Saturday 13th Oct saw a relatively small but perfectly formed team off to Lewes once more for a very enjoyable Day of Dance. This included dance spots at the Snowdrop, in the Precinct, and 2 spots at the John Harvey Tavern.
After that, we spent our November practices developing our routine for the Bunfight. We had decided to attempt a challenging dance routine with castanets, and Charles had agreed to lead the development of it through 4 weekly practices. We were very pleased to be joined at this stage by Rhys Boorman – a very welcome addition to the side – and we finished up with 14 of us doing the routine. Thanks to Charles’s preparations, practices went well and by the time of the Bunfight one or two had actually learned the dance. This year’s theme was ‘On the Piste – an Alpine Adventure!’, and once again it was a great evening, with some highly imaginative costumes on show, in particular Ben encased in a bowl of Alpen, complete with milk – wherever he went a little trail of breakfast cereal followed him. The Diatonics were great, and in the first interval we gave a public debut to our new dance Cheesy Bob. Later on Los Flamencos de Berkshire produced a flamenco dance full of hints of passion, temperament and energy. Only hints, mind.
The next day was the Wokingham Winter Carnival – another good though chilly day. Following the Town Centre refurbishment during the year, the end of day procession was reinstated. Due to some administrative difficulties BB found themselves right at the end of the procession, behind the mini train with Santa and local dignitaries on board – the climax of the procession. However as the procession slowed in the Market Place to let the local dignitaries out, some of the more – shall we say – enthusiastic elements of BB saw an opportunity. Initially they just processed around the train, but then, getting bolder, got in. While senior members of the team watched from behind their hands, Santa did his best to summon a smile for the local paper. However we’re afraid Santa may not be calling at the bedrooms of some of our members this year…
