London Pride Morris

Back to practices...

2012-01-20T05:21:00.000Z

Keeping up my new year's resolution and copying and pasting from Squire Jeremy's email:

A pleasant and energetic evening, Particular thanks to Ted who arrived with melodeon and enabled us to dance quorate.
New start time is 7pm but dancing begins 7.30 to allow musicians to tune up.
Made a good start on Bledington side step, William and Nancy and Young Collins.
Maybe Gallant Hussar and Over the Water to Charlie beckon.

Tuesdays 7/7.30 at Haverstock School, Haverstock Hill
We practice dances Autumn/Spring terms to dance out in the summer

Just about up-to-date - practices resume soon

2011-12-20T21:59:00.000Z

It's been a great year. Hopefully next year I'll manage to keep the blog up to date.
Our practices resume on 17th January - we are at Haverstock School in Haverstock Hill on Tuesday evenings 7-9

Morris and Feast 2011

2011-12-20T21:50:00.000Z

We had the upstairs room at the White Horse

dancing around the cake

(click on it)

White Horse Ale Festival

2011-12-20T21:35:00.002Z

29th November
we couldn't turn down the invitation of dancing for ale!
at the Sloaney Poney
"Old Ale" turned out to be the hearty winter ales chocolatey malts etc. Some of them very potent, and only to be drunk in half pints.

We hadn't quite as many as anticipated - I'd negotiated having our feast there the following week and I think the message got confused...

[Peter J adds:] We had enough for some four man Morris and a polite and appreciative audience. It was also good to be able to dance outside at the end of November.

As usual, we don't have pictures of all of us dancing, but here's a jig. People watched, took photos and even applauded.

Myrtle the Morris Dog enjoyed it as ever:

and we still did a good show

Dancing for "Hugh the Drover"

2011-12-20T21:23:00.002Z

We'd been approached earlier in the year by Angela Hardcastle, who was directing the Hampstead Garden Opera's production of Vaughan William's opera Hugh the Drover.
It was a crucial part of the plot - morris dancers come on stage and beguile the company leaving Mary alone to contemplate why she was marrying the bully John the Butcher. London Pride shared the role with Thames Valley and Greensleeves.

It's quite different seeing opera up close - the Gatehouse pub theatre only seats 100, and the cast gave their all.

I came back midweek to see the whole thing. Terrific stuff.,

Here's Barry trying out the controls for the Horse (lent by Thames Valley) - a wondrous beast that could roll eyes, open and shut mouth and stick tongue out and wiggle ears. One could get carried away...

[Peter J adds:] Hugh the Drover is a very interesting opera, and I enjoyed this review in Opera Today, which doesn't gloss over its problems as theatre, but compares it with the incredibly-successful Cavaleria Rusticana.

It seemed to me that Hugh has masses of action and interest - bare-knuckle boxing, Morris and an effigy of Napoleon - all put together with lovely tunes. The story and the view of Merrie England might not appeal in a serious professional production (so Hugh never gets done at the serious opera houses) but it is perfect for a no-less-serious amateur show.

These people threw everything into the show. A cut-down orchestra and a chorus "singing their socks off" filled the room with an overwhelming wall of sound.

These two phone-pictures don't convey much except the amount going on on stage....

With a rotating cast of Morris men, we didn't get to dance in the dress rehearsal - we just rehearsed our steps in a break between other bits of rehearsing. This meant I could sit back and watch the whole of the first act rehearsal (with the Morris part taken by Greensleeves), and it was all marvellous.

Pearly Kings and Queens Harvest Festival

2011-12-20T21:04:00.002Z

the Pearlies have a Harvest Festival where they put on a show for the mayors of London, we were invited to be one of the acts.

It's quite a big space to fill at the guildhall, this is our new friends Liberty Morris, who turn out to dance with Scaffolding poles.
We still managed to do a respectable show despite the circumstances, and having to borrow a musician form Liberty as ours got lost in traffic somewhere ( I think)
I was chuffed to find out there is a society of women who wear purple with red hats that don't go - from the poem by Jenny Joseph, which I've always enjoyed.
There were all sorts of odd groups there, quite a mix.

Gillespie Park

2011-12-20T20:44:00.001Z

11th September
nice little festival in an organic oasis.
we are hoping they'll let us dance longer next year...

Angel Festival

2011-12-20T20:43:00.003Z

4th September [Peter J writes...]
Dancing by the canal, for the umpteenth year.

We had enough men to dance, and performed spots in several locations. We started at the Plaza, off City Road, then danced on the towpath, and at the Prince of Wales pub as well as on the lock island,

As usual, my photos are off my phone, and tend to be of jigs not dancing, owing to not being able to do two things at once.

Peter played Barry's hurdy gurdy for Nick's jig.

Getting across to the lock island was an adventure, especially if carrying Myrtle...

But the view was nice, and the space was just wide enough for some careful jigs.

St Giles Agricultural Show

2011-12-20T20:39:00.003Z

3rd September
I haven't photos of us dancing but here's a prize gherkin:

The Phoenix garden is a lovely spot to get away from the hustle bustle - in the shadow of Centrepoint but you wouldn't know it when you're there. (here's the gardener's blog)

we admired fancy pidgeons, ate roast lamb and watched punch and judy.
and
And danced.

[Peter J adds:] A lovely afternoon. Here is Allan appraising the livestock....

... and Myrtle on a long lead, while Peter checks out the gherkins

North London Hospice Fête

2011-12-20T20:27:00.002Z

24th July
we alternated with maypole dancing and line dancing ?!?!

keen morris fan Angela Hardcastle from the Hampstead Garden Opera came to check us out for a role in the Opera!

Kings Cross

2011-12-20T20:12:00.002Z

21st July
at the Norfolk Arms and then the Rugby Tavern
these always feel like there's no one there, then when we start dancing people come out of nowhere and we have an audience

it was drizzling by the time we got to the Rugby Tavern, here's Allen dancing a jig in spite of it.

Chelsea Tour

2011-12-20T20:12:00.000Z

5th July
at the Anglesea Arms and the Scarsdale Tavern
apparently went well, but I coudln't get there this year

Fitzrovia Tour

2011-12-20T20:10:00.000Z

22nd June
we danced at the Duke of York, where we had music from violinists Andy and Bethan and the Fitzroy tavern
and starred in celebrations for someone's 30th

Happy Birthday Katie
(good job I made notes at the time!)

