The Dances

A short stick dance which has travelled to the USA and back to be with us today. The side's "Coming On" dance, excellent for Morris flash-mobbing.

Stags use the tune "Return from the Waterside", which I wrote for my wife. That's what you get for being married to a musician - no flowers, just tunes.

As a nod to the Geeks in the side, you know who you are. Following this came Babylon Five (5), Silent Running (3), and i-Robot (1).

Another dance from The Bassett Street Hounds, and I couldn't say it better than Mike Miller says in his dance notation: "The sticking patterns for doubles and triples are fiendishly difficult to remember, especially when your brain is oxygen-depleted from dancing."

Constructed for the first Morris Federation "Border" workshop in Towcester, 1987. All those years ago. Ah, those were the days.

We would not let Becky leave the side until she had taught us this dance. Which she was then dragged into at her University Graduation.

The dance was originally called Morning Glory, for a workshop [1991]. (I don't know where these names come from, I just sit in pubs and make them up - you have to call the dance something for a workshop, otherwise you end up having to say things like 'the dance we did just before the straight line one').

Take a token, call the figure, move on. We are all Number One.

Okay, I made it up, based on some of the late and much lamented Dave Jones' musings about the Cleehill bannering customs. These are alluded to in the Church court rolls from the area, in a case in which several dancers stole the altar-cloth to use as a banner. Let this be a lesson to those of us who forget to carry the props around.

I still have the 7" single from the Jona Lewie's 1980 release of "Stop the Cavalry", we don't sing this anti-war protest song we just play the catchy tune.

An adaptation of the Whiffler to give a mutating set of lines and squares, more fun than Whiffler (well it has the Linear Bombast!).

Anawhatsit!

Arrghhh Hitch-backs, twiddles and memory failure.

Practise the deer caught in the headlights look, there are flying sticks everywhere.

It's a bit of a signature dance for The Bassett Street Hounds, but it's such a brilliant dance, it'd be a shame not to share the fun! They call it "the carwash dance" and our new (as of 2013) rags really fly for this one. I'm always torn as to whether it should be played by our musos (who do a crackin' job of it) or whether to sing it.

This was the first dance I learnt and its still one of my favourites. The starburst resulted in the unexpected and never repeated "accidental piggyback" figure. Perhaps I should have started with whiffler!

I have traumatic memories of this being danced by four Telletubbies, at a New Years ceilidh in deepest darkest Crewkerne, ending in a group hug.

Dancing this in a wheelchair is not advised.

Loads of sides dance it as a) it's a fun dance and b) it only takes 3 dancers. That said, the geometry of dancing it for 6 or 9 is lovely!

Is it a dance or isn't it? Are these the figures? What do you mean I'm going the wrong way, how can you tell I'm not also going the right way?

In 1957, Dr Chris Cawte would meet someone who remembered a village nearby [Richard's Castle] where "...they didn't do a real dance, just jigged about a bit to amuse the children."

Made up in the car on the way to Crewkerne, when we needed another dance for two, and later modified for more spectacle.

Our response to the North-West morris tradition. One minute and ten seconds, including the musical intro. Blink and you will miss this great condensed dance.