25 years and still dancing and playing together!

Beverley Day of Dance 2024!

Wed, 12 Jun 2024 14:43:13 GMT

Beverley Day of Dance is taking place on Saturday 22nd June 2024, hosted by Beverley Garland Dancers as part of the annual Beverley Folk Festival weekend. This year we have an exciting line-up of morris teams from across the north of England, who will be dancing in locations around the Town Centre and Flemingate throughout the day. Read on to find out who will be joining us:

Clogarhythm is a Harrogate-based clog step dance team formed in 2002 who perform a variety of routines and steps from Westmorland, Canada, Lancashire and the North East. The routines are danced to dotted hornpipes, waltzes, jigs, reels, schottisches and undotted hornpipes.

Cricket on the Hearth is an Appalachian step dancing group based in Harrogate.

Green Ginger Garland is based in Hull and dance a varied repertoire of folk dances with garlands, ribbon sticks and even ropes!

Harlequin Women’s Morris is a Darlington-based group that dance in the North West morris style using bells, sticks, garlands and hankies.

Herring Gals Plus is a mixed North West morris side from the port of Great Grimsby in Lincolnshire.

Makara Morris is a mixed Border Morris dancing side based in Wansford near Driffield and dedicated to the Green Man of mythology. They dance with long sticks, short sticks, hankies and gusto!

Rackaback is a mixed border team in Hull, East Yorkshire. They formed in January 2011 and have built up a repertoire of traditionally inspired Border Morris dances with their own Rackaback twists. They dance to music played on traditional ‘morris’ instruments including accordion, concertina and melodeon to well know folk melodies and newly composed tunes.

Ravens Morris is a Steampunk Morris dancing from Market Weighton, East Yorkshire. " No bells, no hankies, just a big black cat ." Say no more…

Raving Maes is a women's morris dance team who perform traditional dancing with a twist. " It’s Morris but not as you know it"

Yorkshire Chandelier is a women’s clog dancing team from South Yorkshire, founded in 1975. They take their name from a traditional corn dolly and dance in brown mill clogs and green and yellow kit. They perform a variety of dances, mostly from the North West of England.

BGDs at the Humber Bridge

Sun, 17 Mar 2024 22:37:04 GMT

The Headscarf Hustle!

Yesterday we were honoured to be able to join in with the first ever Fitmums Headscarf Hustle across the Humber Bridge- a fun and friendly 4-mile run/walk.

The event was organised jointly by Fitmums & Friends and Headscarf Pride, and as well as being a great opportunity to get active, the event was also a fundraiser. A portion of the entry fee was donated to the Headscarf Pride campaign for a statue in memory of Hull's Headscarf Revolutionaries – the four local women who campaigned to improve safety at sea after the Triple Trawler Disaster of 1968, and who saved countless lives as a result.

The day threatened to start quite miserably with rain falling and forecast for most of the morning, but we went along hopefully, and were rewarded with a break in the rain just as we were planning to start dancing. We danced our first dance-out of the year for a growing audience of stalwart runners and walkers, all of whom were very appreciative of our efforts.

A group of us had planned to join in with the run/walk and received the complimentary pink headscarf which we each wore with pride under our usual headbands, amazing ourselves at how much like our mothers we now looked!

At 9.40 am, Emma Hardy MP gave a rousing speech to the participants, and then, after a mass warm-up, the event was officially started by Look North’s very own Peter Levy wearing his very own pink headscarf. (Incidentally, he very politely declined to join us for our free workshop this week but did take a leaflet in case he changed his mind!)

The brave bunch of BGDs set off last in their BGD dresses, BGD fleeces, and of course their BGD bright red tights. Our original intention had been to dance across the bridge in procession fashion, but this was deemed too dangerous, and we realised why when we got out into the middle of the bridge and felt the strength of the wind. Indeed, my own headscarf was wrenched from my head by one icy blast, and was last seen bouncing across the 4 lanes of traffic into the hands of a bewildered passerby on the other side of the bridge.

Nevertheless, we did attempt a few dance steps and skipped a fair portion of the walkway (especially when we came across anyone wielding a camera!). And our impression of Judy Garland and friends skipping down the yellow brick road was quite uncanny!

We passed the runners and faster walkers on their return journeys, and clapped and encouraged each other, receiving lots of compliments about our dancing on the way. Then we reached the halfway mark on the Lincolnshire side of the bridge and turned round to battle back against the icy rain which had now started to fall.

For some of us this had been our first experience of crossing the bridge, and it was made all the more memorable when we got to the end and realised that not only had the organisers waited for us, but they also cheered and clapped as loudly for us as for the first people to cross the line.

We even had our individual names shouted out over a tannoy by the brave and resilient organisers who were sitting on the finish line with a soggy list of participants. We then received a bag of sweets as a reward for taking part and were photographed within a huge pink frame.