Notting Hill tour

2011-12-20T19:56:00.000Z

9th June at the Elephant and Castle, then up to the ever friendly Uxbridge Arms.

Camden - with Sharp Morris

2011-12-20T09:36:00.000Z

24th May saw an enjoyable evening with our friends the Sharps, who are based at Cecil Sharp House, developed from John Russell's Tuesday evening classes.

We went to the Spread Eagle and then the Albert - both popular for after-morris drinks.

I see they are showing me what I ought to do with their excellent facebook page

New year's resolution

2011-12-20T09:06:00.002Z

I haven't been updating this as much as I should

New Year's resolution is to update it as I go along and keep it up to date, and maybe put the same stuff on our facebook
it's not that we haven't been busy over 2011.

I'm going to retrospectively blog since I left off in May

Dulwich Festival

2011-05-17T22:51:00.001Z

Dulwich Village had the road closed for a village festival. You wouldn't think that you were in London rather than in some little village in the country. We enjoyed cakes from the Heart disease stall, watched the prams racing and listened to the Dulwich Ukelele Club - pretty good stuff.

We liked the Green Man Pram - a natural favourite

Impromptu morris dancing to the Ukelele Club music

Update:

David Mulany, the organiser, directed me to these wonderful photos of us dancing at the festival taken by Mary Linley (link to her Flikr photostream of the festival)

Thanks Mary!

Maida Vale Tour

2011-05-17T22:38:00.000Z

Just around the corner from the Little Venice Canalside Cavalcade
we danced at the Prince Alfred in Formosa St and the Warwick Castle, once again joined by Thames Valley Morris Men - thanks for joining us guys it was a lovely evening.

We tried to tempt a trombone player for the BBC symphony orchestra into the dark art of playing for folk dance

Great Ormond St scouts and guides

2011-05-17T22:31:00.000Z

Some of us have our third badge for being regular attendants - they give them to the children to commemorate their visit to the troupe. They've invited us along fro St George's day/ Mayday festivities and it goes down well.

Canalside Cavalcade, Little Venice

2011-05-17T22:27:00.000Z

A lovely sunny day and a good start to our season, with Thames Valley Morris Men joining us. we started off by the beer tent which seems a good idea. I liked the "Worcester Sauce" beer particularly.

The Cavalcade is the largest get-together of canal boats in the country, they were having manoeuvring competitions in the triangular space of the Little Venice dock

There may be some photos of this from James, who took some, when he gives me them I will edit them in

I am proud to say that there was dancing to me playing Barry's Hurdy Gurdy, which I am learning.

You can see the brochure for the festival here

MTV in February

2011-05-17T21:54:00.000Z

MTV were "filming a promo for a new US Series and we are trying to show off everything quintessentially English"

So a few of us went up to Camden to some studios and were filmed doing a stick dance.
we kept drifting to one side which was a mystery, till we noted that we were lining up on John playing his concertina rather than the camera - instinct of years dancing rather than it being a sloping studio

We had our noses powdered in between quintessential cricketers and tattooed builders

I thought I had a photo from as we emerged from the studio but if you picture 5 morris men surrounded by loads of complicated lighting equipment projecting a rosey background behind us.

Hopefully one day we'll get to see the promo, or maybe it's a station ID or whatever.

Morris and Feast 2010

2011-05-17T21:24:00.001Z

A while ago... but I'm getting up to date.
London Pride always has it's annual feast on the first Saturday of December
2010 was no exception
we also combine it with our AGM and a bit of dancing.
I'm sure there must a have been some suggestion that an up-to-date blog might have been a good idea. and something about Facebook??
Barry's arm got twisted to being joint bagman, and Jeremy's into being joint squire. all seems to have worked so far (5 months later). I'm quite relieved not to be doing all the chasing etc. and Barry's excelling at it...

But then back to the dancing which is more fun than AGMing

We were dancing in the Primrose Hill Community Centre. for our feast we dance for ourselves. in kit. so it's possibly the same idea as an American convention ( not that I've ever been to one)

After dancing we broke with the last few year's tradition by going for a meal in a pub, the Prince Albert where we often go after our practices. (For a number of years we self catered! - quite handsomely). It went down very nicely and we toasted absent friends, the Queen and the immortal memory of Cecil Sharp, which we traditionally toast with a loving cup of wine and spices secret recipe passed down from times immoral, passed around in a Mazer made for us in the 1960's with ancient rituals of guarding the drinker from attack.

Gillespie Park

2011-05-17T21:12:00.001Z

We went to Gillespie Park again for their 24th Gillespie Park Festival

by way of consolation for lack of photos here is a King of Misrule from the Notting Hill Carnival.
He probably had some hankies tucked away for when he'd finished the stick dance

We danced at the grassy knoll in the children's area again, a relaxed end to our season's dancing, before going back to Cecil Sharp House for Autumn and Spring terms for our practices

there's been a bit of a hiatus on bog posts - sorry

2011-05-17T20:50:00.000Z

Normal service will be resumed as soon as possible

Angel Canal Festival

2010-09-18T22:22:00.000Z

the Angel Canal festival has become a regular in our programme - all sorts of odd bands and music and funfairs etc.

just deciding what to dance...

Pheonix Gardens agricultural show

2010-09-18T21:36:00.001Z

We danced for the wonderful Pheonix Garden Agricultural Show

We danced in the church yard of St Giles, you would not imagine that we were in the centre of London and next to Centrepoint and Oxford Street.
The garden is beautiful, with banana plants even.
the gardener's blog is here

I was sent some photos of us dancing by Rory O'Callaghan:

Myrtle had special dispensation to attend the show as she is a very well-behaved morris beast and had her bells on. She used a rustic lead for the occasion

Checking out the bells in the belfry

The bunting was all made by the committee, and there were cakes on sale from the West End WI, local honey, fancy pigeons, bell ringing, farm animals from Surrey Docks... all very countrified

6th Croydon Night of Dance

2010-08-18T22:08:00.001Z

We had a good night out with Blackheath, Northwood, Old Palace Clog and Marlings Morris, dancing in the streets of Croydon...

