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Moondyne Joe is still up to his usual tricks; highway robbery, evading the constabulary, getting caught, tried by the judiciary and jailed….then escaping and so on.
….so Marlee Morris had to go to the annual festival in Toodyay to celebrate this “hero”. This is a popular festival for a small Wheatbelt town with extensive crowds, many stalls selling food, craft, historical displays, folk music, inevitable boot scooting and sideshow alley…..AND morris dancing.
The locals are encouraged to dress up in costumes befitting 1880’s Newcastle (Toodyay’s original name) and their creativity never disappoints.
The weather? A perfect autumn day in the west.
Robert and Di were main Marlee musos, Dave and Jenny popped in to help in between other gigs.
We had 7 dancers to entertain the crowds with some lively Morris dancing based on traditional dances from England.
First stand was in the street outside the CWA hall.
The muso and those who arrived first decided to wait for the others by having tea and sticky buns at the CWA. Meanwhile the squire was, understandably, stressed about where most of the side had
disappeared to. Due to the significant numbers of people at this event we danced our set to an attentive crowd! Street dancing means we can take up the space and have a captive audience. Of course, we let the “kiddie train” through along with the sheep dog and his 6 sheep!
On the timetable of events we were given and long lunch break. Good opportunity to see the other attractions, listen to some great music, chat to stall holders and take in the festival.
2 nd stand was in the street outside the Freemasons pub. By this time in the afternoon, much of the crowd had left but we still managed to entertain those remaining with some higher energy dances.
Overall, this was a great event and fun day out for Morris dancing in the street. Notable was the fact there was no loud music to drown out the musos. Marlee only dance to acoustic live music.
Well done Toodyay and Moondyne Festival organisers for putting on a super event. Thanks for having Marlee Morris on the program.
Thanks also to our Squire Alison and Foreperson Dave for organising and preparing us for this event.
As always, grateful thanks to our musos; Robert, Di, Dave and Jenny.

 

Our Autumn performance schedule continues to be full of chances to catch us dance starting with a (slightly belated) celebration of the Patron Saint of England at the Duke Bar & Bistro, Carramar on the 27th April  https://thedukeperth.com.au/st-georges-celebrations-2025/  We may well be there a little earlier to enjoy their Sunday Roast although it does make leaping a little harder.

As is tradiational, we will join Perth Morris Men in Dancing the Sun Up for May Day in Kings Park. It really is a magical morning even if the concept of being up before dawn doesn’t feel like a good idea when we go to bed the night before. Brave Spectators, Bemused Dog walkers and Keen Photographers are more than welcome to join us!

We are delighted to be dancing at the Moondyne festival in Toodyay on the 4th May. We have enjoyed our previous performances and a chance to enjoy the cute town  https://moondynefestival.com.au/programme/

Do you ever wonder what it is like being part of (probably) the best Morris Side in Perth?  One of our dancers Dave Kent wrote this lovely report of a recent Sunday morning dancing out in front of a crowd of thousands as part of the Goverment House Open day. We hope to make this an ongoing series…

Musos: Robert & Di

Dancers: Alison (Squire), Dave S (Foreman), Tom, Dave K, Rosie, Sarah, Sophie, Ronnie

Weather: Sunny (about 27 degrees) with some clouds & humidity

Dances: Stop Me & Buy One; Goldfish; Catalpa; The Bell; Upton On Severn; Moonrise; Dilwyn; Rose Tree; Getting Upstairs; Poached Breakfast; Prescott Clock.

 

Marlee Morris performed two sets at the Government House Open Day, it was fun and a bit sweaty, and wonderful to have appreciative audiences that applauded loudly after each dance.

 

On arrival we met in the Supper Room, below the ballroom, in a large air-conditioned room, where we were “inducted” into what would happen on the day. It was lovely and cool in this huge room, other performers were also in this room, including ballroom dancers, brass bands, and bagpipe bands, and later on, a marvelous violinist. It was here that we readied ourselves for our dance sets. It was novel walking through the side of the ballroom on the way to our first set, with everyone near us in the ballroom, hearing our bells, seeing our dance clobber, with many saying a friendly “hello”.

 

Our first set, at 10.15am. was under a large shady tree, close to the entrance of the of the Government House Ballroom. A nice area, flat and gravelly, with adequate space allowing us to stretch out the dances. Our audience was both curious and mesmerized as we dazzled our way through the first set of five dances. We presented well, and enjoyed making a noise or three, whooping and shouting, as our bells rang out loud. Passers-by stopped on their way to the main area to watch us, with Dave S and Alison doing a great work in encouraging interest. Dave S also did a fine job as our shouter for the set.

