Dance Display – Norwich – 19th feb 2014
20 Blank Plain
Norwich
NR2 4SF
Golden Star Morris
Golden Star is a lively Morris side based in Norwich. In summer evenings you’ll often find us dancing outside a city pub or maybe a village pub somewhere in Norfolk. We also perform at events and festivals around England and beyond, including Ely Folk Festival, The Gate to Southwell Folk Weekend and Shannonside Winter Music weekend in Ireland.
We dance Cotswold Morris with sticks and hankies. Our repertoire includes the seldom seen tradition of Juniper Hill. Accompanied by our official Fool and our hobby horse Champion, we endeavour to give a lively performance and we hope the audience enjoy watching us dance as much as we enjoy dancing.
The side takes its name from the Golden Star Pub on Colegate, where the side was formed in 1979, with the landlord even giving us a donation towards kit! Being a mixed side in 1979 was considered by some quite radical, and Golden Star has continued in its somewhat irreverent and unconventional attitude ever since. Some years later the side was barred from the pub for ‘making too much noise with those bells’. Happily today we are once again at liberty to enjoy a pint or five in our spiritual home!
www.facebook.com/goldenstarmorris
Kemps Men
Formed in 1956, Kemps take their name from Will Kemp, an Elizabethan comic actor, member of Shakespeare’s company and Morris dancer extraordinaire. In 1600 he danced from London to Norwich [117 miles] as a publicity stunt, the Nine Daies Wonder – re enacted in 2000 involving morris dancers from all over the UK.
Kemp’s Men have an extensive repertoire of dances from more than a dozen Cotswold traditions and their own “Norwich Upon Wensum”dances which incorporate figures from the Norfolk Long Dance and are named after Norfolk people, places or events. Their style is vigorous and energetic. Kemps wear loden coloured breeks, yellow socks, white shirtsand green and yellow baldricks with a cast brass of the Norwich arms to the front and “little willies”, depicting Will Kemp, but no hats. All dancers are male and their ages range from 15 to 93! Male and female musicians play a range of instruments and so the music sessions, pre and après dance, are a part of Kemp’s culture.
Pedants Revolt
Back in 2009, a group of like-minded individuals sat and pondered
Were jelly babies really better than Fox’s Dark Glacier mints?
Whose turn was it to buy the cake and coffee?
Was London Pride really nearly, but not quite, as nice as Adnams Broadside?
Where should you put the apostrophe in St James’ Hill?
Was our favourite colour Magenta 7 or Magenta 8?
Thus were born Pedants’ Revolt. Inspired by a border team from the
dark side of the A14, Pedants’ soon had a repertoire of 3 or 4
dances. We now have over a dozen dances, some learnt from other
teams, some of our own devising.
Our dances are performed in the Border style of the English Morris.
We are based in Norwich, Norfolk and practise regularly on a Wednesday evening.
We do not have a website, but can be followed on Facebook
Centre Stage School of Dance
Centre Stage School of Dance opened in Thetford in October 2011. Right from the very start, we wanted dance classes to be accessible to all. Our main objective is to provide affordable dance lessons while still receiving quality dance training. But most importantly to make it FUN! Over time, we’ve expanded to offer more classes and Centre Stage has just opened a second school in Wymondham.
Children learn ballet, tap, modern jazz and musical theatre at Centre Stage and there is also a ‘Mini Groovers’ class for toddlers. For the adults there is ‘Dancercise’ and tap classes