Queen's Oak

Queen’s Oak is a women’s morris side from Potterspury in Northamptonshire, a village adjacent to Watling Street just north of Milton Keynes. The name originates from the ancient tree growing in the fields to the north of Potterspury associated in local legend with Elizabeth Woodville, Queen of the Yorkist King Edward IV. Formed over 33 years ago, the side performs a mixture of traditional dances from Herefordshire, Worcestershire and Shropshire - the Welsh border counties - along with modern dances written in the same spirit.
The current side has fifteen-plus members from the ages of 15 to 60+.

Stony Steppers

Stony Steppers, based in Stony Stratford in Buckinghamshire, first formed in 1997 and has now developed into a strong, enthusiastic dance side. We dance traditional step clog in a variety of styles, mostly from the north of the British Isles, including steps from Lancashire, Durham, Lakeland and East Fife. Some of the dance steps even originate from America. Step clog dancing involves fast and intricate percussive steps, wearing clogs with wooden soles and leather uppers. This traditional form of dancing dates back many years, and was particularly popular in the 19^thcentury in the industrialised North of England and the Music Halls and Variety Theatres.

Delta Dancers

Traditional Greek Dancing

The Greek dancing group, Delta Dancers, meet every Monday in St Swinfen Hall, and was initiated by our local Greek Orthodox community. This beginners' group first got together in September 2018 and have already performed four times this year for the Stony Day of Dance, Stony Open Gardens, Stony Nightingales WI group and at the Greek Festival held at the Greek Orthodox Church here in Stony.

 Their coach, Dimitrios Mitsis, has been dancing since he was 10 years old in Greece and has continued to be passionately involved with dance and music, performing at events and venues in Greece, Europe and the UK. The traditional dances you will see are from various regions in Greece, they require concentration, teamwork and sometimes stamina! It is great fun and really good exercise.  

If you would like to join the group, please speak to one of the dancers or email  greekdancestony@yahoo.co.uk

Rashiqa

Rashiqa is a Middle Eastern Dance (belly dance) Troupe based in Wolverton, Milton Keynes. Although specialising in Egyptian dance, we also enjoy performing to Arabic, Lebanese and Turkish music, both traditional and modern.

For further information, see their web site: www.rashiqa.co.uk

The Brackley Morris Men 

The Brackley Morris Men have been active in South Northants since at least the 1600s.  Some snippets from our records below:

• A solid silver communion plate inscribed with the names of seven men, believed to be the morris men, was given to the parish church in Brackley and still exists today.
• In 1725 and again in 1731 the men are recorded as dancing for Thomas Cartwright of Aynho House for the Whitsun Ale celebrations.
• 1766. The Squire, having been ‘troublesome’ and ‘insolent’ in playing the fool in Oxford was committed to Bridewell as a vagrant.
• The men danced in Banbury where the fool was reported by the Oxford Chronicle  as performing  his  ‘witless buffoonery’'
• 1930s  Dancing dies out in Brackley.
• 1959    The  dances  were  revived  in  1959  at  Magdalen  School,  Brackley, when  Roger Nicholls,  a  teacher  there,  formed  a  side  from  among  the   boys.  Although  the  connection  with  the  school  has  been  lost  down  the  years,  and  members  of  the  side  now  come  from  all  over  the area,  the  tradition  of  dancing  has  continued  to   the  present  day.
• “A cultural phenomenon that can survive three centuries…  speaks volumes for the skill and tenacity of successive generations of Brackley men”.  Keith Chandler, Morris Historian

http://www.thebrackleymorrismen.org.uk

Stony Redcaps

Based in Stony Stratford, Stony are a women’s Morris side that was formed in 1981. They dance a mix of traditional Manx (Isle of Man) and Garland dances and celebrated their 30th anniversary with a trip to the Isle of Man to participate in an International Folk dance festival and learn more about the history of the dances that they do.   They are always looking for more dancers and musicians so if you are interested please talk to them during the afternoon
For further information, see their web site:

https://www.stonyredcaps.dance

Rapskallian

Rapskallian Morris, dressed in the style of highwaymen, are based in the Milton Keynes area. They’ve given up their pistols and swords in favour of hankies and sticks. They perform dances from a variety of traditions including Cotswold and Manx.