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Braybrooke Morris Dancers Web site

Alternativley Please click on the link below which will take you to the
Braybrooke Morris Dancers Gallery Page

Walton Gallery Page 07/05/2015  

East Langton Gallery Page  19/05/2015

Foxton Gallery Page 21/05/2015

Hallaton Gallery Page 28/05/2015

Friday 1st May The Swan Braybrooke - celebrating the arrival of Summer ??

On May Day evening The Swan at Braybrooke saw the side back in action accompanied again by Hips 'n' Haws for the second time in 8 days, this time to sing and dance the Summer in. With an audience swelled by Friday nighters at the pub and visitors like Mae and her husband , Alana , Jonathan Unna and his wife and several more, they were well entertained until it got dark and cold at which point all retired insde for a buffet supper and songs.
The dancing had been good and shared between Braybrooke and Hips 'n' Haws. After dancing both of my 'pair' of dances the previous night at Brixworth I decided to go on again for the second time in two nights. It was only when dancing that I realised how steep the carpark is at The Swan - one dance was enough and I 'pulled up lame" - I had to push it and now I know the limits (whether I stick to them who know's)
It was also nice to celebrate David's Eighty first birthday with Chocolate Cake complete with Maypole and a Balloon dance from Hips 'n' Haws

Click on Pictures below for videos

Balloon Dance

Rose Tree

Constant Billy

30th April 2015 The George at Brixworth - Dancing out at a New Venue

The George at Brixworth was the first of several New Venues in the 2015 season, and a very good evening it was too. With a flat dancing surface to the rear of the pub ,which makes life easier.  Wearing our new 'Casual' uniform of black trousers , white shirt and red neckerchief and bells ,we danced for an hour and a half to a lively and interested audience from the Pub. Non moreso than 'Mine Host' Gary who came out with a large bowl of chips and sausages 'to keep us warmed up' they didn't last long . There were a good number of the audience join, in for 'Shepherds Hay' lead by Pauline in her usual enthusiastic style with Gary the Landlord cheering us on. 'Green Garters was sung about 9.30pm followed by Sally and Pauline dancing Lively Jig by the finish of which it was getting quite chilly.
It's nice to know when your efforts are appreciated and no better way to show it than a bowl of sausage and chips -
 Many Thanks to Gary and his staff for their Hospitality we'll be back in 2016

Click the pictures below for Video 

Constant Billy

Black Joke

Shepherds Hey

UPDATE ON KEITH

Keith has now had his first dance out with Sheffield City Morris - I never has Keith down as a Green Trousers Man

FIRST DANCE OUT 2015 THE SWAN AT BRAYBROOKE 23rd April 2015

The first dance out of the 2015 season was interesting for several reasons  Spurred on by the activities of another Person wth Parkinson's ,I set myself the challenge of dancing 2 Morris Dances with the side on St Georges day to raise funds for The Cure Parkinson's Trust I faced my challenge outside the Swan  in Braybrooke .

I'm not the prettiest of dancers - not helped by the fact that the laces at the bottom of my bells came undone allowing 4 or 5 bells to fall off and the lace dragged on the ground. ready to trip me up and I had forgotten that the Swan Car Park is on a slope

With a reasonable sized audience looking on it was a pleasant spring evening, which we shared with our old friends Hips 'n' Haws  resplendent in their new Blue and Yellow costume (at least I hadn't seen it before.. The evening ended in failing light with Shepherds Hey – with quite a few of the audience joining in.

 A total of £1207 including Gift Aid has made it's way to The Cure Parkinson's Trust - £54 being raised at the Swan on Thursday. It is interesting that I had donations from several people who I do not actually know and some who remained anonymous.It has taken me until Sunday to get feeling 'right' and my legs stop aching but having dance out for the first time I intend to continue dancing to help the side out as we are short of dancers. I will be looking to add a couple more dances to the repertoire. I may not be up to dancing every week, with PD no one know's what each day will bring but I will dance as often as I can as it has done me some good in relation to my overall co-ordination. 

MANY THANKS TO ALL WHO SUPPORTED ME BY DONATING to THE CURE PARKINSON’S TRUST.

Last Practice for Bill's Morris Dance Challenge 13th April 2015

The last chance for improvement in Bill's Dancing came and went at last Monday's Practice. Due to an error by the Northants Telegraph in stating that the challenge was back to back dancing of Constant Billy and Bluebells of Scotland we decided to give it a go. In fact we danced Constant Billy once and Bluebells of Scotland twice consecutively (3 dances in succession) - It was fine on the night but the price has been paid Tuesday and Wednesday. So 8 days to go to St Georges Day 23rd - and I am really looking forwards to it.

Constant Billy Challenge update 30th March 2015

The latest video sows the continued improvement of Bill's attempts at 'Constant Billy' ready for 23rd April 2015 at The Swan in Braybrooke at around 7.45pm. The current standing of his Justgiving page for The Cure Parkinson's Trust is
£ 460 plus Gift Aid- plenty of time left to make a donation and thanks to the side for supporting this challenge and getting me going.