Lovely evening,
Thanks to James Denny for arranging it and inviting us

(side note - I saw 6 foxes as I cycled home)

I haven't any photos, but here's Myrtle in her chariot preparing to go and be a morris beast

I think she likes it

Chelsea Tour

2010-07-19T22:12:00.002Z

on 13th July
we were at the Anglesea Arms in Chelsea and then at the Scarsdale in Edward Square

Kensington Tour

2010-07-19T22:02:00.002Z

at the Elephant and Castle Holland St for 8th July where we were joined by Al and Debs of Sharps' Morris and then the Uxbridge Arms near Notting Hill Gate
Big apologies to Linda, the landlady of the Uxbridge Arms, who is always welcoming. We'll give you notice next time so you can tell the neighbours.

Notting Hill became a village for the evening.
Here's Allen dancing a jig

Fiztrovia Tour

2010-07-19T21:56:00.004Z

Back to the Duke of York and then on to the Fiztroy Tavern for 1st July

Well received, and here's a photo of us joined by a hen party

at a school in Clapham

2010-07-19T21:33:00.003Z

we were invited to dance for an international evening at Sacred Heart Primary School, on 25th June and hadn't been out for a bit and it just worked...
(I'm sure I took photos but can't find them)

Gt Ormond Street

2010-07-19T21:21:00.002Z

I've been very behind with my blogging but let's get some things up to record the year

We had another lovely evening for Great Ormond Street on 4th May, dancing for and with some of the children at the Great Ormond Street Scout group
No photos I'm afraid

And some more from the FAF village fete

2010-05-08T21:26:00.003Z

here's some more photos of Fowler's troop and the Deptford Jack

2010-05-08T21:13:00.006Z

Folk Against Fascism's Village Fete

2010-05-03T20:32:00.005Z

It was British Folk's finest hour on May 2, as Folk Against Fascism celebrated on the South Bank, at the Queen Elizabeth Hall.

We were there, being happily outdanced by the energetic Nonesuch from Bristol, by Thrale Rapper, the wondrous New Esperance, and the Belles of London (suffering from injury and the loss of a Top Hat, after mingling with Tories on St George's day).

This picture tells you all you need to know about the outside dancing conditions, and our battery ran out after this...

Among other things, the day included great cakes from the Women's Institute, a rare, sweaty and high-powered ceilidh from the Oyster Ceilidh Band (and another with Old Swan), and an evening gig of politically-motivated (* see comments below) folk.

It all stemmed from the BNP's ill-judged efforts to co-opt folk into their vision of British-ness. British folk may be British, it may even be patriotic at times, but it's not xenophobic. Take that, Nick Griffin!

Following The Jack...

2010-05-03T20:25:00.004Z

Another nice May Day following Fowler's Troop

They find nice beer in good pubs

And a pleasant amble

What could be nicer?

Morris As Comedy - Some Common Threads

2010-02-01T18:11:00.004Z

A couple of weeks ago in a Soho junk shop, I found two books of comic strips of The Cloggies, the classic Private Eye comic-strip clog dancing dating from the 1960s. A favourite strip is on the left. After practice, we noticed a couple of things about it

Bells on the arms
No musician in sight
A recurring theme of disciplinary panels and authority

All three things are also true of last year's Life With Bells On movie. So I wonder if there's a reason Morris (or clog) has to always be that way in any comedy production, regardless of what medium, whether strip or film.

Certainly bells on the arms look good visually (even if they don't add much to the sound) and in any fantasy where you don't actually have to perform, a musician can be a needless complication. And Morris is an anarchic activity which shows up well when set against authority figures

One other thing I found on the Cloggies' Wikipedia page, is that there was actually a real side called the Cloggies, formed in tribute to the Bill Tidy cartoon. Their finest hour, bringing to a close a student performance of John Milton's Comus, got a snotty review from the Guardian theatre critic, which the lads quite rightly regarded as "a complete vindication of all they had stood for".

Comus, of course, is the perfect vehicle for any celebrity Morris, as it was performed in Cambridge in 1908 by a team (left) including the poet Rupert Brooke and the mountaineer George Mallory (more details here).

St George's Day at Hays Galleria

2009-04-23T22:20:00.000Z

Hays Galleria, by London Bridge, has a 3 storey high vaulted ceiling that resonated brilliantly when we tapped our sticks on the stone floor.

We were there as guests of Balls Brothers, Hays Galleria, who were opening a new bar there. They had an evening of St George's day related things, as with the knights dancing with us here.

Terry Frisch had his first dance out with us this night and did admirably.

Great Ormond Street Hospital

2009-04-21T21:11:00.006Z

The 17th Holborn Scout & Guide Group meets in Great Ormond Street Hospital to provide Scouting and Guiding for the children who are patients there, meeting every Tuesday evening from 6.30 - 8.00pm, in the Activities Centre at the Hospital.
They invited us along for the Tuesday before St George's Day, to celebrate the occasion, and we had a fine time with them; showing, teaching and talking about morris dancing

A wave of Morris enthusiasm greets our new term

2009-01-21T16:13:00.005Z

We moved into Cecil Sharp House on Tuesday nights - just as the Morris Media Frenzy hit. Peter, Michael and I have all been interviewed for the radio, along with - it seems - just about every dancer in the country.

The practical result has been a lot of new dancers showing up at Cecil Sharp House, and converging with us and a solid group who have been learning under John Russell (form the the Beaux of London).

London Pride members have been joining John's group, as well as having our own fortnightly practice alongside. For me, John's sessions have been the biggest, most engaging and most energetic morris practices I can remember. Tuesday night saw up to 24 dancers learning Adderbury Lads A Bunchum, along with Headington Bean Setting and Trunkles, and the Fieldtown Nutting Girl jig.

Into the national publicity, comes the movie, Morris: A Life With Bells On. A gentle British comedy about a somewhat fantasised world of Morris dancing - it's struggling to get distribution, but is visible in several village screens in Dorset. A campaign is underway to get it screened in more places!

The Morris Media Frenzy

2009-01-06T15:36:00.004Z

Well, it's a slow news week. There's only the end of the financial world to report, so what else should we have but a burst of reporting on the "death of Morris".

The Morris Ring sent out a Press Release in December which they thought had "sunk without trace". That was until Monday, when stories started appearing in the Times and the Telegraph and then all over.

The release said Morris could be "extinct" in 30 years. The Federation and the Open Morris, and pretty much every dancer in the land jumped up to say No Way, and by and large the media took them at their word.

