Dave Rogers Posted January 7, 2009 Share Posted January 7, 2009 What celebrities would you choose to be on it? Bruce Forsyth and Jim Davidson for a start. They've both got "previous" with Herga and Hammersmith Morris on the Generation Game. And the exertion might see them both off. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Hereward Posted January 7, 2009 Share Posted January 7, 2009 What celebrities would you choose to be on it? I'm not too up on the lightbulb faces of today but I like Peter's idea of Frank Bruno. He has the best laugh I have yet heard and that would be bound to make for a good show. Ian Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
michael sam wild Posted January 7, 2009 Share Posted January 7, 2009 There wa a massive expansion of dance teams in the 70s and that generation is now getting on a bit. Was it records like Morris On or the younger post hippy types looking for'authenticity' or Pan's People dancing to Potsmouth on Top of the Pops?! What goes round comes round and we've got loads of archival records and survivors to help the next revivalists. Maybe it's a bit like a clematis, it needs cutting back to remove dead wood and stimulate new growth I've got 5 lads , none of whom want to be morris men like I was, althoug they have fond memories of their younger dad's and their antics. but somebody somewhere sometime will I'm sure Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
michael sam wild Posted January 7, 2009 Share Posted January 7, 2009 (edited) Just a little addendum. I'm not good at listing other web pages but try this from Damon, son of a morrris man. Scroll down till you find the Sheffield badge with his dad on it http://www.noiseheatpower.com/badges2.htm Edited January 7, 2009 by michael sam wild Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Paul Read Posted January 7, 2009 Share Posted January 7, 2009 I hope it's not a preview of things that I'll live to see. Het Utrechts Morris Team Happy Together http://uk.youtube.com/watch?v=w-ZpxEMW-Es&...re=channel_page These lads certainly get around; looks like the Cotswolds, England, although I'm not certain of the village (Chipping Camden?). I last saw this team dancing in the Loire Valley, France, on a tour organised by the Hong Kong Morris Men (Easter 1995). I'm not one to nit-pick Peter....but I will. It's The Hong Kong Morris. Also, in this case it would have been the Brackets (i.e. Hong Kong Morris (UK) ) Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
michael sam wild Posted January 7, 2009 Share Posted January 7, 2009 Follow those links on YouTube for CropredyBadger, great videos and tunes that's the future for Morris!! Old wine in new bottles The only danger is break dancing with real breaks caused by osteoporosis Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Ivan Viehoff Posted January 7, 2009 Share Posted January 7, 2009 Since Morris predates the invention of concertinas and button accordions by some centuries, their introduction was, in its day, an updating of tradition, and I suspect much deprecated by conservatives at the time. Even the violin was probably an innovation at some point. So we concertinists are hardly in a position to criticise those who are introducing still more modern instruments and allowing the music to move forward with the times. Those who have done this and been successful attracting in young people, and providing a more exciting display with more accomplished dancing, seem to me to be the future. In fact, when, as at say Upton-on-Severn folk festival, one sees the huge variety that is today present in Morris, that is far more interesting than seeing a narrow repertoire performed to uniform standards. Moreover the great variety suggests a very lively tradition, not something dying out. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
SteveP Posted January 7, 2009 Share Posted January 7, 2009 well they revived interest in ballroom with strictly come dancing...maybe they should do a strictly come morris dancing? I suggested this very thing a couple of years ago on the BBC Folk & Acoustic forum (in the faint hope that someone on high in the BBC might get to read it), and what fun we had suggesting names. Off the top of my head, an (all male) six - Len Goodman (judge from Strictly...) Paul Gascoigne Julian Clary Noel Gallagher Jeremy Paxman Jay-Z Of course, if you let women join in (and why not) you have Jordan, Peaches Geldof, Ann Widecombe.... Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Dave Rogers Posted January 7, 2009 Share Posted January 7, 2009 Of course, if you let women join in (and why not) you have Jordan, Peaches Geldof, Ann Widecombe.... Ann Widecombe? Is that fair? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
