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The original and true Morris Dance steps
The original and true Morris Dance steps
It was interesting talking to a fellow Morris Dancer that learnt his dance steps elsewhere.
We we going over the side step in Fieldtown. Now quite clearly to all of us that had been taught it by the same person over the last 40 years knew beyond doubt that our way of dancing this specific step was not only the right way but the only way and exactly how Cecil Sharp first observed it.
Interestingly this was also the view of the dancer I was talking to, but one that had learnt it in some foreign county North of the Thames. So we were in agreement.
Unfortunately his way of doing it was slightly (but significantly) different, so which of these was the version recorded by Cecil Sharp?
In reality probably neither. There is nobody alive now that went round with him so we can only surmise as to the accuracy of his recording. But even then whose version did he note down?
On the video clips I have put onto YouTube there are variations and even if you are able to differentiate between the learners and the so called experienced men then there are still variations. Anyone studying these clips in a hundred years time will be hard pushed to know which showed the version observed by Cecil Sharp.
This is the great thing about Morris Dancing, we all do it the same but the subtle (and at times not so subtle ) variations in itself makes Morris Dancing unique.
Whilst most teams will if they have any pride in themselves will generally dance in similar styles, the individual dancer will have his own minor variations.
This is just as Cecil Sharp would have seen Morris. All seemingly doing the same thing but when the finer detail was observed then no two men were doing the same thing.
posted on 7.2.07 by John
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Morris Dancing Fieldtown steps
Morris Dancing Fieldtown steps
I will be preparing a series of video clips on each part of Fieldtown, Pauls master class last Wednesday reaped a fine harvest of raw clips.
So over the next few weeks I will convert them into usable YouTube clips covering, sidesteps, galleys, capers and so on, let me know as they develop just how useful they are to you.
The index can be found at www.quality-solutions.co.uk/dancer.htm
You can just click on the links to go direct to the YouTube clip of interest.
If the link is not there then that/those are the ones I am still working on.
posted on 4.2.07 by John
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More Morris YouTube clips
Music to the fore, dancing to the rear.
Have uploaded some more clips for our beginners to study, anyone else can study them as well, of course.
The index of all that have been uploaded can still be found at
www.quality-solutions.co.uk/dancer.htm
Whilst I can find low cost hosting services I cannot find any more free ones, so I have just tacked it onto the end of my main web site (will be updating that soon but should not affect the index), (I hope).
I would like to expand this blog to answer questions and queries from some of the more far flung readers.
My stats show there are many in USA, plus a good scattering from India, Australia, Belgium, Canada, Germany, Denmark, Spain.
What extra would you like, should I set up a membership feature, articles about specific parts of Morris, detailed notes on stepping, the cots for the music (that would be tricky as I am not a musician!) just let me know.
posted on 26.1.07 by John
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Apple Howling
This Saturday 6th Jan at 6.00pm - don't be late we start promptly.
Just like last year the weather forecast is grim, but lets hope that as last year the forecast is all wrong.
We will be meeting in the same place as last year, but to encourage you to look at our redesigned web site, I will leave off the location. On the web site www.crmm.org.uk there is also a map showing the exact location and details of the order of proceedings.
Parking, the grass area is very soft, only park on the concrete area, arrive early to be on the safe side.
This year we will be having cider produced by the orchard owner, does that mean we have done a brilliant job over the years? Naturally we will buy it from him just as we have always purchased the cider from other sources. Those who have been before will know that we have a trug on the bench for any donations you care to make, at best in the past this has covered half the cost of setting up the event, so please if you can be doubly generous this year.
After the dancing we will retire to the Royal Oak at Wineham for some singing and you are most welcome to come along with us.
Hope to see you all this Saturday
posted on 4.1.07 by John
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Our Morris Web Site update
We have updated our web site, it is a major overhaul and includes a lot of new features. We even give a clue as to the location of the Pubs we visit. Most Morris Dancing teams in Sussex are named, plus a lot of the original information. If you want to know where we are dancing, or want pictures of Morris Dancers then have a look. You comments would very much be appreciated.
More video clips of Boxing Day have been added to YouTube and the index has also been updated.
Now for those still puzzling about the significance of Boxing Day and Morris men then as promised here is the link.
In 1899 on Boxing Day at the village of Headington a gentleman by the name of Cecil Sharp saw a performance of Morris Dancing, he was so taken by it that he researched it and wrote down in great detail the steps and tunes he discovered. This proved to be a most valuable resource for the revival of Morris Dancing. Without his research and interest most Morris Sides would probably never have started.
A lot more information on the team he saw on that momentous day can be found on the Headington Quarry web site.
Well the New Year is fast approaching, our first outing will be Apple Howling at Bolney, 6.00pm on 6th Jan, more details and map on our updated web site.
posted on 31.12.06 by John
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More Morris Dancing notes from Boxing Day
The Mummers play and two more Morris dances have now been added to YouTube, the mummers clip is so long I have cut it into two. If you were not there then at least these clips will help give a flavour of the great event.
Whilst going round with our collecting trug I started chatting to a lady and it seems she is very keen to help save the Saiga Antelope. Now all this was very new to me having never come across a Saiga antelope, but not to be deterred she thrust a leaflet into my hand, even quicker than I could pass one of ours to her. She has a delegation of fellow supporters (not antelopes) coming over in June and will bring them along to see us dance, maybe we will then get an invite to go and see the Saiga Antelopes in their home territory of Uzbekistan. If you would like more info on Saiga Antelopes they have a web site www.iccs.org.uk/SaigaAlliance.htm. Now if Google Adsense is bright enough we should have lost our adverts for belly dancers and have quite a few linking you to Antelope sites.
