Hello all,
Thanks for all the hard work yesterday. Both teams seem to have narrowed any problems down to tiny last bits to work on and both dances are looking great!
Tonight we will start with stepping and then the DERT set will spend about 10 minutes trying to figure out the end of needles as we got a bit stuck yesterday.
Then for the rest of the first half Hannah N will work on 3 in Westerhope in case of emergency filling in. Obviously if more time is needed then this can carry on into the second half of practice! Meanwhile I want remaining DERT set and Rachel to look at the triangle lock and, if possible maybe dance some of it with Rachel at 4 (but slower than normal!). I can't remember if Rachel has covered 4 before, I know she's normally 5 so, depending on that we'll either focus on needles and tits or try and run through the whole thing slower a few times.
Second half we'll divide into the two teams to continue normal practicing. I think from Piccadilly point of view it would be helpful to run through a few times with the musicians and characters all doing their thing.
Sue and Paul if you can spend the first half working out any tommy points you have so that you feel a bit more certain by the time we get to running through that'd be ace.
Again, thank you for the continued hard work everyone!
Becky
Hi all,
First off thanks for everyone coming out last night, we had a whole bunch of Ravens who weren't really well enough so a super huge thank you for coming out anyway!
As you may know the dancing timetable is finally out (yay). I've created the following map, although not 100% sure if everyone will have access so apologies if it doesn't work.
10.10 - warm up pub - The Church House (4 St James' Street, S1 2EW)
11.00 - Spotlight - the Cathedral (Church Street, S1 1HA)
11.50 - Dance 1 - The Dove and Rainbow (2 Hartshead Square, S1 2FD)
12.30 - Dance 2 - Shakespeares (145-148 Gibraltar Street, S3 8UA)
LUNCH
14.20 - Dance 3 - The Hillsborough Hotel (54-58 Langsett Road, S6 2UB )
15.00 - Dance 4 - The Ship Inn (312 Shalesmoor, S3 8UL)
15.40 - Dance 5 - The Church House (4 St James' Street, S1 2EW)
18.45 - Traditional - Yellow Arch Studios (30-36 Burton Road, S3 8BX)
20.46 - Showcase - the Cathedral (Church Street, S1 1HA)
https://www.google.co.uk/maps/dir/''/Sheffield+Cathedral,+Church+Street,+Sheffield/The+Dove+%26+Rainbow,+Hartshead+Square,+Sheffield/Shakespeare's,+Gibraltar+Street,+Sheffield/Hillsborough+Hotel,+Langsett+Road,+Sheffield/The+Ship+Inn,+Shalesmoor,+Sheffield/The+Church+House,+Saint+James'+Street,+Sheffield/Yellow+Arch+Studios,+Burton+Road,+Sheffield/@53.3881717,-1.4868724,15.25z/data=!4m50!4m49!1m5!1m1!1s0x4879787f358aecdd:0x7494bd5e42972485!2m2!1d-1.4702717!2d53.3829388!1m5!1m1!1s0x48797878d7060475:0x73b301a5a8ac0f51!2m2!1d-1.4693359!2d53.3831505!1m5!1m1!1s0x48797878f66ec697:0x2b2e5f5578a640a2!2m2!1d-1.4669843!2d53.3834196!1m5!1m1!1s0x4879787ea11961f3:0xa50d4f7b2b4a22d6!2m2!1d-1.4715179!2d53.3868268!1m5!1m1!1s0x4879788e33f1b83f:0xb73f590bb6827a30!2m2!1d-1.4888771!2d53.3951074!1m5!1m1!1s0x4879787d92f05ac3:0x233e133b0b4e1818!2m2!1d-1.476156!2d53.3885781!1m5!1m1!1s0x4879787f358aecdd:0x7494bd5e42972485!2m2!1d-1.4702717!2d53.3829388!1m5!1m1!1s0x4879787d32302cd9:0x7fabfd5b4c1f25c1!2m2!1d-1.47394!2d53.39186!3e2
Also, for anyone who hasn't twigged, the colour code means we are defo in the Premiership - we have nothing to lose!
Becky xx
Hello all,
Looking forward to the crawl tonight - remember it's Westerhope up until 9 when Hannorah needs to have left by, followed by Piccadilly.