I had an email read on the PM programme, and then appeared on the Jeremy Vine Radio 2 show with Kitty - following an excellent turn by Simon Care of Moulton. Meanwhile Peter Kanssen was on Radio 6, and then on local London Radio.

I then had a call from a non-flappable Mail journalist, whose leisurely feature for Saturday's paper had been suddently rescheduled for tomorrow - given the urgency of the news - giving her a three hour deadline to fill.

Our message through all these outlets: we're not extinct, we practice in Cecil Sharp House on Tuesdays, and all are welcome.

2008 Feast:: A New Squire and a New Era!

2008-12-08T12:39:00.005Z

This year's AGM took place in a dark room, decorated with a parachute, fairy lights and red ribbons. To find it, we had to fight our way through the crowds of Portobello Road market.

With the Westway's motorway traffic humming gently past, three feet above our heads, we welcomed our guest, Graham Cox of the Cambridge Morris Men, who is our Ring area representative. We took care of AGM business, danced (of course), and then had tea (of course).

After a little more dancing, we moved out into the body of the Inn on the Green, handing the function room over for what sounded an interesting musical evening, and gently finding space amongst the tango class which was packing up. We then cooked our feast in the kitchen, alongside two barbecue chefs.

The pub is an eccentric and welcoming place, with (on this visit) Fuller's Jack Frost on the pump. There were books and table football available, but I'm not sure if we made use of those. And the nearby pound shop was able to make good the deficiencies of the kitchen: the club now owns twelve yellow glass soup bowls.

The main business of the day was to welcome and install Michael Runge as Squire. The blurry photo is here for proof. Congratulations Michael, and I hereby promise to serve faithfully under your leadership!

We also decided to move our practices to Cecil Sharp House, home of the English Folk Dance and Song Society. We will be there on Tuesday evenings at 8pm, starting on 20 January. We believe we will be the only Morris team practising in the House, and we hope the change of venue will encourage more people to come and join us.

Other things to say about the feast: the main course stew from Michael was splendid, as was his trifle. I think these alone would be a good enough reason to join LP. Also, to my shame, I'm sorry to say we forgot the toast to the Immortal Memory.

Who'll get custody of Bradford and Bingley's bowler hat?

2008-09-30T13:19:00.002Z

asks the BBC - which raises a thought.

Ezra's one is falling apart. Maybe they could give it to him.

(disclaimer: London Pride Morris are not in any way related to Bradford and Bingley Building Society)

Notting Hill Pre-practice tour 15 Sept

2008-09-23T20:53:00.002Z

We have this one to get us back in to the swing of Monday evenings.

We did a brief show at the Ladbroke Arms, our usual after-practice haunt, and then off to the Uxbridge Arms, where Landlady Linda had just come back from holiday and was wonderfully welcoming. Ezra did another solo jig, and we had enough men to dance Lichfield Ring-of-bells (an 8 man dance)

Gillespie Park Ecology Centre 14 Sept

2008-09-23T20:45:00.004Z

No photos of this I'm afraid as we were all dancing, and my camera was in use elsewhere too. We've enjoyed coming to the Ecology Centre for the last few years.

One thing that I'll have to provide a photo of soon is Myrtle (the Westie) in her Baldrick and bells, which she showed off for the first time. She doesn't dance but sat at the side checking our stepping.

Some more photos from the Canal Festival

2008-09-23T19:12:00.005Z

Dancing well despite having just had his hips done, and evidently having done it before, this chap is John Shacklock, an old friend of Allan's. John took over from Allan as Bagman of Standon Morris Men, some years ago. John now has a narrow boat, which won the prize for best-decorated boat at the Canal Festival - his wife was accepting the prize round about the time these photos were taken.

Queen Caroline from the Kew Woodland Wonders surprised us by appearing incognito as a bargee

these and more are in a Flikr set here

Angel Canal Festival 2008

2008-09-20T10:59:00.004Z

Once again, we had a good time at the Angel Canal Festival, even though the weather wasn't as good as it has usually been.

We danced three shows - not a lot of photos here, as I was dancing most of the time.

The last show was between two shows by Orleta, a wonderful Polish group that practise in Balham.

It's always a pleasure to see a dance group with a well-practiced set, bright, costumes and big smiles. They were enviably young and attractive too!

Corporate Morris Dancing again

2008-07-11T22:27:00.000Z

Peter J, Allen and I were hired again by Rampage Events to teach morris dancing to teams from a different organisation. This time it was CBS, who weren't natural bonders like the Loctite people. We mistook the initials - maybe it was GBH..? (cue stick clashing...) they still enjoyed it though.

We only managed to see 5 of the 7 teams that were coming down the river. Maybe they got lost and took a wrong turn - up the Fleet or the Effra or maybe the Wandle?

Here's Allen keeping supple by dancing a Princess Royal while waiting for the trainees:

Eventually the chickens needed feeding and we had to go home. But spending an afternoon chatting in the sun outside a pub isn't too hard a chore...

Chelsea (and Kensington)

2008-07-08T22:17:00.001Z

At the Anglesea Arms, and then the Scarsdale Tavern in Edwardes Square

the weather had been threatening downpours all day, but the magic of the morris kept it away, and we had a nice evening's dancing. And pleasant audiences too.

Bloomsbury Tour

2008-07-01T22:03:00.000Z

at the Norfolk Arms and Rugby Tavern (sorry I only had my camera out at the Norfolk Arms)

we were joined by Dan Kenning, who is now working in these part, but work is too busy to bring whites too :(

The Norfolk Arms is quite a gastro-pub these days, but the patrons still enjoyed the show, as did a coach-load of american tourists, before going off to investigate the darker recesses of London

Myrtle came along as official morris-beast-in-training

and enjoyed dancing Bonny Green Garters

after that over at the Rugby tavern. It was the barman's first day, poor thing, and I've been very lapse lately in warning pubs we were coming. He was getting worried that he'd lose his job by the pub losing it's licence on the first day he'd worked.

We reassured him that Morris wasn't included in the music licensing laws "because it isn't entertaining" (?)

and even more:

that the chances of us still noisily dancing after 10pm were fairly slim....

Loctite Adhesives

2008-06-25T18:52:00.001Z

Peter J, Allan and I were booked for the day by Rampage Events doing a corporate team building exercise for Loctite Adhesives. The contestants were going down the river and doing different tasks at points on the way - a bit like the Generation Game.