PeterT Posted January 7, 2009 Share Posted January 7, 2009 I hope it's not a preview of things that I'll live to see. Het Utrechts Morris Team Happy Together http://uk.youtube.com/watch?v=w-ZpxEMW-Es&...re=channel_page These lads certainly get around; looks like the Cotswolds, England, although I'm not certain of the village (Chipping Camden?). I last saw this team dancing in the Loire Valley, France, on a tour organised by the Hong Kong Morris Men (Easter 1995). I'm not one to nit-pick Peter....but I will. It's The Hong Kong Morris. Also, in this case it would have been the Brackets (i.e. Hong Kong Morris (UK) ) Hi Paul, This is interesting, and I've had to do some research: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Hong_Kong_Morris I can only speak from personal experience, which is as follows. There was a chap, called Keith, who used to dance with North Wood Morris Men when he was back in the UK, from Hong Kong. I don't know his surname, but he was known as "Hong Kong Keith" to avoid confusion with another Keith. By the way, HK Keith played a bit of Anglo. He also owned a property in the Loire Valley, hence the tour. Bearing in mind the date (1995), the British would have been heading back to the UK, so might explain the other branch. I'm just a simple musician, and my negotiation to go on this trip took place in a pub, over the course of two Thursdays (I was not playing for North Wood at the time, but they were short of a musician). Don't recall any HKM women dancers; though. Think I would have noticed! Maybe they did not have enough for a side. Regards, Peter. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Dave Rogers Posted January 7, 2009 Share Posted January 7, 2009 Since Morris predates the invention of concertinas and button accordions by some centuries, their introduction was, in its day, an updating of tradition, and I suspect much deprecated by conservatives at the time. Indeed. I've read somewhere that a lot of Cotswold dancers gave up in disgust when the fiddle began to oust the pipe and tabor, claiming that they just couldn't dance without the regular beat provided by the taborer. More recently, I've heard dancers complain about Morris musicians who also play for social dancing, on the grounds that they get too legato and lose the stacato bite that good Morris needs. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Chris Timson Posted January 7, 2009 Share Posted January 7, 2009 To be honest, I don't think it's the Morris but the Morris Ring that's in decline. There's good young Morris being danced (Morris Offspring, anyone?) and there's some pretty radical Moris being danced, but none of it by Ring sides. I can believe they're ageing, but then who'd want to belong to an organisation that is so exclusive and so resistant to change when you're young? I wonder if the views of the Morris Federation (to which my side belongs) and Open Morris would be the same? Chris Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Robin Harrison Posted January 7, 2009 Share Posted January 7, 2009 Maybe it's a bit like a clematis, it needs cutting back to remove dead wood and stimulate new growth Agree totally. The Morris will never die out but if it went back to it's pre-70's revival size , I wouldn't be concerned or upset at all. I would far rather be part of a movement that people were surprised and intrigued to see than the common "not another bloody Morris side when I'm doing my shopping " attitude. Robin Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
spindizzy Posted January 7, 2009 Share Posted January 7, 2009 Maybe it's a bit like a clematis, it needs cutting back to remove dead wood and stimulate new growth Agree totally. The Morris will never die out but if it went back to it's pre-70's revival size , I wouldn't be concerned or upset at all. I would far rather be part of a movement that people were surprised and intrigued to see than the common "not another bloody Morris side when I'm doing my shopping " attitude. Robin One of the BBC news snippets yesterday showed (and interviewed) a team of young border morris dancers, mayber around 10 -12 yrs old. Great raggedy costumes and they seemed to be enjoying themselves (no blackface makeup though :-) Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Bill N Posted January 7, 2009 Author Share Posted January 7, 2009 To be honest, I don't think it's the Morris but the Morris Ring that's in decline. There's good young Morris being danced (Morris Offspring, anyone?) and there's some pretty radical Moris being danced, but none of it by Ring sides. I can believe they're ageing, but then who'd want to belong to an organisation that is so exclusive and so resistant to change when you're young? I wonder if the views of the Morris Federation (to which my side belongs) and Open Morris would be the same? Chris I belong to a brand new Long Sword side here in Canada, which is actually an off-shoot of the local chapter of the Royal Scottish Country Dance Society, so we're not plugged into the politics of Morris. Our dancers are for the most part early-to-middle-middle aged gents, but the band has a wider demographic, including an honest-to-god twenty-something. We're not too hidebound in tradition, since we haven't been steeped in it over here, especially our musicians. We do make an effort to be "authentic", although this thread has opened my eyes a bit on that score! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Bill N Posted January 7, 2009 Author Share Posted January 7, 2009 Hi Bill I hope it's not a preview of things that I'll live to see. Leo Maybe I should get one of those midi concertinas! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
LDT Posted January 7, 2009 Share Posted January 7, 2009 Maybe I should get one of those midi concertinas! Can you turn the volume all the way up to 11? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Hereward Posted January 7, 2009 Share Posted January 7, 2009 Can you turn the volume all the way up to 11? I hope so. Then you can drown out the melodeons for once. Ian (ex-melodeon player and fan of the film too) Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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