1 Have to agree with smallpiper's comments on general ridicule of Morris at the expense of other forms of ethnic dance. All equally valuable cultural expressions but not given equal weight in the media. How many times have so-called "multi-cultural" events not included England's indigenous culture? How's that for building inter-community understanding? Is there some perverse PC-reverse discrimination going on? Its wider than just the BBC but I suspect BBC are reflecting this wider context.

2 I recall an episode of Excess Baggage on BBC Radio 4 reporting from Cambridge Festival last year. Reporter dismissed English music on offer with a comment like: "its all to do with naff morris dancing isn't it? Not worth seeing what that's about then - we know what it will be like."

3 Would refer to current and recent unrelated threads concerning quality of performance. The "its alright its only fok music" attitude of complacency must transmit a lack of professionalism, preparedness etc to any audience (new to the genre or steeped in it). How many times have I heard people say they can't stand folk music when their experience has been one I would be disappointed by - but I know there are better experiences out there.

Mavis