Dance Display – Poole – 20th Nov 2016

*Photo courtesy of  Alan Courtney

Anonymous Morris

We are Anonymous Morris: the finest border morris side in the Poole Old Town area! During the summer we can be found dancing on Poole Quay, outside local pubs, and at many weekend events including folk festivals. We often run workshops at such events.

We dance a mixture of traditional and more modern dances. We welcome dancers of any experience level (including none) and musicians playing any acoustic instrument. We rehearse on Thursday evenings (September to June) from 7:30 pm until 9:30 pm at St James Church Hall, Thames Street, Poole, BH15 1JN.

Please see our website for further details.

Dorset Button Rapper

Dorset Button Rapper were formed about 25 years ago. A few of our founder members attended a rapper workshop at Sidmouth Folk Festival and on return started a Rapper dance side. As many of their wives and partners were dancing with Dorset Button Morris NW ladies side the then new rapper side became Dorset Button Rapper. We are fairly unique in that we dance rapper wearing clogs.

During our 25 year history we have danced in many European countries and the USA. More locally we regularly dance at Chippenham, Wimborne, Wessex, Swanage and Poole folk festivals and Bampton Morris day of dance.

We can also be seen dancing outside many Dorset Pubs during the summer.

As can be seen from our picture we are a mature side and we welcome new dancers.

Dorset Buttons Morris

Dorset Buttons Morris dance side was formed in 1978. The Ladies dance North-West Morris and wear the wooden clogs that were worn by most working people in the 19^th century. Our name comes from the hand-made buttons that were made in Dorset until the 1850s when the introduction of button making machines led to the collapse of the industry. We practise on Wednesday evenings in Wareham and welcome new members. We dance out regularly at local pubs and various festivals through the summer. Contact Helen for information about the North-West dancers or band.

Southern Star

Southern Star are a brand, spanking new longsword dance group, formed just three months ago.  Judith Proctor, their Squire has been teaching longsword since 2010, after originally catching the bug at a convention for Discworld fans.

Looking around for a suitable dance to perform, Southern Star decided to adopt a dance first recorded in Lingdale, Yorkshire in 1936, on the grounds that no one else was dancing it, and it had some really cool-looking moves.

Judith made the mistake of trying to find out all she could about the dance and is now trying to reconcile three different versions of the dance, all using different notation, and a very wobbly black and white film from 1936 which has been transcribed from film to video and from video to DVD with the resulting loss of clarity that you might expect.  Being a serious longsword nut, she’s actually enjoying this process.

Lacking a good photo of Southern Star themselves, you will find a photo of the original Lingdale Primrose team taken by Tony Foxworthy in the early 1960s.

Southern Star Longsword meet in Corfe Mullen Library on Monday evenings at 7:30 and welcome all comers. Find more info on their website.

Sweet Rapper

Formed in November 2004 from members of various morris sides we started practise with borrowed swords and help from Dorset Button Rapper. We studied videos, watched other rapper sides and attended a couple of workshops, hence our rather unique style.

Our musician, Katrina, wrote our music and plays for us on the fiddle.

Over the years we have lost and gained members and we are always looking for new recruits.

We practise fortnightly during the winter on a Tuesday evening in the Fordingbridge area.

Should anyone be interested in joining us please contact Ursula.