Sunday: this is a day practice for everyone - please bear in mind we'll be sharing Pat but there is also a speaker and I have various recordings which are hopefully of some use as well.
https://www.google.co.uk/maps/place/Abbey+Community+Centre/@51.5393781,-0.1…
Please arrive for 10.30, the plan is to stay until around 4ish (depending when the hall needs to be used by the next people and how we're all feeling). Aim is for an hours break, obviously Piccadilly and Westerhope don't have to be at the same time but bear in mind Pat will, I assume, want to have lunch at the same time as Ffion so won't be available to play.
Sue and Paul if you can aim to arrive 1.30ish that gives us plenty of time to think about tommy stuff (Sue I think Emma may have contacted you re. if you wanted to come any earlier to run through Westerhope stuff - if not don't worry we'll discuss tonight!)
Piccadilly are hoping to do at least one dance out after this just to try and get any improvements firmly in our head. The only obvious pub is the one down the road but we might find 1 or 2 more. Please bring kit as we'll just look odd dancing in normal clothes. Tommy musician I wouldn't worry as much - Tommy's if you could wear a black top?
Thanks all,
Becky
Hi All,
Thanks for coming armed with diaries to talk through Sidmouth on Monday. I
think we're pretty much sorted now. I didn't go through the other sign-ups
on the sheet, as we were running out of time, so please please check this.
1. Coming up this week
2. Post DERT EGM / Party
3. Sign-ups
1. Crawl on Thursday around Lambeth North / Waterloo - you should
already have all the details for this.
Day practice for both Piccadilly and Westerhope Sunday 11th March in the
Abbey Community Centre (NW6 4DJ) starting at 1030.
2. As mentioned on Monday we either hold our EGM / Party the day after
DERT or two weeks later, the latter of which would delay starting back with
the dancing. I think the preference was just about for 26th March (9th
April being the 2nd option as there is no practice on Bank Holiday
Mondays). I have put both on the sign-up sheet. Please sign up and specify
which you prefer if you have a preference.
For those of you that are new (ish), we hold an EGM every year after
DERT. It's shorter than an AGM and is pretty much for checking in on how
we're doing with achieving the things we said we would like to do at the
AGM and deciding on what we do over the Summer, committee members also have
to opportunity to stand down at this point should they wish to. It's also a
party to celebrate our achievements at DERT, so we bring food and drink
along to smooth the proceedings along! Any questions, please ask Becky or
me.
3. Sign-ups - I really need to get back on the Faversham Hop Festival
1-2 September.
Croydon night of dance; Folk Dance Southampton; Brockwell Park and
Highams Park also all need some attention (will start bugging for some of
these on Monday if there is time during business). Sign-up sheet below...
Also - if there is anything I can do to make it easier for / encourage
people to sign-up to stuff let me know. Even if it is just something like
write my emails in colours (though you would then suffer my potentially
terrible choice of colour!).
https://docs.google.com/document/d/11XHQc6j0g7HQto7rhOs6k0bfkw-XmFb8jmCeRa4…
Thanks,
Hannah
Hello all,
Spotlight, Showcase, thanks and crawl!
Thank you for last night, think we all made some progress although there seemed to be an array of bruises and mild accidents (hope no-one is too worse for wear today).
Spotlight - we discussed this and, as we haven't got to the point of having an alternative set available for Piccadilly we were better to have the main set dance and compete to do well. The logic was that, although we could enter Jubilee/Westerhope, that wasn't really the point and we were better to aim to win than dance something that wasn't Piccadilly.
Showcase - this had a much longer discussion and, as was pretty obvious, left my brain totally squelched at the options. I think to best show the team we have two options 1. Piccadilly or 2. Double Jubilee. As discussed there are pros and cons to both, last year we had quite a lot of other teams say they were disappointed not to see our competition dance and we do know that this shows us at our most impressive so from a PR point of view option 1 makes the most sense. The great thing about double jubilee is it gives everyone a chance to be involved (although there would have to be extra tommys!) but I'm worried about the amount of extra work and the majority of people didn't actually seem that bothered about dancing if it was easier to focus on the competiton dances at practices. Although I loved having everyone together I think this year we'll be better to just do Piccadilly, repeating what we did last year won't have the same impact and will simply mean less practice time.
