UK BBC2 Morris dancing on Culture Show

Subject: UK BBC2 Morris dancing on Culture Show
From: GUEST,Topsie
Date: 06 Apr 06 - 06:45 AM

The Culture Show, tonight, 6 April, 7.0 and 11.20 - Verity Sharp and the "morris dancing revival"!

Subject: RE: UK BBC2 Morris dancing on Culture Show
From: manitas_at_work
Date: 06 Apr 06 - 08:13 AM

Verity Sharp? Any relation?

Subject: RE: UK BBC2 Morris dancing on Culture Show
From: GUEST, Topsie
Date: 06 Apr 06 - 09:03 AM

No connection mentioned here.

http://www.bbc.co.uk/radio3/presenters/verity_sharp.shtml

Subject: RE: UK BBC2 Morris dancing on Culture Show
From: GUEST,JohnB
Date: 06 Apr 06 - 10:27 AM

It's on BBC 2 Television as mentioned here
JohnB

Subject: RE: UK BBC2 Morris dancing on Culture Show
From: GUEST,Sue Cain
Date: 06 Apr 06 - 10:52 AM

Sounds good. It mentions 'Verity Sharp joins them [Morris Offspring] to see if they can breathe new life into this ancient pastime.'
It's a great idea & hopefully more sides are still keeping the tradition alive while, at the same time, having a bit of a play with it & helping it to evolve.
I dance with Boggarts Breakfast Border Morris in Sheffield & on Friday 14th April (about 10pm onwards) we'll be starting off outside Plug night club where they host the Planet Zogg techno party & then we'll be taking to the dance floor to introduce the new concept of Techno Morris. We have often taken Morris dancing to places you wouldn't normally expect to find it such as a protest sites & the old Classic Rock Bar in Sheffield. It's amazing how much people loved it & the bikers at CRB would always join in. They even asked us back time & time again, advertised us on the radio & let us practice in one of the bars. I think the only place where people have been slightly reserved was Walkabout - the Australian theme bar - but we only stayed there for a short time & we were dancing in decorated bras to raise money for breast cancer research at the time so I'm not surprised, really.

Subject: RE: UK BBC2 Morris dancing on Culture Show
From: McGrath of Harlow
Date: 06 Apr 06 - 01:18 PM

'Verity Sharp joins them to see if they can breathe new life into this ancient pastime.'

That sounds a bit ominous to me. "Breathe new life" or "kiss of death"?

Subject: RE: UK BBC2 Morris dancing on Culture Show
From: greg stephens
Date: 06 Apr 06 - 01:23 PM

"Breathing new life" is noramlly much the samew as "making it relevant to young people today". ie a load of journalistic bollocks.

Subject: RE: UK BBC2 Morris dancing on Culture Show
From: Cats
Date: 06 Apr 06 - 02:59 PM

Having just seen the show, I can't agree that it's 'a load of journalistic bollocks'. I'd love to go and see it. These young people are doing what we should be doing, continuing the tradition. If it takes a 'show' to make people realise just what we have got, then so be it. If it makes it relevant to them, then so be it. After all, they did say everything they are doing is morris and if it's a dance for 6 done by 12, so what? Let's not sit back and be prima donnas, let the tradition live. It often takes something like this to make people go back to their roots and find the 'real thing'. Well done Morris Offspring.

Subject: RE: UK BBC2 Morris dancing on Culture Show
From: Les in Chorlton
Date: 06 Apr 06 - 03:09 PM

What? What? Changing bits of morris? People will be painting their faces any colour they like, pinching tunes and making up dances next.

Subject: RE: UK BBC2 Morris dancing on Culture Show
From: Selchie - (RH)
Date: 07 Apr 06 - 05:15 AM

I saw the show last Monday in Worcester, Cats, it was excellent, different & exciting. Morris Offspring's energy depicts the dancing in a very lively, youthful light & they're bringing Morris to the notice of the general public in a positive way.

The Culture Show covered the project in a sympathetic & positive way, (although some of the "more mature" sides I know will not quite match up to what's been portrayed by those young people ~ Never mind lads, keep at it, the more the merrier). :-)

Les ~ "People will be painting their faces any colour they like, pinching tunes and making up dances next" ~ Heaven forbid! :-)

Keep dancing,
Rosie

Subject: RE: UK BBC2 Morris dancing on Culture Show
From: McGrath of Harlow
Date: 07 Apr 06 - 06:14 AM

I wasn't talking about the dancing, or the actual show, which I didn't see - I was expressing my unease about that write up about "see if they can breathe new life into this ancient pastime", which is the kind kof talk that is generally associated with what greg eloquently refers to as "a load of journalistic bollocks."

If it wasn't actually like that, and it sounds as if it wasn't, great. The various Morris traditions have been developing and diversifying in all kinds of remarkable and encouraging ways over the past century, and that is still going on. But the pointy is, it is a tradition, not just a playground for parachuted-in trendies, which is what those words seemed to imply.

Subject: RE: UK BBC2 Morris dancing on Culture Show
From: Paco Rabanne
Date: 07 Apr 06 - 06:19 AM

How can you possibly comment on something you didn't see McGrath? I saw it, and for once the BBC didn't take the piss.

Subject: RE: UK BBC2 Morris dancing on Culture Show
From: GUEST,SQUEEZEBOXHP
Date: 07 Apr 06 - 07:37 AM

the older dancers dance on 10 pints ? is this a team of slackers!
also Beeb 2 moved Whitby abbey into Northumbria for the quick and observant

Subject: RE: UK BBC2 Morris dancing on Culture Show
From: GUEST
Date: 07 Apr 06 - 07:44 AM

Missed it,
had to watch a DVD to appease the 'her indoors' having a sulk
because we dont 'enjoy enough nice* films together'.


[* i.e. bloody vapid "chic flicks" !]


Does culture show get repeated on any other days ?
or any other BBC channels ?

Subject: RE: UK BBC2 Morris dancing on Culture Show
From: Les in Chorlton
Date: 07 Apr 06 - 03:19 PM

I saw bits of it and was quite taken by the drama of it.

I think that is what is sometimes (often?) missing from current Morris - a sense of drama or oddness or something. Morris isn't just people doing jolly country dancing. Although most of us have doubts about its roots etc. it can be exciting and dramatic and to my own surprise I felt that watching the programme.

And just because I won't let it lie ......

.... can those who black up, and offend a probable small minority, white up, green up, rainbow up and join a living vibrant tradition?

Subject: RE: UK BBC2 Morris dancing on Culture Show
From: Santa
Date: 07 Apr 06 - 03:37 PM

If BBC2 did say that Whitby Abbey is in Northumbria, they were right.

It's not in Northumberland. (Or, indeed, many other places.)

Subject: RE: UK BBC2 Morris dancing on Culture Show
From: McGrath of Harlow
Date: 07 Apr 06 - 04:12 PM

I expressed disquiet about the publicity for the programme, not on the programme itself. I don't think I could have been clearer about that.