halimium Posted August 19, 2012 Share Posted August 19, 2012 Here My link I saw one guy playing an english concertina, I would have liked to have a chat with him but I was in a bit of a rush & they were all busy making music. Will this type of event die out one day soon? as many of the musicians were 50+. its a shame to see no younger people were taking part to keep British traditions going, but maybe its different across the country? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Steve Mansfield Posted August 20, 2012 Share Posted August 20, 2012 Here My link I saw one guy playing an english concertina, I would have liked to have a chat with him but I was in a bit of a rush & they were all busy making music. Will this type of event die out one day soon? as many of the musicians were 50+. its a shame to see no younger people were taking part to keep British traditions going, but maybe its different across the country? Very different across the country I'm pleased to say, there are many sides with members in their 20s and 30s and some sides exclusively made up of that age-group. The big revival of the 1970s is working its way through, and it may take new forms, but it's a long way from being in danger of dying out. There was quite a bit of press coverage a couple of years back when The Morris Ring suggested 'morris was dying out', where what they actually meant was 'membership of our exclusively male, exclusively cotswold, exclusively over 60 years old Morris Ring sides is dying out' which is a rather different matter ... Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Dave Rogers Posted August 20, 2012 Share Posted August 20, 2012 Looks as though that was "English Miscellany": http://www.englishmiscellany.com/events.html I've not come across them before, but there can't be many sides attempting so many different styles of dancing! Were they good? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
halimium Posted August 21, 2012 Author Share Posted August 21, 2012 Looks as though that was "English Miscellany": http://www.englishmi...com/events.html I've not come across them before, but there can't be many sides attempting so many different styles of dancing! Were they good? Aha! so thats who they were. Yes, the little I managed to see of them was pretty good, a bit of morris dance, a clog dance and some live singing, then I had to go. If they return next summer I will definitely go and watch again for the whole show. I wish it had been more locally advertised as I was just passing by when I happened to hear the music. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
malcolmbebb Posted August 21, 2012 Share Posted August 21, 2012 There was quite a bit of press coverage a couple of years back when The Morris Ring suggested 'morris was dying out', where what they actually meant was 'membership of our exclusively male, exclusively cotswold, exclusively over 60 years old Morris Ring sides is dying out' which is a rather different matter ... Just to keep it straight, in case anyone here doesn't know. And the exclusively male bit applies to dancers, not musicians (always the case, but recently formalised). Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
hjcjones Posted August 28, 2012 Share Posted August 28, 2012 Always the case? That's not my recollection, from 40 years ago when I danced with a side which had some women musicians. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
OLDNICKILBY Posted August 28, 2012 Share Posted August 28, 2012 You should have been in Saddleworth at the weekend.Lots of very young and very fit Dancers.Morris is alive and wellThere were also quite a lot of old and fit dancers. The musicians were pretty good as well Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
malcolmbebb Posted August 28, 2012 Share Posted August 28, 2012 (edited) Always the case? That's not my recollection, from 40 years ago when I danced with a side which had some women musicians. Not wishing to start the whole debate again, but those better informed than me have pointed out that at least one Ring side had a female musician at the time of inception of the Ring, and other sides have had female musicians on and off since. My own side, formed 1967, has always had a female musician (not the same one) and other Ring sides have mentioned long standing female musicians. The anti female musician view, although vociferously expressed by its supporters - most strongly around that time, I believe - does not seem to have ever been universal and was usually quietly worked around to avoid conflicts. But if you want detail, I'm not the person to ask - there are others far better steeped (and more interested) in Morris history than I. (Typo corrected) Edited August 28, 2012 by malcolmbebb Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
gcoover Posted August 28, 2012 Share Posted August 28, 2012 Way back in 1979 I had the good fortune to see the Thaxted Morris Men perform the Abbots Bromley Horn Dance in the High Street at Thaxted. Absolutely magical, could have heard a pin drop. They had a female violin player - they told me it was ok because it was the vicar's daughter! Gary Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Anglo-Irishman Posted August 28, 2012 Share Posted August 28, 2012 Always the case? That's not my recollection, from 40 years ago when I danced with a side which had some women musicians. Well, Malcolm did write: And the exclusively male bit applies to dancers, not musicians (always the case, but recently formalised). which I interpret as allowing non-male musicians. Cheers, John Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
malcolmbebb Posted August 28, 2012 Share Posted August 28, 2012 LOL Don't go there! There has, particularly around the seventies (or so), been a view that women should not dance Morris and, by extension, should not play for it either. Basically a pagan-ish spiritual-ish thing (can't think of the right word), with claimed but largely unfounded historical basis, and some claims to aesthetics (but I won't go there). Gave rise to an impression among many, inside and outside of the Morris Ring, that the otherwise all-male Morris Ring did not permit female musicians (more accurately, permit sides with female musicians to be members of the Ring, since all member sides are independent). Hence the observations, I believe. Mega discussion on Melnet recently. Best avoided here. Morris is too much fun to argue over. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Anglo-Irishman Posted August 29, 2012 Share Posted August 29, 2012 Morris is too much fun to argue over. I like that statement! It's true of a lot of things, especially music! Cheers, John Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Steve Mansfield Posted August 29, 2012 Share Posted August 29, 2012 Morris is too much fun to argue over. Well amen to that. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Lester Bailey Posted August 29, 2012 Share Posted August 29, 2012 Morris is too much fun to argue over. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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