Traditional street entertainment
Rose & Castle Morris
Formed in 1978 and based in Stoke Bruerne between Milton Keynes and Northampton, Rose & Castle Morris is a mixed North West Morris side. Almost all of their dances are traditional and come from the cities and towns of the North West of England. A significant feature of this side is that they dance in traditional English clogs with “irons” fitted to their soles that make a distinctive sound.
They are always looking for new recruits and will be holding a workshop from 10.30am to 12 noon in Stony Stratford on the morning after the Switching On of the Lights (30th November)
For further information, see their web site:
www.rose-castlemorris.org.uk
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 19thcentury 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
Stony Stratford Mummers
Stony Stratford Mummers was formed when a group of dedicated folkies decided that they would entertain those in the local hostelries at Christmas time. A group of friends went round the pubs singing Christmas Carols and one year late they decided to perform a Mummers play. It was in the year 1973 that Stony Stratford Mummers was born. Apart from a one year break in the late 1980’s Stony Mummers have performed every year since its inception. Their performance schedule in the winter always starts when the town holds its annual ‘Switching on of the Lights’ celebration which heralds the start of the winter festivities at the end of November or beginning of December.
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:
Hemlock Morris
Morris Dancing but not as you've seen it before - an old tradition alive and sticking!
Hemlock are Bedford's first mixed Morris side and have celebrated their 10th anniversary in 2019. We dress in a border style but dance a range of traditions. Hemlock are based at the Ent Shed, the Gordon Arms, Castle Road, Bedford and practise Monday. We are currently looking for new members.
For more information
www.hemlockmorris.com or Facebook page.
Bedford Morris Men
The Bedford Morris Men were formed in 1932 to help keep the Morris dancetradition alive in our county.We now perform dances from a range of Cotswold traditions, as well as dances from the North-West of England and the English-Welsh Borders. In Winter we also perform the mysterious and ancient Abbots Bromley Horn Dance. On Boxing Day can be found at The Swan Hotel's Boar's Head Ceremony.
The Bedford Morris Men still tour a traditional Plough Play around our local pubs every Christmas in honour of this tradition.
We dance at all kinds of events from October to July every year and we practice in the village of Ravensden each Wednesday from October to the end of April.
Owlswick Morris
We were formed in 1982 by a core of the present side who were experienced members of other local sides. We dance in various styles of the Cotswold traditions, which are named after the towns and villages from which the dances originated.
We are a mixed Morris side composed roughly equally of both sexes, and the numbers in the side have grown over the years to the present level of around 25 active members.
We practise on Tuesday evenings, from September until May, at Twyford Village Hall (near Buckingham). From May to September we dance out most Tuesday evenings, and often at weekends, at pubs and fetes around the area.
In addition to the Morris we also dance English Traditional Clog, Rapper and American Appalachian styles, and we perform a Mummers Playover the Christmas season.
Our members come from Buckinghamshire, Oxfordshire, Northamptonshire, Bedfordshire, Gloucestershire,Bristol and even France, to dance with the side.
The Myra Tiffin Performing Arts School
The Myra Tiffin Performing Arts School based in Stony Stratford is known for its outstanding standard, notable professional practice and welcoming professional environment. Based in its own studios in Stony Stratford with three large fully equipped dance, music and drama studios. We offer 60+ classes a week; for babies and toddlers in our Tiddlywinks daytime classes, then 3-18year olds who want to learn to dance, sing, act, do acrobatics and learn aerial arts in our main school and then classes for over 50's who we offer Silver Swans Ballet classes too. We have classes suitable for performers who choose to perform recreationally as well as those who want to pursue a vocational career with our developmental elite programmes.
On-site with our young performers agency Tiffin Management we are able to offer added performance opportunities in Theatre, TV and Film as well as ISTD accredited dance exams and as unforgettable memories and friendships.
Our twelve faculty members are leaders in their personal fields and some known worldwide for their skills. We are very honoured to have such a prestigious team working to provide the best performing arts training for our aspiring pupils.
For Further Information see: https://www.mtpas.co.uk/