I hope this is ok, I'm aware it makes DERT very main set heavy and that really wasn't the intention!
I want to take this opportunity to thank everyone for their hard work and commitment in the last few months. We've had great attendance to both practices and crawls which has meant we've been able to keep pushing forward with both of the dances so they're both looking great. I think what I didn't consider at the start of it all is how much new stuff was happening: we've had new people learning Westerhope, even newer people learning Jubilee, new music, new tommy. Add it all together and that requires a lot more time and work! The good thing is that, despite being in DERT prep mode, it won't take long after to get people dancing their new dances out as we've put work in the last few months.
FYI the coming crawl this Thursday will start as Westerhope only as Hannorah has to leave by 9. Once she has gone we will convert to Piccadilly only. Westerhope set please be at the pub between 7-7.15 to sort out neckers and ready to dance by 7.30 so we can get you in as many pubs as possible before Hannorah goes. Piccadilly set please attend the whole thing, it's always hard to get hard of people to find them mid crawl so easier if we're all there from the start and means we can film/cheer/collect!
Thanks all,
Becky
Hi all,
As I said last night the crawl will start at The Horse and Stables: http://thehorseandstables.co.uk/ It's really near Lambeth North tube and not far from Waterloo. We'll end up near one of those tube stations too.
I'll try and remember to go and book a table for anyone who wants to eat. 6pm OK?
I accidentally asked 10 pubs so if they all say yes (unlikely) we'll have to get our stakes on as well as our dancing shoes!
Here's the event on Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/events/411957192595379<https://www.facebook.com/events/411957192595379/>
Ffion
Hi folks,
It's hoody time!
If you would like a new or extra hoody or a t-shirt please can you fill in
the following poll now. It will take approximately 5 seconds of your time
if you click it right now:
https://doodle.com/poll/39i264exyyqwguw7
I would like to get this sorted by end of business on Monday so that we can
put the order in and get them back in time for DERT
For hoodies, we are using exactly the same brand as before (
http://www.fifthcolumn.co.uk/garments/continental-n51z-mens-zip-through-hoo…).
I will assume you want the small mens size (as we tried on in practice the
other week) unless you let me know otherwise. If someone could bring their
existing small mens size along on Monday for people to try on again that
would be great.
T-shirts are these ones:
http://www.fifthcolumn.co.uk/garments/stella-loves-organic-scoop-neck-t-shi…
I tried to get them in blue with logos printed in black so they looked a
bit different to our kit, but we can't do this with such a small print run
without things getting pretty expensive, so they will be exactly like the
hoodies - black t-shirt with blue prints on front and back. If anyone has
any major problems with the style or design please let me know directly.
As long as we can reach a total order of 20 items
Hoodies will be £25.30 each
Tee shirts will be £15.20 each
Just one other thing - do musicians also want anything?
Any other questions give me a shout.
Thanks a mil, keep warm and see you on Monday xx
<http://www.avg.com/email-signature?utm_medium=email&utm_source=link&utm_cam…>
Virus-free.
www.avg.com
<http://www.avg.com/email-signature?utm_medium=email&utm_source=link&utm_cam…>
<#DAB4FAD8-2DD7-40BB-A1B8-4E2AA1F9FDF2>
Hello all,
Absences: Rachel
First off I would like to discuss the spotlight and showcase options - if we want to do double jubilee again this year we will need to practice it! Please note there are so many of us if we do decide to do this we won't all be able to dance - which slightly negates the point of it, but is a nice opportunity to have large proportion of us involved!
The second half of practice we have Paul so I would like that to be where we focus on Westerhope/Piccadilly as really him and Sue just need an opportunity for repetition.
The first half, depending on what our spotlight and showcase discussion highlights, we can focus on Jubilee with new people/Piccadilly with new people. Or look at showcase etc.
Please note we only have three Mondays left and 1 day practice. The plan is for the day practice to be joint for Piccadilly and Westerhope - Ellie I think Emma is hoping to double check your availability today, in case you can appear later on at all. Obviously this will mean sharing the hall, if this doesn't work for any reason we can always split into the two rooms and have Pat go from room to room (sorry Pat!).
