This time of year, between the festivities of Christmas/New Year and those of St George’s Day/May Day, is a relatively quiet time in the “morris year”. January and February saw many sides dancing at Plough Monday related events and then Wassails. April and May see celebrations of all that is English and of the coming of summer. But what of the intervening weeks?
Well, along with the autumn, this is the traditional time for the “Ale”. A morris party, if you will, where many sides come together in a village hall, share food and drink, renew friendships, dance and play music. A typical evening will have 50 to 100 dancers and 30 to 40 dances. Often these will be commonly known traditional Cotswold dances interspersed with those of other traditions or contemporary dances choreographed by one of the sides. While the former may be known by many and see dozens joining in, the latter are more of a show dance with perhaps just one set of six people.
Red Cuthbert attend a few of these events and are pleased to be invited. We also hope to host one in the autumn. While we have moved away somewhat from the Cotswold repertoire, we join in where we can and dance our own dances where possible. The key things are to have fun and experience the camaraderie of others. Also with a hall full of dancers and musicians it is good to see just how vibrant morris dancing remains.