 

At 11am, we stared our long second set, deeper within the grounds of Government House. Described as the “lower grass area”, and beautiful flat grass it was, surrounded by an all age, appreciative audience, who applauded after each dance, and whose curiosity was rewarded by Dave S & Alison who answered their questions, we also had the added bonus of dancing in front of a 1953 Morris Minor, a favoured Morris tradition. We also chatted with a man who said he saw our dance moves with our sticks, as a kind of martial art, and that our stick movements were reticent of upper body thrust and defend actions. Dave S, again did a great job is shouting out what our dances were about, and Alison, gave out stickers to interested lookers on. We danced courageously and with great vigor in the morning sun, and had good fun in the process.

 

Thanks to our musos, Robert & Di, who did a fine job in keeping us dancing in time and together, and hoorah, to Alison, our squire, who got us the gig, and to Dave S, who practiced us so well. Thanks to the staff at Government House Ballroom, for providing us with ice cold water, fruit and snacks. In summary, a joyous, if tiring morning, that was splendid to watch, and enjoyable to be a part of. A fabulous time was had by all.

 

Saturday morning saw us dancing in the sunshine at the Perth City Farm Farmers Market.

We really appreciated the interest from those who stopped to watch, asked questions, or just enjoyed the atmosphere. Plus, the community feel, beautiful surroundings, and all good things to eat made it a wonderful morning.

Big thanks to the team at Perth City Farm for having us — we hope to be back again soon. 🪕🌻 🎶✨

As the weather cools slightly we are gearing up for a busy Autumn, with performances at many upcoming events.

We are starting with a few dances at the Perth City Farm’s Farmers’ Market on Saturday the 5th of April. We love these informal events witha  chance to get up close and personal with members of the public who aren’t necessarily expecting Morris Dancers. https://perthcityfarm.org.au/farmers-market/

On Sunday the 13th April we are heading to the Grandeur of the Government House of Western Australia for their Open day as part of Boorloo Heritage festival https://govhouse.wa.gov.au/government-house-tours-events/open-weekends-at-government-house/

We will continue the day of dance by performing at the Buddha’s Birthday Multi Cultural festival along with groups from across the Perth Area. https://www.buddhasbirthdayperth.org.au/

The second half of April and Early May look equally busy but that is a story for another post (sneak a look at our calendar to see where else you can catch us!) http://marleemorris.morris.org.au/events/

 

Please phone or Text Alison (0426410561) for more details

Sunday the 21st of April was an unseasonably warm day as Marlee Morris dancers performed for two gigs to celebrate the patron saint of England. Starting with a performance in Kings Park overlooking the River and the City. We attracted many passers by as well as ardhent fans who had seen us advertised in the Boorloo Heritage Festival guide. It was an honour to celebrate the heritage of the country where the dances originated, the city we call home and the orginal owners of the land on which Perth is built.

Following a well deserved lunch we headed north to the Duke Bar and Bistro in Carramar who had a full St George’s day party with much bunting, English ale and Proper football on the TVs. We lured a sizable crowd out to the car park with our performance adding a  traditional element to a fun weekend.

 

Visitors from New Zealand, Brisbane, Sydney, Melbourne, Hobart and Adelaide made the journey to Perth for the 2023 Australian Morris Ale which was held in Fremantle.  Visitors and a number of keen locals were accommodated in the iconic Fremantle YHA which is the UNESCO Heritage listed Fremantle Prison.  The dance outs and the Feast night were all within walking distance of the YHA,  The exception was the “Extension Tour” which involved a bus trip to the Swan Valley.  To see the itinerary see – Ale Itinerary Rev 3

For some photos – see photos.

It has been and continues to be a busy year.

It was great to get a new dancer from the recent Come and Try It.  On the day there were five newcomers who gave it a go.  

At the time of writing we have performed twice at Mount Claremont Farmers Markets and our new dancer made her first appearance at Boorloo Heritage Festival.

In the near future we have the York Heritage Festival, May Day and Moondyne Festival to look forward to.

It is time to learn a few new dances without the pressure of getting ready for any particular performance at the moment.

Over a period of a month we did four public performances and one workshop.  We started with a  workshop at Fairbridge Festival and concluded with a performance at Moondyne Festival.  It was good fun and performances and the workshop were all well received.

Also we were very excited to be part of the video for this Phil Hambling song – A Hundred Years Hence