Progress with Skirmish was a little less evident with a mix up at the start between dancers of who was clashing sticks with whom - soon resolved and back to normal

It all happens on practice night at Braybrooke Village Hall 30th March 2015

What Happens when the lights go out
So there we were , at our best demonstrating Jenny Lind to Lesley and Margaret who had come along to see if they would like to have a go , when in the middle of a set of double time strikes the lights in the Village Hall flickered and went out. In total darkness the side carried on with great accuracy - not a scream or yelp at fingers smacked by a stick - such practised accuracy they can do it in the dark. Looks like the culprit was a lightening flash as when we got home  all the clocks had reset to 12.00

Note this is not an April Fools prank - watch the video and see

Thursday 5th March 2015 - Market Harborough Tangent Club

A demonstration to members of the Market Harborough Tangent Club was a roaring success - a brief back ground to Morris Dancing delivered by Squire David Ball was followed by the Side demonstrating several dances including 'Constant Billy' , 'Black Joke' , and 'Smash the Windows' with David and Secretary Pauline sharing a Duet.  (Apparently it was David's first time for this one)

There was no problem when it came to getting the audience involved as everyone wanted to join in. With everyone kitted out with bells, hankies and sticks there was participation in 3 dances  "Room for the Cuckolds" and "Shepherds Hay" with "Bonny Green Garters" to finish. All agreed it was a 'Fun night' We have to hope there maybe some interest to follow on.
Goes to show how much fun Morris Dancing can be.

Thanks to the members of the Tangent Club for inviting us - we all thoroughly enjoyed it as the videos show

Latest Publicity- Morris Dancing on Radio Leicester

Clueless with Julie Mayer - BBC Radio Leicester Sunday 1st March 2015

We will go to any lengths to attract attention to our cause of recruiting new dancers. Pauline was quick to take up the offer from BBC Radio Leicester for hiding a clue by her Oil Tank which is disguised as a church - complete with clock tower. Never one to miss an opportunity Pauline was kitted out in full bells and Baldricks  waiting for the arrival of on the road presenter Julie Mayer to find the next clue. When Julie arrived about 11.30 Pauline soon had her kitted up for a quick 'stick dance' - with a very short burst of  music provided by Rowena and Bill. The clue was found and as Julie fought her way out of her Baldricks 

Pauline got in a plug for our recruitment drive and the promise of a telephone interview on Radio Leicester - so well done 'P'

Julie Mayer arives

Kitted up by Pauline

A quick stick dance

Julie heads for the Oil Tank

             

Julie finds the clue

Of to Smeeton Westerby 

Winter Solstice 21/12/2014 - The Witchmen at the Lilacs Isham

Celebrating the shortest day and the coming turning of the year with its looking forwards to the re-birth of spring - truthfully it was a good way to spend a couple of hours on a Sunday afternoom watching a variety of sides having a great time and having a couple of beers as Rowena was driving. And avoiding diving into Aldi near the A14 for that bit of last minute preparation for the one day that the shops are shut - Christmas Day.
It was a great afternoon with some good dancing and a jovial atmosphere under the ever watchful eye of the Green Man and Santa Clause. It will soon be time for The January Man to start leading his brothers through the endless journey through the years - lest hope 2015 is a good one for everyone.

                                                             

     

 Yes it is Allana in her Bourne Borders Rags and Tatters

 - but who's her pal with the beer.

The Green Man watches on 

Black Horse Foxton Village 15th December 2014

A good pre-Christmas evening of music and merriment and some excellent home made nibbles and some enthusiastic singing - including the 13 days of Christmas , from Pauline , Marrow bones from Fiddler Dave , While Shepherds watched to the alternative tune (Ilkley Moor) , and alternative version of Gaudette , Bill (Melodeon) put words to 'Jockey to the Fair' - bound to cause confusion with the numbers of 'A's and 'B' s. Sadly Boars Head Carol floundered in the absence of Geoff the Bagman.
A jolly good time was had by all, in spite of the odd looks we got from time to time from the Bar staff.

Friday 28th November Desborough Late Night Gala

Out and about again for Desborough's late night event which also coincided with the Christmas Tree Fayre at St. Giles Church.  Desborough's Christmas lights were switched on by Widow Twankey , helped along by The Ice Queen and Aladdin's Genie - all from Kettering's Lighthouse Theater 2014 Panto. Tried recruiting them but they declined 

It was good fun trying to find enough room between stalls, Fire Engines and ponies/donkey's ( couldn't make out which they were in the dark as I only ever saw their backends)  Next week it's Harborough Christmas Fayre - lets hope there is a bit more 'illumination than there was in Desborough.

There are a couple of Video clips below the gallery 

Not much happens in the closed season Except Practice Nights

Practice Night 24th November 2014

A suggestion had been made to see if we could fit  Lively Jig to " Don't stop the Cavalry" - a Christmas Time tune ( but not really a Christmas song). There wasn't really enough time to make it fit but we have managed to use PC assistance to demonstrate it could work with a tweak here and there

There were odd bits of confusion which made it the usual Practice evening fun!!

Friday 31st October 2014 Ghosties and Ghoulies and Long Legged Beasties and things that go Bump! in the night

Out and about again. This time exchanging Sticks for Light Sabres. The problem is they don't make a noise and you can't bang them on the ground. Still all had a great time at East Carlton Park's Halloween invent. The place was packed! There were Spooky Tours and Ghost Trains. It looked like a fantastic success.  All the side dressed for the occasion. Squire David dressed up as the Invisible Man and disappeared from just about every picture (photographing Black Cats in Coal Cellars comes to mind).  Pauline, Brenda, and Sally dressed for a night out in 'Harboro. Rowena's Vampyre Fairy was attributed to too much Gin.  Thanks to Jonathan for turning up as this let me off to use the camera.    Finaly thanks to Rowland for getting the picture of the night the only time the flash went off  for him.  A few samples below - there are more pictures in the Website Gallery

Rowland's Photograph