The Beast from the East was back! Russian snow! Just the weather for a day of dance! There is a saying in Suffolk that “there’s nothing between us and the Urals”. For once local lore and the Met Office agreed: the sun was not to shine on Oxblood Molly’s 4th Day of Dance in Halesworth.
Oxblood Molly (photo John Heaser)
FOLK legends Steeleye Span are in a celebratory mood as they are about to set off on a 20-date UK tour to commemorate their 50th Anniversary!
Many members have come and gone, but vocalist Maddy Prior is still there, as she was back in 1969.
Speaking at her home, Maddy, expresses an unusual emotion about the milestone.“Surprise more than anything,” she says. “Nobody sets off intending to last 50 years.”
All My Life’s Buried Here – The Story of George Butterworth
The Diss Corn Hall will be showing this new documentary film about George Butterworth, the English composer, Morris dancer and folk song collector who was killed in 1916 at Pozières, France during the Battle of the Somme aged just 31. In the chaos of war Butterworth was buried where he fell and his remains were never subsequently identified.
The film will be shown on Wednesday 27th February 2019 at 10.30am and at 7.30pm. Following each performance there will be a Q & A session with the director Stewart Hajdukiewicz
A trailer for the film is available at www.georgebutterworth.co.uk
Tickets are available from the Corn Hall box office.
Read more: MORRIS SHORTS - Brief news from the world of Morris - Updated February 2019
“Me pals were all agog at the kit of the mollies, misfits and glorious champions hailing from Good Easter to the Washes and who got the blood racing on the Mark Jones Day of Dance in January.”
How many references to Molly sides can you find in the above sentence? Contrived I know, but somewhere you will find references to all the molly sides who were dancing on that day. No prizes for getting them all right.
Some years ago Cotswold Morris and Molly dancer Mark Jones tragically lost his life in a car accident and this Day of Dance, organised by Ouse Washes Molly Dancers in and around Ely, is regularly held in his memory. With Ouse Washes, gathering to mark the occasion were Gog Magog, Good Easter Molly Gang, Kit Witches, Mepal Molly, Misfits, Old Glory, Oxblood and Seven Champions – Molly dancers all. One of Mark’s favourite songs was “Rolling Home” and at the first stop this was the music for a massed molly dance “Birds a Building”.
Ouse Washes get things started at the Mark Jones Day of Molly Dance
The Lowestoft Longshoremen were formed about 10 years ago when a group of like-minded individuals joined together, once a week, to indulge in their passion for ‘songs of the sea’.
The aim of the group, at that time, was to enjoy each other’s company and make occasional performances at local public houses.
As the years rolled by, members came and went and they now have only 2 of the original group, one of whom left for some years, before recently returning to the fold.
Review by Jonathan Hooton
“In Christmas time, and especially on plough Monday, several Men dresse themselves in Womens Close and goes from House to House a Dancing along with fiddles” so the entry in the Arderon papers at the Norfolk Record Office reads. It dates from the mid 18th century.
This was the inspiration behind the formation of the Norwich Kitwitches Molly side. Like many of the traditional sides we do not start practising until November and only dance out in December and January. Being a 21st century Molly side, we are mixed and therefore the women have to dress as men, dressed as women. Perhaps it was this fact that led Andrew Logan to ask us to dance in the 2018 Alternative Miss World, whilst the judges were making up their mind as to which of the contestants had won the coveted crown. This was the reason why we broke with tradition to dance in October on stage at the Globe. It was combined with dancing on the South Bank and outside the Globe as the audience was entering. Luckily it was fine weather. We stood at the side of the stage for most of the show and our pantomime dame outfits, wigs and make-up did not look out of place amongst an audience of alternative Londoners. We had been asked to provide ten minutes entertainment at the final interval before the winner was to be crowned Alternative Miss World 2018. There was time for two dances and the stage at the Globe was large enough for two sets as well as the musicians. We started with the traditional Comberton Molly dance ‘The Special’ published by Cyril Papworth. It is a linked handkerchief dance but instead of handerchiefs the Kitwitches have always used bras which seemed very appropriate for that evening. We have also added a final figure – the lock – similar to Rapper sides, but with underwear instead of swords and inspired by the Illmington Maid of the Mill dance. It was well received and we finished off with one of our own Norwich dances, ‘The Witch’ with its now, fairly traditional zombie ending. It was a rare but thoroughly enjoyable outing to the capital, but now we need to prepare ourselves for Plough Monday and the winter weather in Norfolk.