They stuck with it and were very tenacious.

We decided to score for style, effort, energy and beards.

Not many points on the beard front

Good fun, and loads of points to all of them for everything else

Fitzrovia: Duke of York and The Fitzroy Tavern

2008-06-24T12:35:00.000Z

We were joined by a mystery man in the audience who seemed to know all the dances: Andy Roberts in civvies, Andy's now the foreman of Allington Morris, having moved away from London.

There was a stag night in a local pub, so we blessed the groom-to-be by dancing a Rose around him guaranteeing plenty of fertility

Flagons of beer around...

Unfortunately no photos; from me, anyhow - I forgot my camera.

Allan wasn't too upset...

2008-06-22T12:31:00.000Z

A few of us had thought we might be able to come for a garden party his local Quakers were organising.

In the event only Antony made it, and I'd phoned up to say I wouldn't after Allan had left home. I had visions of Allan arriving with no-one else around.

In the end however they found someone who knew the tunes, borrowed a recorder, and did some jigs.

Sheltered Schemes in Notting Hill

2008-06-18T22:00:00.000Z

Another visit to the sheltered schemes where I work. Much enjoyed by all.

Kensington Tour

2008-06-11T20:28:00.003Z

No photos of the Elephant and Castle yet, though some may follow from a generous member of the audience.
We were a fairly bare side - someone else's diary crashed this time...
But we still managed to do a good show, to an appreciative audience.

After that up to the Uxbridge Arms, where we were watched by 5 year old Matthew, who'd stayed up specially - " and this is a special dance for Matthew..." and the locals, who are a good bunch. One went to the same schools as Noah and Ezra, and they all agreed they were the best schools ever.

One group had thought they might have a quiet evening to discuss the forthcoming redesign of their webpage - buckman-coats.com. It's going to be what Burberry etc. wanted to be but didn't. Apparently. We were assured that Lord Buckman himself would have been an avid morris dancer if there was a lady to impress.

And Ezra danced a jig all by himself!!

Next time he'll have to do it with bells on!
...but very well done...

Thaxted Ring meeting

2008-06-11T20:27:00.001Z

Off for the Thaxted Morris Ring meeting, here's Ezra and myself dancing a jig in Finchingfield
Noah and Ezra heading for the coach.
those are eggs, and they didn't break them.
this should hopefully (if I've done it right) be a bit of the background sound from the weekend - everywhere there's bells ringing.

Highbury Tour - a lesson in calendar management

2008-05-23T19:02:00.000Z

... for me
I'd done a first draft of the programme, then Allan pointed out that Thursday 22nd May was the same as the LP country dance evening. I seem to have just changed the "Thursday" to "Tuesday" and forgot the date. When Antony pointed out that there wasn't a Tuesday 22nd I looked in my calendar, where I had it down as Thursday, and though I must have meant the Thursday.

So it's probably my fault that not many men came along...

The photo is of Ezra warming up by bouncing a ball against the Compton Arms.
However he did treat the audience to a double jig with Allan, and Allan did a Princess Royal Jig too

Peter Judge joined us down at the Marquess Tavern, and we found a surprising number of dances that we could dance with 3 dancers, and either Peter on concertina or myself on recorder.
No photos of that I'm afraid as hands were busy.

A pleasant audience, and we enjoyed the evening, so all was not in vain.

Cecil Sharp House May Fair, Part II

2008-05-20T05:27:00.002Z

Liz Hall, the Chair of the Friends of Cecil Sharp House, took these photos. Thanks Liz!

Cecil Sharp House May Fair, 17 May

2008-05-19T05:07:00.003Z

We met a London Pride Jig Doll

Enjoyed the Vaughan Williams Memorial Library

And took part in the May festitivities.

Kitty danced her first jig in public - but don't call her a jig doll!
No photos of the morris or other dancing yet...

Warm up act for Danny and the Champions

2008-05-13T20:27:00.004Z

A very pleasant evening, dancing at the Betsy Trotwood pub in Clerkenwell, as guests of Danny and the Champions of the World (Myspace preview here), and then listening to the bands.

Comparing accordion playing styles:

and crashing out in the cellars listening to music:

Some more photos from Kew Gardens

2008-05-06T19:12:00.006Z

Woodland Wonders in Kew

2008-05-06T09:33:00.004Z

Last year's Woodland Wonders at Kew were a bit of a wash-out, weather-wise, but we enjoyed them. This year, there was sunshine and big audiences with lots of children.

No photos of the whole side dancing, as my camera hand was busy

We had plenty of dancers, and Kitty and Hannah both performed.

Kitty joined in the maypole dancing.

Circulus were there again. Well worth checking out their Myspace page for medieval hippy music.

And there was a zipwire!

One small thing we could improve for next year: a volunteer to bring beer!

London Pride in Bronze...

2008-05-01T18:42:00.005Z

I've passed this statue a million times, and never noticed the title.

We're pleased sculptor Frank Dobson decided to commemorate us

but he appears to have forgotten our hats and other regalia (and presciently sculpted women)

Mayday 2008 part 2 - dancing with Leaves

2008-05-01T18:04:00.003Z

This year, the Deptford Jack progressed along the Thames between London Bridge and Waterloo. Peter K, Peter J. Ezra and Kitty joined in - catching up with the Jack just before Shakespeare's Globe.

We carried on to the Founders Arms, and then past Gabriel's Wharf

and on to the Bull Ring roundabout where -

the Jack took a sudden turn, under a railway arch and through a narrow doorway, into the Leaky Cauldron - sorry, the Hole in the Wall pub, but it all looked a bit Harry Potter to us.

Mayday 2008 part 1 - Dancing with Bees

2008-05-01T17:31:00.005Z

This year, before we joined the Deptford Jack in the Green, Peter K, Peter J, Ezra and Kitty had an appointment with some bees.

On the roof of the Royal Festival Hall, is the Royal Festival Hive an experiment in keeping bees in a very urban environment, and part of a campaign to alert us all to the danger our bee population faces from disease and pollution.

We were invited along to dance for the bees, and produced a couple of jigs.

Myrtle enjoyed being on the roof of the Hall, and

Peter K and Kitty both got to taste the Royal Festival Honey

Photos mostly by Rebecca Fielding.

