Did you notice all the events on our Facebook page? After two years of waiting it is so good to be able to report on a busy month of dancing. We wouldn’t normally be out for four weekends in a row. However the memory of not being able to dance out at all means that we grabbed at the opportunity.
On Saturday April 23rd, St George’s Day no less, we celebrated our tenth anniversary with our friends from Golden Hare. We danced in various spots around Bedford to varying audiences – some of whom seemed quite keen to join us. We also were able to explain morris dancing to a Ukrainian refugee who had settled in the town. We finished the day with a drink or two in The Three Cups.
On Sunday 1st May, we took to the wide open spaces of Great Denham for that most traditional of morris occasions – dancing at dawn on Mayday. The connection between morris and paganism is very tenuous and not at all clear (after all the great revival in the 1920s was led by a vicar). Nevertheless this festival of Beltane is a key point in the morris year. Being a weekend helped and so a hardy band in red and black assembled at 5.15am and danced the sun up. A lovely breakfast was enjoyed afterwards.
The following week saw the return of The Elstow Village May Fair. An event that goes back many decades and one which we were delighted to be able to dance at. The sun came out as did the crowds. It is always good to perform for a large audience although dancing on grass is not always the easiest. Still, a good time was had by all and the local Red Lion pub proved a good refreshment stop.
The final of the four weekends saw us venture outside of the Borough for the first time post-pandemic. We were invited to join a number of other morris sides for Baldock Midnight Morris’s Day of Dance, part of the Baldock Festival. Various spots were arranged around the town centre and a bustling crowd enjoyed the performances.
So a busy month to kick off the summer. In a few weeks we head to Yorkshire for the Cleckheaton Folk Festival but we also have other danceouts arranged around the local area. Do check out our Facebook page for updates and get in touch if you’d like to join in the fun!