As mentioned in the emails yesterday please have your diaries worked out for Sidmouth so that we can give Hannah the definitive information she needs re. when we are available from. Please note this isn't in connection to ticket allocations as there is more time to firm this up.
Thanks all, see you later.
Becky xx
Hi All,
A few things that I need you all to think about/do ahead of tomorrow, to
help maximise practice time.
1. Sidmouth Folk Week. We could do with everyone having an idea of when
they will be likely to be arriving at the festival - in part so we can see
whether it would be possible to do anything over the weekend as well. (If
we do the weekend we are unlikely to be timetabled to do much and would
also be able to go to the dance team champagne reception... so I don't
think it would wear those that are able to make it out too much for the
rest of the week.) We have some forms that we need to fill in asap and this
s sort of important for being able to do so.
2. EGM - We usually have our EGM/party the week after DERT - with a Monday
off in between. This year that would put us on Easter Monday so we wouldn't
be able to hold it then. I propose holding it the day after DERT, although
we could postpone until 9th April if people felt strongly about it. If we
go for 9th April, the next practice where we would be dancing would then be
16th April and we do have a few things to prepare for over the Summer
months...
3. Final Pre-DERT crawls. I think we now have worked out who is organising
the one for Piccadilly on 16th March, but if someone from the Westerhope
set could organise one for that crawl on 14th that would be most helpful.
Let us know on Monday!
4. Kit - Sue has asked that if anyone has any kit that needs adjusting /
replacing please bring it tomorrow so we can get it sorted. If you're not
there tomorrow and have kit that needs either of these, please let me know
so we can work something out. Apologies it is all a bit short notice, but
hopefully you'll all see this before leaving tomorrow.
5. Ravens Hoodies / T's - please fill in Laura's doodle if you haven't
already.
As always - little nudge to take a look at the sign-up sheet...
That should be all for now folks! See you tomorrow.
Thanks,
Hannah
Hello all,
For those that went to Stratford for the Silver Flame DoD please pay for your trains ASAP. This money goes to the Ravens Acc. that the subs go into!
Me, Rachel-Anne and Hannah owe £15.25
Katherine, Hannah TD and Sue each owe £10.58
These prices are half of what was paid for each ticket, as agreed at the AGM.
Thanks,
Becky
Hi All,
Based on the AGM last year, we were intending to cover half the cost of
DERT for team members. Team tickets / competition entry etc. will be
covered by the team account, so this just leaves the travel and
accommodation. For now, the simplest way to do this until we know exactly
how much it is all costing is for the team account to cover accommodation -
which it already has, and individuals to cover trains (some of you already
have). If this needs adjusting later we'll sort it out.
So, as mentioned the other day, could those people that I have bought train
tickets for please arrange a transfer into my account. If you could put
some kind of reference that includes your name that would be much
appreciated so I know who to chase when my credit card bill comes...
Differences in amounts are where I have either only bought a ticket in one
direction for someone, or where some people have selected to go on a more
expensive train to come home. If anyone has any questions or wishes to see
more detailed figures, let me know. (London-Sheffield tickets for everyone
cost £17.64 - the return part is where we have variance.) Bank details and
amounts at the bottom of this email.
Those of you who have bought your own train tickets, please could you let
me know how much they were (if you haven't already), so I can work out how
much we have spent on travel / accomm to make sure Ravens have covered half
the costs and that no one is out of pocket. Thanks Becky and Rachel for
doing this already.
We'll then sort out the adjustments for non-Ravens and anything else that
isn't covered by the above.
Hope that's all clear. Any questions please let me know, and if you are
having any financial difficulties with any of this, as always, please
contact Sue and she will sort something out with you.
Thanks,
Hannah
Bank Details (I'm with nationwide in case that affects anyone):
Account Name: Miss HR Norman
Account number: 28722748
Sort Code: 07 02 46
Total
Anna £30.79
Emma £17.64
Tim £17.64
Ffion £17.64
Patrick £49.64
Hannah TD £30.79
Laura £30.79
Paul £30.79
Rachel-Anne £49.64
Sue £13.15
Hello,
On Monday we discussed doing stickers for DERT again. They're fun, cheap to make and easy to distribute so probably preferable to badges.