2008-04-30T20:59:00.000Z

Here's some photos of Nkem on St George's Day. We're waiting now to see the documentary!
What impressed me was Nkem dancing on the way back after filming the final bit...

Out on St George's Day

2008-04-29T09:53:00.003Z

Hooray for St George! We danced out with our friends, New Esperance, as well as the Hammersmith Men and the Old Palace Clog. No photos of us yet but we're hoping... Somehow, we're usually too busy dancing to take photos.

This one, from the Esps' Facebook page shows even a broken ankle can't stop a Morris dancer - or not Fiona, anyway!

London Pride Morris featured a first performance by Nkem, and also by Hannah Judge (that's why we were London Pride Morris on this occasion, not London Pride Morris Men).

Thanks for having us, ladies - we enjoyed the dancing of you and your other guests immensely!

Kitty Joins LP at the Tooting Bec Lido

2008-02-15T17:24:00.004Z

Kitty danced out with London Pride for the first time at the Cold Water Swimming championships at Tooting Bec Lido.

It was a crisp sunny day, with plenty of audience - and the opportunity for a cold swim and/or a dip in a hot tub afterwards!

Our next booking -- Feb 9 in icy waters

2008-01-03T22:52:00.001Z

We've been booked for the World Winter Swimming Championships on February 9 at Tooting Bec Lido.

We don't have to swim - we're dancing. And I think we could probably be described as the warm up act.

London Pride Feast 2007

2008-01-03T22:47:00.000Z

It's a month since our feast now. We enjoyed excellent food courtesy of Michaal, and played, sand and danced in a very nice hall in Battersea.

The only photo I have is this one of the Kanssens in action.

And the biggest item of business was our decision to open up London Pride to include a mixed side, including Hannah and Kitty Judge - and anyone else who would like to join us, of course!

A festive display for London Lite

2007-11-06T22:34:00.000Z

In the words of Cosmo Brown, "Dignity, always dignity".

London Lite asked us to prostitute our art, and dance with tinsel and funny hats for a promotional calendar. We said yes, for a small donation, so we spent some time with photographer Richard Ansett on Monday night. He clearly has the gift of getting the best out of his subjects - here you see him capturing the umpteenth take of a festive leap.

We like his other work, and hope to see more of him.

We also hope to see the final calendar.

Dancing with the Esps

2007-11-06T21:35:00.000Z

We had a nice Saturday afternoon, on 29 September, dancing with New Esperance and some other sides. They were in London for the Morris Federation AGM - and taking a tour round some of the best pubs near London Bridge - so we joined them and, with the loan of a musician, took part.

Thanks for having us!

Our own section in Waterstones?

2007-09-14T17:58:00.000Z

Waterstones in Piccadilly has a section labelled London Pride!

Strange though, I don't recognise any of the chaps on the magazines in the picture...

Transformer Morris!

2007-09-14T17:41:00.000Z

Practices start on Monday and this is the new uniform.

Here's Ezra wearing the headgear. Everyone else will be keeping to the usual costume.

We were given a Transformer helmet by a man in the audience at the Canal Festival.

It also suits Noah.

Help! It's stuck!

Angel Canal Festival

2007-09-07T23:16:00.002Z

This was yet another enjoyable Canal Festival. We don't have any photos of us dancing yet, just climbing a wall we found before our last show. but we certainly got involved in plenty of other activities.

Before that, we paddled a large canoe - and chaollenged the Islington Boat Club to a canoe race next year (and maybe a dance-off!).

If we follow up on this, the canoe team will need to take spare clothes next year.

We had plenty of audience for all three shows, and plenty of dancers too. Roland joined us for all three shows, and extended his repertoire to Bampton Glory Shears as well as the sidestep - well done!

During out last show the audience included two lads on bikes, who earlier had to be persuaded to give back Peter K's hat, when it fell off from the top of the climbing wall. They seemed strangely impressed by the dancing.

But some young men were even more enthusiastic, joining in Bonny Green. One of them gave his transformer robot mask to the Kanssens. Expect some robotic Morris in future

Oh, and there was an angel, on a Segway scooter. There's a video here.

Morris versus Hip-Hop

2007-07-27T17:29:00.000Z

We nearly got involved in this video.

Moulton Morris take on Hip Hop dancers in a "viral" advert for Ribena.

They didn't need us in the end, but I'm putting the link here, as it might amuse you...

Photos from Cecil Sharp House's May Fete

2007-07-26T12:40:00.000Z

We've been sent some photos from our show at Cecil Sharp House back in May.

For several of us, it was the first time dancing at Cecil Sharp House. We felt pleased and honoured, and enjoyed the nice shiny dance floor you can see in these photos.

Present were the two Peters, Antony, Nick, Michael Runge, Noah and Jeremy.

Jeremy was there in any case, playing for a children's display of Maypole and Garland dancing.

Thanks to Liz Hall for sending the photos!

TMO Fun Day, Holland Park 21 July

2007-07-23T21:07:00.000Z

This picture pretty much sums up the TMO Fun Day, I'm afraid.

Some people there were having fun. There were moments when we were having fun, too.

With four men plus musician, we managed to put on a show in the drizzle, and then another one in the feeble emerging sunshine.

It had its dispiriting aspects, but the barbecue was tasty. And some children were quite enthusiastic to join in. Including one ten-year old girl that wanted to "borrow" a stick, and then got quite energetic with her sticking practice....

There could be official photos later....

Who was that Baroness?

2007-07-23T20:15:00.000Z

We met a Baroness on our Fitzrovia tour, on 17 July. She came up to us at the Duke of York, very pleased to see Morris on the streets.

It turns out she was one of the peers who moved for Morris to be exempt from the Licensing Act 2003. The Act required all premises that have entertainment to have a licence. Morris was exempted, following an amendment in the House of Lords.

But who was she? We didn't catch her name except that it began with a B. Happily, the Morris Discussion List helped out. She is Baroness Buscombe, and she did indeed work on amendments to the Licensing Bill, to make it less hostile to live entertainment.

We thought she said Baroness Buskin (or possibly Busking?), and wondered if she had a professional interest in the Act. At the time of the debate, she was in fact Opposition spokesman for Culture Media and Sport in the House of Lords. Here's TheyWorkForYou's profile of the Noble Lady.

An exemption for Morris dance is a very good thing. Without it, we'd have to argue that Morris was automatically exempt because it isn't very entertaining, and who knows where that might lead?

