Guest 703- Registered: 30 Jul 2010
- Posts: 2,096
2 January 2011
21:0887378Well Howard did rather put out a challenge and happy to take it up
There was a brilliant program about traditional dance in the towns and villages of England on BBC4 a couple of weeks before Christmas, it's still available on iPlayer and will probably be repeated.
http://www.bbc.co.uk/iplayer/episode/b00wgrtr/Still_Folk_Dancing..._After_All_These_Years/
A lot of these were modern or resurrected traditions, and most of them would send the health and safety guys doolally, especially as they are mostly based around a considerable amount of imbibing. The main message of the program was the people love them, they're great for building community spirit even in those who have no real interest in the tradition, and are good for promoting the towns and bringing in visitors.
Deal have had their Hoodeners revived about 10 or 12 years ago and have an annual folk festival, and Whitstable revived their Oyster festival quite recently and it's a successful crowd puller. I'm not ignoring that we have the Dover Pageant but this is a serious question for the local historians out there - is there a maritime based dance or musical tradition that could be revived in Dover?
Guest 649- Registered: 12 Mar 2008
- Posts: 14,118
2 January 2011
21:5287385Morris dancing i love it ,my brother was in a Dover team in the 1950s in the summer weeks we would never see him always out with the Morris men bells round his legs etc and the wooden stick.
howard mcsweeney1- Location: Dover
- Registered: 12 Mar 2008
- Posts: 62,352
2 January 2011
22:0887388good to see ray and vic coming out of the cupboard on the issue of maurice dancers.
Guest 649- Registered: 12 Mar 2008
- Posts: 14,118
2 January 2011
22:2787390Howard,I would love to have ago sometime after i get my leg right
Guest 660- Registered: 14 Mar 2008
- Posts: 3,205
2 January 2011
22:3887392Wasn't that why you went to Hospital Vic to have your legs shortened so your bells hang round your knees........sorry had to read your post again yes it was bells
If you knew what I know,we would both be in trouble!
Guest 653- Registered: 13 Mar 2008
- Posts: 10,540
3 January 2011
08:2487400The Pageant doesn't run any more, maybe you meant the Regatta Ray ?
I'm not sure what to say about Morris dancing; it does look quaint and amusing on a summer's day sitting in a pub garden; I guess the guys have to be quite fit too.
Bells or balls, they're still bouncing against their legs.
Roger
Keith Sansum1
- Location: london
- Registered: 25 Aug 2010
- Posts: 23,942
3 January 2011
08:2887402Morris dancers do draw crowds
i was recentl in hastings where there was a morris dancers day(not the title)
and it did draw crowds
ALL POSTS ARE MY OWN PERSONAL VIEWS
Brian Dixon
- Location: Dover
- Registered: 23 Sep 2008
- Posts: 23,940
3 January 2011
09:3887413Guest 649- Registered: 12 Mar 2008
- Posts: 14,118
3 January 2011
09:5887416It is Bells lads not balls around the legs.
Guest 703- Registered: 30 Jul 2010
- Posts: 2,096
3 January 2011
10:1987420Roger, I did mean the Pageant, knew it wasn't on every year but didn't realise it had been dropped.
Morris dancing isn't just about blokes waving hankies and jingling bells round their ankles, there are several styles that are very energetic and look quite aggressive. But it is also becoming very popular generally and the newer styles are popular with a younger generation.
One of the resurrected traditions in the program involved about 100 dancers pulling a cart loaded about 15 feet high with reeds and two rowan trees and an elderly dancer on top to all the pubs in the parish - I recommend watching the program if it's repeated, loads of music, dancing, fun, beer and fertility rites
howard mcsweeney1- Location: Dover
- Registered: 12 Mar 2008
- Posts: 62,352
3 January 2011
10:4287426ray
in respect of the last paragraph, can i ask why they do it?
Sue Nicholas- Location: river
- Registered: 12 Mar 2008
- Posts: 6,025
3 January 2011
11:0187439Old country tradition Howard .you have to be brought up in the sticks to understand these quaint ways .I lived in rural Essex and the Morris Men travelled from town to town Thaxed well known Famous Gustav Holst .
We had quaint ways fertilty rights and all that .
Guest 703- Registered: 30 Jul 2010
- Posts: 2,096
3 January 2011
12:3187464Howard, it was probably an old tradition with origins lost in the mists of time but likely a pagan type celebration of the harvest gone.
Im modern times, the first half of the paragraph is the excuse for the second half of the paragraph
Guest 700- Registered: 11 Jun 2010
- Posts: 2,868
3 January 2011
12:4887467Whether it's folk, morris, or strictly - Keep Dancing !! I love it, wish I could do some again... especially the Latin ....
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Lincolnshire Born and Bred
Terry Nunn
- Location: London Road, Dover
- Registered: 12 Mar 2008
- Posts: 4,316
3 January 2011
13:4187496Never really been certain about men dancing, banging sticks together and hitting each other with a pig's bladder!
Nevertheless, it does look jolly and I might even be at the seafront on Mayday if the East Kent Morris Men are there to greet the dawn!
Terry
Quis custodiet ipsos custodes?
Terry Nunn- Location: London Road, Dover
- Registered: 12 Mar 2008
- Posts: 4,316
3 January 2011
13:5487502Here they are in 2008, "upsticks" and greeting the dawn.
Terry
Quis custodiet ipsos custodes?
Brian Dixon- Location: Dover
- Registered: 23 Sep 2008
- Posts: 23,940
3 January 2011
15:3887538which one is morris.
Keith Sansum1- Location: london
- Registered: 25 Aug 2010
- Posts: 23,942
4 January 2011
15:3487696i bet when howard started this thread he didnt expect so many replies
my post 7 says how effective it can be, as have others.
may not be liked by everyone but managed properly can be a crowd puller
ALL POSTS ARE MY OWN PERSONAL VIEWS
howard mcsweeney1- Location: Dover
- Registered: 12 Mar 2008
- Posts: 62,352
4 January 2011
17:0787725this is ray's thread keith, he started it in response to a comment i made about morris dancing on another thread.
just his way of getting back at me.
Guest 703- Registered: 30 Jul 2010
- Posts: 2,096
4 January 2011
17:1187727Yes, Howard said he probably wouldn't find a post on the merits of Morris Dancing interesting so wouldn't read it.
Gotcha
