This is a new cotswold morris dance written in the style of the Bledington tradition.
Many years ago I wrote a tune called Bang On The Wall which is named after the ceilidh band I play in. I originally thought we might be able to use it as a tune for dancing but realised it is perhaps more suited to a morris dance than a ceilidh dance.
Over the years I had various ideas about putting a dance to this tune. It seemed to me that it would fit the Bledington or Bucknell styles well, but I never quite got around to putting some proper notation together for a dance, until I spotted a post on Facebook from Craig Simmonds who is foreman for Bedcote Morris. I know Craig through The Bunnies From Hell. He was teaching Bledington to Bedcote and was looking for 'new and interesting dances' so I sat down to properly work out the dance, and sent him the tune and the notes. Craig sent me a video of his side going through the dance at practice, which was lovely to see, and they also very kindly invited me to join them to dance it at Upton upon Severn Folk Festival.
This dance should be relatively straightforward to learn for anyone already familiar with other dances in the Bledington tradition although the backwards hook into the hey is unusual, so is not necessarily an ideal dance for beginners. These notes assume a basic knowledge of the Bledington figures and steps. Please get in touch if you would like a more detailed explanation.
I originally envisaged this as a handkerchief dance. However after seeing the video of Bedcote morris, it occurred to me that the 'bang on the wall' might look better without hankies.
The figures are danced to the A music and the chorus to the B music. The chorus is repeated so need to play twice through the B music. See Bang On The Wall (tune) for the music.
Standard Bledington figures are: Foot-up and down, half gyp, whole gyp, half rounds.
Chorus:
- All sidestep R&L passing by opposite into their place(1)
- Stop (facing outwards) and 'bang on the wall'(2) 4 times
- Hook into the hey (3)
- Half Hey
- Repeat all that.
(1) Optional: 2nd chorus Forey capers, 3rd time RTBs, 4th uprights. (would need to augment music for the slows)
(2) The 'bang on the wall' here is 4* quick knocks with fist as if knocking rapidly on a door. This is followed by a slight pause (should fit the music nicely). Might work well if dancing in a corridor! Note if this is thought too 'naff' altenatively just stand still looking 'stern of countenance'.
Bedcote have told me that three knocks works better than four.
(3) Because you are facing out, the top 4 will need to hook down 3/4 of the way around to face-up, and the bottom pair hook up around to face down. As always in Bledington you need to start the hook into the hey on the correct foot so that they hey is danced starting on the inside foot, and so that you are on the correct foot to hook out and around at the end of the hey.
If you would be interested in me coming to teach this dance to your side please do get in touch.
