So... what's it all about then?
Morris 18-30 provides a network for young Morris Men. Its primary activity is to organise an annual weekend, hosted by a Morris Ring side, to which all young Morris Men are invited. Morris 18-30 also seeks to represent the views of all young Morris Men.
The aim is to encourage a group of energetic young men who, whilst representing their own local teams, can dance together to push the Morris Ring into the future.
The annual Morris 18-30 weekend began in 2002. It was the idea of Alastair Hutchinson and Graham Hubbard, both of whom have danced for the majority of their lifetimes. Realising that there are loads of young chaps out there dancing with teams all over the country they thought it sensible to get them all together.
The weekend is hosted by a different morris team around October each year. The host side is encouraged to help as much as possible towards the weekend (with food, beer, best dancing spots, etc) but have little input to dancing, playing, singing and drinking.
Men attending the Morris 18-30 weekend proudly wear their local side's kit, and should be inspired to go back and recruit young blood to their own teams. As the years pass, an increasing number of teams are able to send full sides of men.
At Days of Dance and Ales people rarely mingle properly and get to know other guys outside their own side. The initial intention of Morris 18-30 (and still the most important) is to get young dancers together to simply have a great weekend, dance, drink and have a laugh. But it also serves the purpose to showing people what morris can be like with a set of energetic under-thirties jumping about.
Shoppers in towns and cities across the country certainly seem to notice that it's Morris, but that something is different. We basically 'kick more ass' than most Morris teams they'd seen before. We hope to raise the profile of the Morris and encourage young guys to dance!
The Weekends
It's for any type of Morris, though mostly Cotswold dancers turn up. It would be great to see others there to dance, play or just for the crack. There is time and space for scratch Rapper/North West/Border/etc teams to practise show dances as well as us Cotswold lot.
It's all very informal and relaxed, don't worry about turning up by yourself - everybody else is in the same boat and so you get chatting to everyone quickly, especially after a few beers.
Each weekend has its own ideas, but basically Friday night is chance to meet everyone and run though some dances, Saturday is the main day of dance - a walking tour of the town or city you have travelled to. On Sunday the host team will invite other local sides to join in for the grand finale! If you don't meet the criteria, you are more than welcome in kit on the Sunday, and to come and watch us on the Saturday, but civies only please!
Have a look at the reviews and replies from previous years, flick through the photos and see who (people and their sides) has attended in the past. If you have any questions, just contact us, and we'll see you there!
Want to know more, here's our Frequently Asked Questions...
Essentially, Morris 18-30 is an annual weekend for all young morrismen from all across the country. The aim of the weekend is to allow all these young men to meet each other, and ultimately keep the morris alive through the networking opportunity that cannot be avoided on such a weekend.
Yes, only morrismen please! As a Morris Ring event, it is an all-male weekend, however we welcome men from any morris team, so Open and Federation team members are very welcome.
Morris dancing is not on the decline. Teams are popping up all over the place, but they tend to be the sort of teams that only dance their own made up stuff, are all female or mixed. We want to promote all male dancing and the traditional(ish!) dances. It's not backward, we're not anti-women dancing, it is what it is. Take it or leave it.
The 18-30 name is largely a device, and we welcome men outside this bracket, but we cannot be responsible for anyone under the age of 18, so this is left to older attending team members to supervise if they feel it is appropriate! At the end of the day much of the weekend is spent in pubs, nobody over 18 wants to be stood outside with the under 18 year old who has been asked to leave!
As for the top end, this is a little flexible, but we all have to come to terms with getting older. At the end of the day, it's not fair to the younger members if the old boys hang on too long!! - Let's keep it what it is.
We hope to encourage all styles. So far the annual weekend has been almost exclusively Cotswold: this is a reflection of the founders being Cotswold dancers, and also the ease with which Cotswold can be danced with people from different teams; but we have always been very keen to receive (and represent) all morris styles; Cotswold, border, north-west, rapper, molly are all welcome (as are all the other styles I've missed!)
The Sunday is for you! The host team will invite local teams and friends for a mass dance on the Sunday, but basically everyone is welcome. There may be food, so make contact and you won't miss out!
