read more... )