Stepping With Percy
Last summer I visited the East Anglian Traditional Music Day at Stowmarket and showed you some videos of the step-dancing. One of the dancers paid tribute to Percy West who had recently passed away. I've managed to find a short video of Mr West doing his inimitable thing......
.....this was filmed by Amanda Frost who has many videos of step-dancing and other entertainment to be seen in The Swan pub at Worlingworth.
Dancers From The Wild West
The wild west of England that is. Border Morris flourished along the English-Welsh border counties and was always thought to be a little wild and primitive. Beltane Border Morris seek to celebrate the dance's pagan roots.....
......borrowed from Douglas Latham's YouTube channel which includes lots of excellent videos of Border Morris dancing.
An Old Broom Sweeps Clean
Dancing with a broom turns up in all sorts of places, though it's difficult to see why anyone should have ever thought of it in the first place - and if you can dance with a broom why not with shovels or rakes? This example is more energetic and gymnastic than many....
.....from Judith Proctor's many fine videos of Morris dance related subjects.
And Finally....
Many of you were very taken with the clog dancing of Hannah James, so here's another video showing us a close-up view of her amazing footwork.....
.....originally posted by lesley1607 who has a huge number of videos of mostly English folk singers and bands in concert.
Take care.
(And take the time to go and see traditional dancing if you get the chance).
Most excellent, John. Thank you.
ReplyDeleteHow awesome! Thanks, John, I have always had a fascination for this sort of thing for some reason!
ReplyDeleteThese are so cool...how I wish I had their energy!
ReplyDeleteSome fascinating local traditions! Great videos you found for us.
ReplyDeleteI liked the morris dancers best.
ReplyDeleteThe only one of these which I have actually seen is the clog dancing and I must say that the noise the dancers make is fantastic.
ReplyDeleteI love dancing of any type / sort.
ReplyDeleteGreat selection, thank you.
All the best Jan
Haha! Thanks for that John, cheeered me up after midnight here in Perth :) My favs were the Beltane Border dancers and the guy with the broom made me laugh, pretty spectacular end to the broom dance :)
ReplyDeleteWonderful post with great videos! I love dancing:)) And I like to watch how people dance. I liked The Best Broom Dance Yet and smiled all the way while watching it and I liked also Beltane Border Morris Dance ( such a long name) very much also.
ReplyDeleteYou teach us quite a lot about British culture. I could need that guy with the broom for the spring-cleaning outside!
ReplyDeleteWonderful lunch time entertainment, John. I am rather taken with the Beltane Border chaps but if I was younger I might try to emulate the Broom Dancer. Used to waltz in the kitchen, but this seems somewhat more vigorous....
ReplyDeleteI like these dances, thanks for sharing.
ReplyDelete