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The Silk Road Festival
We get invited to a whole range of festivals and events but the Silk Road Festival did capture our imaginations. So we said yes please.
Unfortunately as this was based in Syria, World events got in the way. We were still game to go, but other countries dancers were refused exit permissions by their governments. So with only three visiting foreign teams the Syrians reluctantly cancelled.
The sad thing is that the last week of September and the first week in October were quiet in Damascus so no harm would have come to those who simply wanted to spread joy and happiness through dance.
Oh well maybe next year?
posted on 14.10.06 by John
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Tunes and Pictures
Well at last, the first few pictures are up and are fairly easy to view.
Cant say the same for the tunes though.
I have out some tunes and songs up but they take an awful long time to download. Does anyone know of a better way of placing them?
posted on 14.10.06 by John
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Harveys Old Ale
Well the first Saturday in October brought forth a fine morning, perfect weather for a bit of Morris Dancing. What better than to do it in the Brewery yard of one of England's finest Breweries.
Yes it was time for us to test out Harveys new winter ale. Each year they very generously invite a selected band of dancers to join with the good hearted folk of Lewes and sample the new brew of Old Ale. We in turn perform to our best.
This year there was a suggestion that some of the men's clogs were not as clean as they ought to have been (was there a trace of Saddleworth mud still present?) However the tide and the river came to our aid, for as we were dancing the tide came in and slowly but decidedly rose up though the drain covers. By the time we finished dancing we all had nice clean boots.
Prior to this together with Sussex Harmony we celebrated the harvest at St Thomas a Becket Church and subsequent to our performance we were invited over to the new acquisition (see their web site for details) to partake in a Pig Roast and a further selection of fine ales.
It is indeed events like this that cheer the cockles of a Morris dancer and what better recruitment tool could one ask for. So now is the time to start learning and then you too can be ready for the next season.
Final praise to public transport, they got me safely there and back without any delays.
In response to all those of you desperate to see some pictures, I can announce that the first half dozen can now be seen by clicking on pictures at the appropriate place.
Sound to follow.
posted on 9.10.06 by John
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Saddleworth
All trial tribulations and excuses are over now and at last I am getting round to my exploits at Saddleworth.
Sonia and I took the easy route and stayed in B&B at least we had a comfy bed and a decent breakfast, the walk to the town was a brisk 20 mins, and in clogs not too bad.
For any of you that have not seen the rush cart I must tell you it's very impressive and is very heavy but with a few hundred Morris Men pulling it then individually it is as light as a feather to push.
Once you start then it is non stop to the first venue and dear old Cliff claimed for us the first dancing spot on stopping, great chance to work out what our musicians could play that we were capable of dancing. We decided on Pipers Ash reel and it went very well for so early in the morning. Well having got that out of the way we thought that we could just drink and watch the rest of the teams, the powers that be had other ideas and we found we were dancing every time the cart stops. To be fair I think most of the other teams did the same.
At least when they were dancing we could get to the bar.
You would be amazed at the hills and bends the cart goes through. Lunchtime saw us back at Uppermill and as there was no food organised by the Saddleworth men then we went to the pie shop and then to a bar. We took the opportunity to make arrangements for the evening meal at the local curry house.
The afternoon seemed to go as well as the morning as far as I can remember. However when we went to get our curry there was going to be a 2hr delay, so we sent our younger men to forage around for an alternative. This achieved we then settled down for the evening, somehow during the transition we mislaid two of the men and gained one from another club. Sorry lads blame it on the beer.
Sunday morning and putting on the clogs was a bit of a trial, feet protested. So here I feel I need to plug a brilliant Zapper we have (properly called something like 'pain relief pen') 40 zaps with that and the pain clears off, Sonia also has found it great for her thumbs and can Bell ring again without problems. I have put a link to the web site up at top of the page, sorry you will need to punt around a bit to get to the pain relief page.
We were all looking forward to Sunday as we would be seeing the 'Nutters', yes the Britania coconut dancers, and we were not disappointed, after church we saw them several times, really great to watch. Before then we had to pull the cart up the hill to the church, to stand any chance we had to take a run at the hill, well there were many men who only have nightmares when considering running so there were some that were hanging on for dear life.
The afternoon was very pleasant with show dances followed by informal dancing. Had thought of entering for the worst singer contest but as there was not much encouragement from the rest of the team I quietly forgot that idea. Good reports were received on our standard of dancing and the tidiness of our kit, so well worth the venture so far North.
posted on 8.10.06 by John
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