We were so overwhelmed to have a peer in the audience, we made a bit of a fluff of Dearest Dickie.

Following that, at the Fitzroy Tavern - a pub we've been dancing at for probably 40 years or more - Richard Wyber turned up in his dog collar, added a fine touch to some Bampton, and talked to the audience.

Ezra was there

So was Antony

As well as Peter and Nick and Allan (and me).

More Lensbury photos

2007-07-23T19:48:00.000Z

These aren't so good as the official chap's pictures of our dancing at The Lensbury Club Ball , but I think they give a flavour of what it was like.

Firstly, here's the Kanssen double jig outside the front entrance

Notice the lack of audience. Cars pulled up and people went inside.

We consider whether to change our hats from the traditional bowlers, or at least to allow Exra to wear a bearskin, to adjust the height differential....

... which looks particularly striking here. We danced in amongst the diners later, to some approval.

As the light fades and my phone struggles, Michael B looks almost incorporeal.

Sheltered Housing in Notting Hill

2007-06-25T21:04:00.000Z

It wasn't a very promising evening, with rainclouds threatening.

And when we got to the first stand they turned out to have got their wires crossed and had all waited for us the week before. (I've been on Jury Service so communication has been difficult.)

So we decided to repair to the pub before the next engagement, which turned out to be a good idea as the rain poured down just as we got there, and in the time that we would otherwise be walking between the two places.
"It never rains on the Morris" - "because they're in the pub"

We danced inside, even though it had by then stopped raining. As you can see, there was just about enough room for us and our audience.

Afterwards we joined the residents for Sundanese food laid on by one of them, Eh'san Khogali.

Lensbury Club Summer Ball

2007-06-08T20:00:00.000Z

We danced for the Lensbury Club's Summer Ball, a very prestigious do; with guests in DJs etc. (photos from the photographer for the evening, Chris Bissell)

They'd decided on a "Home Nations" theme this year, so guests were greeted by Pipe Major Roger Huth, us dancing on the lawn, the London Male Voice Choir and then irish band Waggle Taggle playing.

It was a lovely evening. Roger turned out to be a good sport and we persuaded him to play a couple of morris tunes on his pipes. When I looked him up later I found he's actually the "Pipe Major" of the Piping Society of London. I wish I had the time to take him up on bagpipe lessons.

When we got in I was surprised to see that the Irish band included my old friends Mick O'Connor and Mick Bailey. The pair of them for many years have done a spot at my work for our Sheltered Scheme's Christmas Party.

Mick O'Connor turns out to have a presence on You Tube

The evening all rounded off with fireworks over the lawn leading down to the Thames.

There are more photos (but not such good ones) later in this blog.

It's the sound of bells that I remember from Thaxted

2007-06-04T20:14:00.001Z

There was a jingling of bells all day. Continually. It only stopped at night, to be replaced - in the school room where I slept - by the sound of exhausted, replete men snoring.

I enjoyed it mightily.

Thaxted Ring Meeting 2007

2007-06-03T22:19:00.000Z

It's 80 years since Conrad Noel, the vicar of Thaxted, encouraged the formation of the Thaxted Morris Men. He turns out to have been quite a colourful character

We had more than a complete side, and enjoyed touring the countryside, the feast, dancing at the Guildhall and (as above, over the door of the pub we were visiting) disobeying "keep out" notices!
The sermon on Sunday was about David dancing naked in front of the ark of the covenant, followed by a warning that whilst Morris dancing was welcome in the town, we should keep our clothes on...

It's also 60 years that they've been doing the mystical Abbots Bromley Horn Dance:

(rather shakily filmed in 2006)

Kensington Tour

2007-06-03T21:36:00.000Z

The power of the morris kept storm clouds at bay, and it was another lovely evening.
Ezra and I cycled up on our tandem.

Only five dancers plus John on his concertina, but still a decent, and apparantly well-appreciated show.
We entertained the folks outside the Elephant and Castle then clanked through Kensington to theUxbridge Arms , as welcoming as ever, with an interesting audience including a witch straight from the Festival of Mind and Body.

One of the things I like about tours is the walking through the streets in kit with bells ringing etc. Putting kit on transforms you from a mere mortal into a morris dancer and it's the most natural thing in the world to be there. (I'm not sure how much that makes sense)

Cecil Sharp House May Fete

2007-06-03T21:08:00.000Z

Peter J had a call along the lines of:
"Hello we're having a May Fete the weekend after next, and the Morris Men we had have let us down can you step in...?"

Which turned out to be the English Folk Dance and Song Society's at Cecil Sharp House

We were honoured to be able to go and help out, and it was charming. Nice to join in some of the other dancing that was going on too.

More about the show, including photos in this blog now.

Islington Tour

2007-06-03T20:59:00.000Z

This didn't seem like it was going to happen, as quite a few men had last minute problems that stopped us getting there, but too late to actually cancel.

Reassuringly, the men that did turn up still had a good time ("A rather boozy night" was one report). I had the sticks and couldn't go, but John turned out to have something like pick-axe handles in his car...

The dancers from Clockwork Morris that Jeremy have been teaching turned up and made a complete side for a Balancy Straw and a Bampton Side-step.

Hey Nonny Nonny! Only Six Weeks Till the Nights Start Drawing In...*

2007-05-08T08:17:00.000Z

It didn't rain all the time at Kew Gardens' Woodland Wonders on Monday, but it rained a lot and it rained quite hard.

The audiences still showed up and applauded from under their umbrellas, so we danced on. Two men slipped over in puddles. Roland danced his first public dance with us, and went off to another show he's doing - London with a swing about London history.

Eventually the sun came out and we were rewarded with a splendid audience who stayed on after the minstrels to see us, and all joined in a chaotic performance of something that seems to be emerging: "The Bonny Green Hokey Cokey".

There were other creatures here - and you can see Queen Charlotte in the background of the minstrels. We wished her husband a swift recovery from his melancholia, and applauded her and Joseph Banks for the fine surroundings.

And we met a tarantula.

* Quote from a famous Giles cartoon...

London Pride on YouTube

2007-05-05T22:13:00.000Z

Here's our YouTube video, courtesy of Roland John-Leopoldie of Farlando.

It's part of a longer project that Roland is working on, and was filmed at a practice before Easter.

