England's Somerset Morris comes to the Bay Area this week. Morris dancing
is
a living English Folk tradition whose origins include rituals to celebrate
the coming of spring. Following on the heels of their touring debut in
Southern California and at The California Ale in Malibu, Somerset will
perform and teach their unique and engaging English display dance styles
and
traditions at the following locations or events:
Wednesday, April 30
* "Half time" break at the Bay Area Country Dance Society's Mountain View
dance series for English Country dance (ECD). Come learn to dance like
Jane
Austin, and see Somerset perform! No partner or prior experience required.
The event will be held from 8:00pm to 10:30pm at Flex-It, 425 West Evelyn
Avenue (between Calderon Av and Hope St). NOTE: bring soft-soled shoes to
dance - no outside street shoes. For more information, see
http://bacds.org/series/english/mountain_view
(or http://flexitfitness.com
for directions)
Thursday, May 1
* Dance Up the Sun outdoor performance with local morris teams on May Day
from 5:30am to 7:00am. Come to the Palo Alto Baylands, near 2775
Embarcadero
Way. THIS FREE EVENT IS OPEN TO THE PUBLIC and is part of the Bay Area
National Dance Week celebration. Experience the magic as Bay Area teams
perform with their sticks, ribbons, bells and hankies. For more
information,
see http://rgoldman.org/morris/mayday.htm#PaloAlto
(or
http://cityofpaloalto.org/depts/csd/parks_and_open_space/preserves_and_open_spaces/the_baylands.asp
for directions)
* Christa McAuliffe School, 11221 Titus, Saratoga (home of local
children's
team Wildcat Morris) from 10:00am to 11:00am. Contact the school for more
details (408-253-4696).
* Spruce Elementary School, 501 Spruce Avenue South, San Francisco from
1:15pm to 2:30pm. Contact the school at 650-877-8780 or
http://www.ssfusd.k12.ca.us
for more details.
* Connecticut Yankee Pub, 100 Connecticut Street, San Francisco, starting
around 5:30pm. Join the local morris community for food, fun, and frolic!
For more information about the pub, call 415-552-4440 or contact
http://theyankee.com.
* SOMERSET WORKSHOP! St Teresa's Church, 19th Street (Peter Sammon Way) at
Connecticut, San Francisco, and runs from 7:30p - 9:30p. Come learn new
and
different morris dance styles from Somerset Morris with an hour of
Cotswold
dances from Ilmington, and another involving the stave dances of the
Friendly Societies. NOTE - entrance to workshop site is on the Connecticut
Street side. Also, stave supplies are limited, so better bring a broom
handle. (Previous morris dance experience recommended). For more info on
the
church, see http://www.stteresasf.org/
Friday, May 2
* "Half time" break at the BACDS Palo Alto ECD series. All are welcome!
See
Somerset's farewell performance and learn ECD yourself. No partner or
prior
experience required. The dance runs from 8:00 pm to 10:30pm at the Masonic
Hall, 461 Florence Street (near University). For more information, see
http://bacds.org/series/english/palo_alto
(or
http://paloaltolodge.com/id5.html
for directions).
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For even more information:
Somerset Morris - http://home.freeuk.net/somersetmorris/
What is Morris Dance? - http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Morris_dance
The California Ale - http://TheCaliforniaAle.info
Bay Area Country Dance Society - http://bacds.org
What is English Country Dance? -
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/English_Country_Dance
May Day Morris 2008 - http://rgoldman.org/morris/mayday.htm
Bay Area National Dance Week - http://www.bacndw.org/
Ilmington Morris tradition - http://morrisdancing.wikia.com/wiki/Ilmington
Stave dance tradition -
http://dialspace.dial.pipex.com/town/avenue/pd49/morris/workshop/rdstav01.htm
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