You are welcome to join the audience and watch us on the Saturday, civies only please - let's keep it what it is!
We are still managing to host the whole weekend, including accommodation, transport during the weekend, all meals and beer during the feast for only £25, and if you're a student or unwaged, we will only charge you £20. Also if you need transport to the weekend, there are cars coming from all over the country and we'll try and match people together who let us know they need a lift. Just get in touch
You're not alone! Most of the attendees come on their own; at the end of the day this is why Morris 18-30 exists.
Ben Robinson of Packington Morris Men, and Morris 18-30 Squire 2010 said "I myself was the only attendee from Packington for a number of weekends, and if I'd never gone I could quite easily have seen Morris slip away from my interest and Packington disband - Morris 18-30 has kept me dancing. When I was 18 it was just something I did, now it's a massive part of my life and I wouldn't be without it. Thanks to my enthusiasm, Packington had 3 members at the 2010 weekend, and used the weekend to promote the team and allow for some creative recruitment of young men in our area."
Why wouldn't they want to come? This is a fantastic weekend for young men: everyone has a great time, and your team will be challenged to perform at their very best in front of their peers. We all know you cannot dance the morris at any age without enjoying dancing and having friends from a wide generation span, but sometimes its just great fun to spend time with other people of the same age group!
Of course, many teams only have one young member - but by sending a full quota from your side, not only can they show off their skill and togetherness as a team to the crowds, but also the guy who has come on his own can see that a team of young men can be a reality - and he will return to his team with new passion and excitement about recruiting more young men for his team.
If Morris 18-30 can help build passion, enthusiasm and ultimately strengthen the member teams of the Ring - and the Ring itself - job done! And with your team of eligible members you can really help this happen!
This is a genuine concern that you might have, but first off - Morris 18-30 is not a team in its own right, but an annual weekend event. Some mistakes were made in the early days of forming Morris 18-30, almost a decade ago, but rest assured that we don't want to form a team of any description. We simply offer a platform for the networking of young morris men - so we ask for zero commitment from the men who attend (after all, boys aged 18-30 are notoriously unreliable anyway! :-) All we ask is that they attend one weekend, and if they enjoy it and/or see its value, to come again the following year.
Just so knowbody feels misled, there are a couple of exceptions to this: some of the more passionate attendees have formed a 'Steering Group' to ensure that the concept of 'Morris 18-30' isn't lost, and Morris 18-30 will work throughout the year to promote morris, but this is in the form of email and at other meetings where representatives may be seen. This is of no interest to the majority of attendees who simply want a come and dance once a year!
You may also see 'Morris 18-30 Sides' dancing at various events; one of the great things about the weekend is that young morris men from across the country get to meet and know each other, and when they see each other during the year the temptation to dance together is great - but this is always spontaneous and always asked for or approved by whoever is 'running the show' - Morris 18-30 will never accept bookings for any event, and will never appear as a formal 'side' for an event.
This again is an issue we have to consider and we do everything possible to ensure that the show Morris 18-30 puts on during the weekend is as good as it possibly can be. To this end, we will have a practice at the start of the weekend. We will learn from each other to find what works best and decide on a set of rules that we can work to (e.g. when to flick the hankies in Bampton dances). We will also practice some dances that might be unfamiliar to many of the men; giving everyone the chance to learn something new.
Clearly we will never perform as well as a regularly practising side can; but what we lack in neat detail, we make up for in vigour and enthusiasm: with youth on our side we are high off the ground and have (in all the previous years) put on a show that the public applaud with equal vigour and enthusiasm - and those members of the Ring who have taken the time to come and watch have always given us immense praise, and congratulated us on our tidy and tight style - the other advantage of youth is the practice sinks in easily and is remembered!
On the day we leave it to the individual to decide how well they know a dance and whether or not to join in - nobody wants to look an idiot. We also encourage, where possible, people who dance together regularly (i.e. from the same team) to do so.
Read the replies to the 2009 and 2010 weekends.
Yes. The Morris 18-30 Weekend has Associate Ring Affiliation for insurance purposes. It is a gathering of young members of different teams, and although we are always hosted by a Ring Side, the event still needs its own separate insurance.
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