After this there were no more events in July, but plenty of practice as we got ready for our season’s highlight with another appearance at the Sidmouth Folk Week from 30th July to 6th August. This was a week long series of performances at one of the leading UK Folk Festivals, and a Sidmouth invitation remains one of the top accolades for any Morris side. Our week started with a reception for the booked teams at the Blackmore Marquee, followed by a procession along the promenade and through the Market Square – the first of several opportunities to check whether all the summer practising of posing had finally paid off. Our first performance was during the afternoon in a showcase for several of the booked teams, where we rolled out the 1-6 dance and the first of the week’s performances of Coconuts (not to be the last). Later on we made the first of our appearances at the dance display area at The Hub, the performance centre for the Festival, centred on the Ham and Port Royal area at the eastern end of the Esplanade. Which included the second outing of Coconuts (amongst other dances) – one could sense Simon’s concern as he saw his carefully harvested coconut stock dwindling in front of his eyes ….
Sunday lunchtime saw most of the team dancing on the seafront (except Lee and Jameson, off with 7 Champs, and Jerry with Windsor) where we finished up sharing a good spot with Nonesuch. Then after another display at the Hub, most of the team decamped to the Jig Competition in Blackmore Gardens to support the excellent representation from BB – Sue and Will B plus Sue and Alun in the solo competition, and Will M and Mark dancing in NYFTE colours in the double jig competition. It must be said all our dancers and Sue did exceptionally well, and in particular Will M and Mark were unlucky not to be placed in the double jig results – but the stars on the day were Will B and Sue in the solo jig, who won the best new entrant prize and finished 3rd overall – a great performance and well deserved result. Monday started with running a workshop for one of the youth events, followed by an afternoon performance at The Hub and then a joint show in Blackmore Gardens with Hammersmith and Nonesuch. In the end this was a turn and turn about display, though we did manage to get the other teams to join us through our Magic Arch at the end of Fairies which they all did with great relish.
Tuesday was a big day for us, starting with running a workshop in the morning at the Bulverton Marquee, where we had several sets up doing ‘Dance of Chance’, followed by the challenge of solving the ‘Dance of Stance’ puzzle, which all seemed to cope with adequately. Then after a couple of performances at the Hub, including at last an outing for the Glorishers A-team, we did our own impromptu performance on the seafront before a excellent spot in the Market Square with Chinewrde and Sciorr. Finally, after a very sociable team meal at the Cricket Club, it was off to LNE at the Bulverton, with The Committee Band, where after an earlier spot from Hammersmith we had a terrific reception for Men in Black, done this time with the all the 12 BB dancers present on the day, and with Sue and Bob cowering in the wings, waiting for the train crash that never happened ……. In fact it went exceptionally well, after some slight difficulty with timing at the beginning where we couldn’t hear the music, loud as it was, over the enthusiastic reception of the audience as we put on our shades (think Beatles at Shea Stadium, 1965). Even the shooting sequence went nearly perfectly all the way through this time, which has to be a first. Great reception at the end and afterwards – but after 3 performances during the year, culminating in this one, that may have to be it for BB’s MiB?! We’ll see!
Wednesday was a day off (just as well as the only rain of the week fell during the morning – see? it never rains on … etc ….), and we had to say goodbye to some of the side, although several assembled in the afternoon at Lee and Paul’s rented house for afternoon tea and some of Lee’s excellent scones (baked following some considerable help from the absent Linda, so basically all he had to do was pop the mixture in the oven and hope the middles didn’t sink too much – which they didn’t). We still had plenty of numbers for Thursday’s dancing, starting with a lunchtime set at the Hub, though the numbers were reduced by 1 more when Malcolm spectacularly pulled a muscle in his back, rendering him somewhat unable to stand up unsupported for a while. Despite this, there was a successful set at the Anchor Gardens, along with Nonesuch, and then another set at the Hub. Then on to the Friday, the last day of the Festival, where we had a 15 minute spot of our own at the Hub in the afternoon, followed in the evening by the highlight of the torchlight procession. With reduced numbers, it was decided to do the procession in Men in Black kit for the 6 dancers with Sue and Bob also in suitable outfits, although with Malcolm’s continuing limited mobility the only figures we could incorporate from our MiB dance were the Monkey Walk and Boxes (Whirlygigs being out on account of the flaming torches we were carrying). This was a suitably bizarre way to end what had been a fabulous week, which left those in the huge crowd who had some idea of what we were doing suitably amused, and everyone else either amused, puzzled or in some cases scared, especially with the ‘no photographs please’ mantra we kept repeating, the antithesis of our normal posing processions. As always there were huge crowds all along the Esplanade to see the procession go by, and then head down onto the beach for the ritual dousing of torches on the rocket signal, followed by the usual spectacular end of festival fireworks display. A great week for all those there, some exceptional performances, a high standard of dancing throughout, some great social occasions, and lots of good memories for everyone to bring back home with them. Well done to all the BB dancers, musicians, partners, families and other supporters for everyone’s contributions!