I'd love some suggestions for quirky, Raven-based puns to put on them this year.
You can add your suggestions to this document or email them to me: https://docs.google.com/document/d/1E6QDzITYFHboTe4ptKcF8QBytDeEal_DAmS8FAV… last year's suggestions are there too for inspiration. No reason why we can't use any of them.
Thanks,
Ffion
Sent from my iPad
Hello,
If anyone fancies a dance tomorrow The Spring Heeled Jacks are doing a twmpath at the London Welsh Centre (near Kings Cross). There will also be some songs by a choir, cawl (Welsh stew) and tasty Welsh drinks. Tickets are only £5. More info here:
https://www.facebook.com/events/1735888119806222/?ti=as
Ffion x
Hi All,
Hope you had a good practice apart from the weather issues on Monday.
Couple of small items for business this week concerning sign-ups. Please
could you check diaries for Faversham Hop festival and state preference on
day if you are able to go.
New invite: Brockwell Gardens May Fete - all the details are on the sign-up
sheet. But in summary this is the afternoon of May 12th - we were invited
last year but had the C# May in a Day that day. Sounds like last year was
really successful so they have invited us again and would really love it if
we can make it. See the sign-up sheet for more details.
Outstanding replies for Folk Dance Southampton and Croydon night of dance -
please update your availability so that we can get back to them asap.
https://docs.google.com/document/d/11XHQc6j0g7HQto7rhOs6k0bfkw-XmFb8jmCeRa4…
Enjoy the snow!! ☺
Thanks,
Hannah
Hello all,
So at the moment the snow is all fluffy and light but should anyone from further afield/boat-dwelling etc. be worried please let me know if you can't make practice! Ffion has noticed that there is a plan to stop trains out of London at 10pm (weather dependent) obviously if anyone needs to leave early please do! As appealing an offer as kipping on my living room floor is, I'm sure you want to get home safely.
People we don't have tonight: Hannah, Martin and Paul
For this reason I don't think we need to worry about DERT Piccadilly practice - although if I can run through it with Hannorah at 4 (we need to update you!) and Rachel at 5 that would be great.
My plan is to start with Westerhope set practicing with the rest of us working on Jubilee with the amazingly patient Emily who hasn't got to do any dancing for aaaages. Then we'll work on Piccadilly as mentioned as well as continuing to teach new people Piccadilly.
If possible I will work it so that people who will have difficulty getting home won't be used up until the end so can leave around 9ish.
I work in a basement and therefore can't see the weather, if a blizzard bringing lots of snow happens let me know!
Becky xx
Anyone interested in this?
(Guessing that entries from rapper sides are welcome, despite it saying 'Morris'.)
S x
Sent from my iPad
Begin forwarded message:
From: Open Morris <chair(a)open-morris.org<mailto:chair@open-morris.org>>
Date: 24 February 2018 at 20:31:10 GMT
To: Sue Connolly <info(a)towerravens.org.uk<mailto:info@towerravens.org.uk>>
Subject: [TR Committee] The Sue Dyke Award - an Open Morris competition!
The Sue Dyke Award
For contributions to the future of Morris
We would like to invite entries for the 2018 competition, with the theme
‘What does Morris mean to you?’
* Entry is open to any individual who is a member of Open Morris or a member of an Open Morris member side.
* Entrants must be aged under 30 on the closing date or working with OM members aged under 30 on that date.
* Entries can be in any suitable medium, such as photography; art; collage; essays; poetry; song; but must be able to be sent both in the post and electronically.
* All entries must include an explanation or essay which can be printed in Dancing On!, presented or displayed at the AGM and posted on the Open Morris website. For example, you could write a tune or a dance and film it in use, with your entry including a CD, DVD or other portable piece of media, plus some text to explain your entry.
Please see full rules and entry guidelines on the website at
www.open-morris.org/sue-dyke-award/<http://www.open-morris.org/sue-dyke-award/>
________________________________
The competition closes on Saturday 1st September 2018 to allow time for a select panel of independent Morris and creative experts to judge the entries!
