Rockhopper Morris
Please bookmark our new address https://rockhopper.halfgip.com
Who Are We?
We're a mixed Cotswold morris side who practise near Stokenchurch, Buckinghamshire, UK, but dance all over England. We perform hankie dances from the Raglan tradition and stick dances of our own Rockhopper tradition. Many of our members are also active members of other sides.
History
We evolved as a group of morris dancing friends that performed for an event when a 'regular' side couldn't be persuaded to appear. The members of this ad-hoc team enjoyed ourselves so much that they decided to carry on as a proper side.
Why Rockhopper?
This has to do with some of the things that happened during our winter frolics. You could ask a side member in person but there's no guarantee of a sensible answer unless you ply them with food or alcohol or both.
Where To See Us
Where We're Not Dancing in 2020
Dance Out with Masons Apron
at a nice pub near Oxford
Sadly postponed until 2021
All Thing Morris Weekend
Ilfracombe
Reluctantly postponed until 2021
Hitchin Day of Dance
With lots of other dance sides
Grudgingly postponed until 2021
Sidmouth Folk Festival
Saturday / Sunday lunchtime
on Sidmouth Esplanade
Involuntarily postponed until 2021
Unicorn Ceilidh
St Mary's Church Hall, Baldock SG7 5AE
Regrettably postponed until 2021
We'll be planning events eventually...
How To Spot Us
How To Spot a Rockhopper (Penguin)
Rockhopper penguins have feathers. They are predominantly black & white with pink feet & orange beak, red eyes and some whispy yellow feathers on either side of their head.
They are small and agressive & will probably chase you if you get close to their nests. It takes 8 rockhopper penguins to make a gallon of oil.
Rockhopper penguins can be seen hopping around on rocks, regurgitating krill & chasing wildlife photographers.
Pictures of Rockhopper penguinsHow To Spot a Rockhopper (Morris Dancer)
We wear white collarless shirts & white trousers or jeans with black belt, socks & trainers. We have armbands with ribbons of black, yellow & orange. On the left breast pocket is a stylised penguin. Finally we have bright orange hankies which is probably what you'll notice first. Our eyes are only red after a night on the booze.
Our sizes vary but we're very friendly. We like to get oiled on beer, cider or gin.
We can be seen at some festivals and morris tours and many members sport penguin trophies in pockets, attached to ears or worn on heads. We're not bashfull and don't mind having our picture taken.
Pictures of Rockhopper MorrisOur Dances
Our members are experienced dancers and musicians all of whom have lives in other morris sides. Although initially we danced anything that we could all quickly learn to perform, we found we needed more of a challenge, so we persuaded Nick Walden and Darrell Hurtt from Hammersmith Morris to teach us the unusual modern tradition of Raglan with its unique triple-step.
Learning such an unique tradition made the rest of our existing broad and eclectic reptoire seem tame, and decided to drop our other dances. We supplemented the documented Raglan hankie dances with several of our own devising plus 5 interesting stick dances of our own devising.
Contacts
- Squire: Julie Mabbet email: rockhoppermorris@gmail.com
- Secretary: Kathy Parkinson email: rockhoppermorris@.gmail.com