All in all, it was very enjoyable and memorable event. The organisation, support and friendliness from the Fitmums team was incredible, and we are hoping that some of them might join us at a practice night. Who knows… maybe next year, if our antics have enticed any other Fitmums & Friends join us, we might have many more runners in red tights and BGD fleeces skipping their way across the bridge!

Beverley Day of Dance coming soon!

Fri, 02 Jun 2023 10:55:21 GMT

All these amazing teams are coming to dance in Beverley on Saturday 17th June!

Belfagan Morris were formed in 1981 and are based in Cockermouth. They dance in the NorthWest style in clogs. This is how they explain the origin of their name!

The name Belfagan (pronounced Bel/FAY/gan) derives from three possible sources:

1] the Cumbrian expression to "give it welly!";

2] a notional "lady of the Workington (or possibly Maryport) dockside called Belle Fagan;

3] another version of the Cumbrian expression, used when, for example, a lad breaks your window with a football, and you rush out, shaking your fist, crying, "I'll give you belfagan!!!"

Cricket on the Hearth is an Appalachian step dancing group based in Harrogate.

Five Rivers Morris have been dancing traditional Cotswold Morris around Sheffield and at festivals and events across the country since 2010. Wherever they are performing, they aspire to dance with energy, enthusiasm and precision!

Green Ginger Garland are based in Hull and dance a varied repertoire of folk dances with garlands, ribbon sticks and ropes!

Kitchen Taps come from Otley, West Yorkshire, and perform traditional Appalachian Dance to authentic Bluegrass and Mountain music. They are well known for their lively and intricate routines, and have performed at festivals up and down the country for over 15 years.The dancers are backed by their band who play a range of bluegrass and old time music on traditional instruments. They are rightly proud of their complex, foot tapping tunes.

Makara Morris is a Border Morris dancing side based in Wansford near Driffield and dedicated to the Green Man of mythology. They dance with long sticks, short sticks hankies and gusto!

Minster Strays were formed in 2003 as a mixed side, based amidst the Howardian Hills between York and Pickering. Wearing green, burgundy and gold waistcoats, and colourful tatters, they perform the dances of Old England as well as their own unique creations in traditional style.

Ravens Morris is a Steampunk Morris dancing from Market Weighton, East Yorkshire. " No bells, no hankies, just a big black cat ." Say no more.....

Raving Maes is a women's Morris Dance team who perform traditional dancing with a twist. "Its Morris but not as you know it"

Sowerby Bridge Morris Dancers are a mixed dance team performing in the North-West Morris tradition. They are based in the West Yorkshire mill town of Sowerby Bridge in the heart of the South Pennines. The team was originally formed as an all-male side in 1979 following the success of the Sowerby Bridge Rushbearing Festival.

Tatterfoals are a mixed Morris side dancing NorthWest style dances in clogs. They are based in Scunthorpe.

Beverley Garland Dancers Make Silver Wedding Party Go with a Swing!

Sat, 28 Jan 2023 22:51:12 GMT

Beverley Garland Dancers Make Silver Wedding Go with a Swing!

Last October my husband, Peter, and I celebrated our Silver Wedding Anniversary.

We decided on an evening of fun with family and friends, and a ceilidh seemed to fit the bill perfectly. Of course, we instantly thought of our BGD friends who are always up for a good dance, and who better to provide the music, than our own fabulous and talented BGD musicians?

Founder BG member, and seasoned caller, Sue Storey, kindly agreed to instruct the would-be dancers, and did an excellent job at fitting traditional BG dance tunes to a plethora of fun dances. She was an expert at putting guests at their ease and making things fun, and part of the magic and wonder of the evening came when our 18-year-old son, who was only attending out of filial duty, suddenly decided that having a piece of the joyous action which others seemed to be experiencing far outweighed sitting in a corner being “cool”, and actually asked my friend to dance! He never looked back, and he and his equally cool friend spent the rest of the evening clapping, stamping, swinging and skipping along with the rest of us.

It was so wonderful to see people of all generations laughing and dancing side by side; even those who were meeting here for only the first time.

Part way through the evening came one of the highlights when the BGDs did a couple of show dances to entertain the guests. We wore our bells and headbands, and carried the team’s garlands and sticks, but breaking with tradition for the evening, we danced in our party gear rather than the BGD kit, and we looked magnificently colourful. “Grand Junction” was chosen as the first dance as Peter and I had gone off on honeymoon on a train, and our newest dance, “St Giles”, was chosen as our second dance so that it could be performed publicly for the very first time. Both dances went extremely well, and received a lot of praise from the guests.

Equally stunning were the dances performed by our splinter clog group, Wansford Lock Clog. This was the first time that this group had performed in public, and they were fantastic! We hope to see a lot more from them in the future.

The guests were fed with a traditional pie and pea supper (Thanks to Steve Peirson for recommending such delicious pies and to Jayne and her daughter for serving them). They were topped up with yummy homemade cakes and puddings, and sent home with memories of a fun-filled evening.

Peter and I had the best Anniversary ever, and can’t wait for our 30th Anniversary so that we can repeat the experience all over again.

Thank you BGD friends!