After we finished dancing we retired into the pub for a grand sing song, will tell you all about it in the next blog, got to dash now as we are due to dance over at Thakeham.
posted on 29.12.06 by John
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Morris Men and Boxing Day
Boxing day is very significant to Morris Men, (keep reading over the next few blogs to get the details), so it was with some trepidation that we moved from Steyning to Washington for our Boxing say dancing extravagances.
We need not have worried for as we approached the village there were cars galore parked all over the place and even better they were there to see us.
As you will know from previous blogs we had to move from Steyning and even through we told sundry and all we did not know if they would tell everyone else, but they did. Or did they? Could it be that everyone did what comes naturally these days and just looked on the web?
Whatever the method we were blessed with a massive audience and if you were one of them I hope you enjoyed it as much as we did.
This blog is to demonstrate that Morris Men are capable of stringing two words together after a full dancing session and also capable of uploading some great clips onto YouTube (click here). This clip not only shows two sets up dancing but also shows just a small portion of the audience, some even managing to stay upright on the terraces.
More will follow in a day or two including the world famous Steyning Mummers Play, performed faithfully following the original script!?
Great to have seen so many of you and maybe you will be out for apple howling at 6.00pm on 6th Jan, full details on our website.
posted on 26.12.06 by John
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A completely different light on some famous sayings
A completely different light on some famous sayings.
Came across an interesting little article the other day, which is quite relevant to this time of year, i.e. the birth of Jesus.
Most religious people and their religions are considered by outsiders to be a bit on the dour side and lacking in humour, especially other people having fun at their expense.
So it came as an interesting insight that Jesus had a sense of humour. I found the following in a newsletter of John Goodway and the author Martin Halliday. It throws a completely different light on some famous sayings.
Do we understand the humour of Jesus?
What does it mean to turn the other cheek, to give up your cloak in court and to go the extra mile? Does it mean that Gods people are not to stand up for themselves or have we lost something over the years of the radical impact of Jesus.
In the Jewish culture of the time, religious leaders would move undesirables, beggars and women out of the way with the back of their hand. Therefore to turn the other cheek would mean that the perpetrator would have to hit you with the palm of his hand, as he would not use his other clean hand. If he hit you with the palm of his hand then he was hitting you as an equal, so elevating you to the same social standing as himself. A ripple of laughter would have gone through the crowd.
If you were being sued for all you possessed in the Herodian Courts then you could lose everything. Jesus was saying give them not just your cloak but your undergarments as well. This would mean leaving the Court naked. As this was a cultural taboo the Court would have been made to look foolish. By this time the laughter would have been louder.
The occupying troops were allowed to get any of the unfortunate locals to carry their loads for them for a statutory distance. Then it would be dumped and the victim would run off, possibly the way he had come. To follow what Jesus said (to go the extra mile) would mean that if you carried past the allocated distance then the soldier would be chasing after you begging you to stop because he would be placed on charge if it was discovered that he had gone beyond his remit.
When Jesus finished this everyone would have been falling about laughing, except the Jewish Leaders, Herodian Officials and the Romans. They would have known that Jesus was pointing the finger of injustices directly at them.
These three jokes would probably have done much more to unite the opposition to Jesus than anything else. How do we in our day make relevant comments on the injustices of our society and use satire from the pulpit?
Happy Christmas to you all and Happy 2006th birthday greeting to Jesus.
If you are interested the above sayings of Jesus came from the Sermon on the mount Matthew 5 v 38 onwards
posted on 20.12.06 by John
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Video conference follow up
Morris men voted with their feet. This week instead of our normal turnout for a practice night of about 12 we had over 20, had two sets up for most dances. Last week with video conferencing we had 5 dancers and 3 musicians.
Problem with video conferencing was the difficulty in keeping lines straight, stopping halfway through for a rest and one to one tuition. So it is back to normal with men turning up full of vigor and remembering everything they have learnt, soon we will need a bigger hall. (ps anyone know how to put smiley faces into blogs?)
On Wednesday we went through our anticipated dance repertoire for Boxing Day.
Dont forget we are at the Frankland Arms Washington NOT Steyning. See previous blog for the reason.
Most of the dances we practiced were already videoed and on youtube but we did some practice to Christmas tunes click here to hear it. I have also added a couple of dances from our own tradition and whilst you may view and admire, please do not perform them yet. We have not permission to release them from the venerable Paul Setford who developed them from scraps of Sussex dances he extracted from Scan Tester.
When they are released we will pass the details to the Morris Ring.
Those avidly following our YouTube videos will possibly be deprived of fresh updates over Christmas as we will not be practicing again until January.
If all goes to plan though we may have some clips of us dancing in public in our full regalia, including our performance of the Mummers play.
Hope to have an interesting article tomorrow very much related to Christmas but giving an unusual insight. Lets hope I remember to post it!
posted on 19.12.06 by John
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Video conference training test
With wild and wet winter nights not all Morris Men want to venture out to the hall and practice dancing.
So what better than to set up video conferencing dancing tuition, those without broadband need to turn up in person and the rest can log in from the comfort of their own home.
Wednesday was a bit of an experiment and feedback from all those who were not out in person will be very interesting.
Did you stay tuned in all the way through, maybe you wandered off to the fridge for a beer or two. Could be you skipped some dances as you already know them. Who will ever know.
Next week is Cotswold and we will also be practicing the Mummers Play so we will need to go back to normal and have everyone turn up. Timing is a bit tricky over conference calls.
Have a look at the last YouTube title Clog video conferencing call to see what you think about it all.
posted on 8.12.06 by John
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