Songlines World Music News » morris dancing

It’s Got Bells On – morris dancing gets airtime

Alexandra Petropoulos — Tue, 13 Dec 2011 10:52:05 +0000

Last night, comedian Stewart Lee gave morris dancing time to shine of the programme, It’s Got Bells On, as part of Radio 2′s Dance Season.

A tradition that has been thought doomed to extinction, even by its own members, has received little attention apart from jests and jibes. Stewart Lee, though a comedian, is an English traditional music and dance enthusiast and aims to set the record straight on his programme.

Lee is joined by Ashley Hutchings and John Kirkpatrick,who boosted the revival in the 1970s with electric morris. Lee also speaks to Tim Plester whose documentary The Way of the Morris rediscovers the power of morris dancing.

The show strives to show how morris is an evolving tradition thanks to young musicians and dancers like Jim Moray, Laurel Swift, The Demon Barbers and the Belles of London City.

The programme aired last night, but you can still catch it on BBC iPlayer here.

A perfect example of the changing face of morris is the the show Time Gentlemen Please!, which adds hip hop in the mix.

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Find your Morris Dancing roots at the Open City documentary festival

NatH — Fri, 17 Jun 2011 10:00:46 +0000

Way of the Morris – a film by Tim Plester charting the story of his home village Adderbury and its morris dancing tradition – is screening on Saturday June 18th at 3:30pm at the A.V. Hill Lecture Theatre at University College London (UCL).

It is part of the inaugural Open City London Documentary Festival and is co-presented by London folk club Magpie’s Nest. It will be followed by a Q&A, live open-air music and a hog-roast BBQ.

Tickets are £5 and are available to buy online at http://goo.gl/v9H51

Plester’s film, exploring the complicated relationship of contemporary urban Britons with their dance heritage, is also screening at Sidmouth Folk Festival and Towersey Village Festival this summer and will be released on DVD in September.

http://twitter.com/#!/wayofthemorris
http://www.wayofthemorris.com

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The August/September 2010 Songlines podcast is now available through iTunes

Songlines — Thu, 22 Jul 2010 12:50:29 +0000

This podcast includes highlights from the August/September 2010 issue of Songlines (#70) opening with an excerpt from Cheikh Lô (cover artist this issue). Editor in chief, Simon Broughton, plays an extract from the second free CD with this issue Music from Minas Gerais/Brazil as well as an excerpt from the new album by Dobet Gnahore Djekpa La You on Contre Jour.

Features include: Rose Skelton on Cheikh Lô and Carlou D, Jane Cornwell with her Beginner’s Guide to Aboriginal band Yothu Yindi. Nathaniel Handy brings you the latest news with the Official UK World Music Album Chart, music from Mayra Andrade and Jon Boden as well as his report on Morris Dancing. The podcast ends with a live track by oud player Khyam Allami.

The next Songlines podcast, featuring highlights from the October issue (#71), will be available from September 3 2010.

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