During the practice Roland and his friend Christian proved to be good dancers - and Roland will be dancing with us at Kew Gardens' Woodland Wonders festival on Monday

Out with the Deptford Green Man

2007-05-03T05:41:00.000Z

Peter Judge and I accompanied Fowlers Troop and the Deptford Green Man, and the City of London Green Man on the traditional May Day activities.
My camera had died, I'm afraid, but there are other's photos here (Sarah Croft's), here (Richard Sanderson's, where I've linked his photo of me from) and here, with a video (the London SE1 website)

I was lucky to be released for most of the day on Tuesday, but I think next year it would be something I'd take leave to do. It's always on the 1st May.

I hadn't noticed before that Peter J had already blogged this...

Bloomsbury

2007-05-03T05:34:00.000Z

A fairly quiet evening getting back into the swing of dancing out.

The Norfolk Arms never looks too promising at first, but when we get going an audience emerges almost from nowhere.
It's a restaurant pub now, I think last year it was closed for refurbishment.

At the Rugby Tavern we were joined by a visitor from Poland/Saudi who seemed to know all the steps - John Bienias over here for a week's leave.

Fowlers Troop and the Deptford Jack

2007-05-01T20:50:00.000Z

Peter and I had an enjoyable day out with the Deptford Jack, this year joined by the City of London Jack, for a tour that took in Leadenhall Market, the Gherkin and St Paul's.

There were plenty of green people, and a certain amouint of drinking.

Bemused City workers greeted us, and Spring was welcomed in.

St George's Day at No.77

2007-04-24T19:26:00.000Z

We had a very pleasant St George's Day evening at the No 77 Wine Bar & Restaurant
(in Mill Lane, West Hampstead)

courtesy of Jensen, dressed up as St George, and an appreciative audience

Excellent food too!

Desperately Seeking Morris

2007-04-24T19:01:00.000Z

Our last practices of the spring were enlivened by Roland John-Leopoldie and Christian (sorry I don't know your surname Chrisitan) joining us.
He's doing a 10 minute film entiltled "Desperately Seeking Morris" starring Christian, as an African professor coming to England to research Morris Dancing.

We're the dream sequence where he finds us... We spent an evening dancing the Bampton Sidestep with Christian while Roland filmed us. Now we're looking forward to seeing the film!

Some of Roland's stuff is here

Finsbury Town Hall ceilidh

2006-12-19T21:10:00.000Z

It was the official opening of Finsbury Town Hall as a dance venue.
Jeremy's been involved with it, and asked us to come and help with the inauguration.

We also danced around Jane Pfaff's maypole, and joined in with the general dancing.

There were a lot more people there than in the photo, which is Noah and Ezra sorting out the Maypole before everyone arrived.

Dancing for the BBC in Portland Place

2006-12-10T21:05:00.000Z

We were asked to come and teach people some morris dancing for the BBC.
The programme was about the madness of the licensing law, which means that pubs need a special license when there's music being performed there.
Or if pubgoers have a sing-song.
Though not for them to be shouting all evening watching football.
It's part of a series about nutty laws under Labour.

Anyhow, it turns out the premise of the programme was that a pub in London used to have a sing song and what loophole could they use to get round the law.
They could get away with it if the pub was on wheels, or if they were all carrying placards.

Or, if they were Morris dancing. Morris dancers are exempt.

So, we all came in and danced a dance (wonderful place to dance, I wish I'd had my camera), and tried to teach them to do some.
Which would have been alright, but they wanted us to dance to sing-a-long songs. Knees up mother Brown, A long road to Tipperary etc.

We tried, but I think the exercise showed that it didn't work.

33 Portland Place is a great place. it felt somewhat surreal. It's like a stately home that's been used for raves and such like.

You can sign an online pertition about the licensing law here

Humbug! Scrooge in South London

2006-12-07T12:04:00.000Z

For the next week and a bit, Peter J can be seen dancing on stage, nightly, in the South London Theatre's production of A Christmas Carol.

We're talking chocolate box production, a cast of thousands, and fabulous costumes - including the jingling jacket knocked up by wardrobe. The director thought plain whites would be too pristine and we needed some green to go with the production.

I asked for a tattered jacket, and got what you see - a shirt with bells on. It's murder trying to put it on and take it off quietly, backstage. I'll bring it on tour next year perhaps!

Many thanks to the excellent James Denny of Thames Valley Morris Men, who plays a variety of squeezeboxes throughout the production, and persuaded the director to put the dance into the show.

There are more photos here.

This was a dress rehearsal. Before anyone asks, for the actual shows, I have been wearing white socks!

AGM and Feast at the Prince Albert in Battersea

2006-12-02T21:07:00.000Z

A lovely afternoon and evening in the upstairs room at the Prince Albert, just opposite the park gates.

We had our AGM, checking what sort of things to do next year, reviewing this ones, resolving to do the things we'd forgotten since last year's AGM, worked out the holes in the bagman's (my) reckoning etc...

...and then danced for the afternoon. I love the surrealness of dressing in kit for our AGM and dancing for ourselves.

We formally gave Ezra his baldrick, then feasted for the evening, with toasts to absent friends, the Queen, and the immortal memory of Cecil Sharpe; and singing till late.

Many thanks to Michael Runge for finding and arranging the pub.

Teaching the TES

2006-12-01T23:26:00.000Z

"It is as if someone has snipped off the coner of a peaceful Cotsworld village green and dropped it down in this heart of city darkness," says Times Educations Supplement Journalist Stephen Jones.

We taught him some Morris one evening, and he wrote up his experience of in today's paper. Part of the story is here.

Here's a scan of the whole article - with Antony's "gimlet eye", and Ezra's skills coming in for special mention.

Ordinary Boys miss their chance

2006-11-24T06:02:00.000Z

Poised for massive success, pop group The Ordinary Boys could have had it all.

We've never heard their music, and haven't seen Big Brother where lead singer Preston made an appearance.

But now, with their latest video in production, they were ready to take the next step: Morris dancing.

London Pride was booked for a part in the video, as one element of a multi-faceted performance. With our addition, their success was assured.

Unfortunately, it was not to be. One day before filming, we were told the video was "massively overbudget" and we weren't needed. We should unstrap our bells and go back to normal.

We are very sorry. Without our help, the Ordinary Boys may struggle on to some sort of fame. But just think lads. Without Morris dancing, will it really be worth it?