Once you have your competition entry ready, email chair(a)open-morris.org<mailto:chair@open-morris.org> and we will let you know how to proceed.
________________________________
Winners will be notified by phone where possible and email. Prizes will be presented at the Open Morris AGM on Sunday November 18th.
First prize: £100, a certificate from Open Morris and a year’s custodianship of the Sue Dyke Tankard, engraved with your name.
Second prize: £50 and a certificate from Open Morris.
Both first and second place entries will be printed in Dancing On!, displayed at the AGM and posted on the Open Morris website.
Good luck! We look forward to receiving your entries!
Nicki Pickering
Open Morris Chair
_______________________________________________
Tower Ravens Committee and Info List
info(a)towerravens.org.uk<mailto:info@towerravens.org.uk>
Hi All,
We raised £135.01 at the Crawl last Thursday - pretty good for only 5 pubs!
Thanks to all that came on Saturday - lovely day with Silver Flame. Quieter
week this week - so time for some admin!
1. DERT
2. Sign-ups
1. DERT - Thanks to those of you that have transferred money into my
account - just a little nudge to ask whether those of you that have yet to
do so could please?
DERT Bio - Thanks Becky! You win the prize (will bring next time I'm at
practice), and that has now been submitted as our Bio for DERT this year.
2. Sign-ups - not really anything new, but we really need to get back to
Faversham Hop Festival. Ffion says there are lots of pubs (though getting
into them might be hard at times due to there being a lot of people in
them) and there are squares for displays too. Please could everyone check
this one (1-2 September) and specify which day you would prefer to go.
Also on the sign-up sheet for your attention:
13 May Highams Park Spring Festival
21 August Croydon night of dance
We've also been invited to Folk Dance Southampton on 15th September (about
1.25 hrs away), think it is outside dancing in the centre of Southampton
but I'm sure we could find some pubs! Apparently "Jimmie Kilner who makes
your swords says he would love to see you at the event." As usual, please
fill yourselves in on the sign-up sheet.
https://docs.google.com/document/d/11XHQc6j0g7HQto7rhOs6k0bfkw-XmFb8jmCeRa4…
Have a lovely week or two and see you soon!
Hannah ☺
Fair warning(ish). Ru is coming this Monday to help us with our stepping!
Main focus will be on Westerhope side/newer members while dert set continue to work on piccadilly so we've got Tommy routine figured out for majority/all dance.
Think strong stepping thoughts :-)
Becky xx
Hi All,
For those of you coming tomorrow, please meet at Marylebone station at 0950
near the AMT coffee station as that is close to the barriers. Train is at
1010, but we'll want to board early as you can't reserve seats.
We'll arrive at Stratford upon Avon at 1205 and will then meet up with
Silver Flame for lunch and a drink before we start crawling. We have a few
pubs there and will then travel to Leamington Spa for more pubs and a
Wagamama dinner.
We'll be on the 2122 train from Leamington Spa arriving back to Marylebone
at 2241. (I think there are actually some earlier trains should we wish to
take them as they appear to be more frequent from there than Stratford.)
Don't forget to polish your shoes...
Train tickets have been bought for Hannah N, Becky, Katherine, Rachel-Anne,
Hannah TD and Sue. Emma - we'll see you there!
See you tomorrow if you are coming.
Facebook page here: https://www.facebook.com/events/144270812937099/
Thanks,
Hannah
Hello,
We need to update our Bio on dertinfo and I was hoping that someone might
be able to help me as I am currently lacking in inspiration! Below is the
one we used last year as a starter for 10. There might even be chocolate in
it for the best version!
Let me know your ideas...
Thanks,
Hannah
"Deep in the heart of our nation's capital city, ten maidens fair have been
astounding the pubs of London with their feats of acrobatic prowess (and
drinking) since their escape from the Tower in 2012. The Ravens have been
up to much mischief since their foray up to Manchester, including winning
the widely acclaimed Sushi Trophy at Thrales Day for their "Peckham
fisherwoman's dance". Led by a wayward Beefeater who decided to take up the
bugle despite having received no formal training, the Ravens will be flying
North to visit some of their wild counterparts in the Lake District for a
relaxing weekend of dancing and drinking in Kendal. Mint cake anyone?"
