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Berkshire Bedlam Morris
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Welcome
to the Home Page of Berkshire Bedlam!
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BB - still rated amongst the top 99% of all Morris sides in the
country.....
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Who
are we ?
Berkshire
Bedlam,
renowned
Cotswold Morris dancers from Wokingham in Berkshire, were formed in
1977, and perform a wide range of dances. While some are based on the legendary
Leafield dances of Oxfordshire, the majority of today's repertoire is
original compositions put together in recent years. Whatever the dance, BB's aim is to perform
with gusto and spirit, and to present spectacular and original
performances. Do
we succeed? - come and see us to find out!
You can find out lots more about us through this site including
something of our history, and a guide to the dances in our past and
present repertoire. There are also various pictures of the side, latest
news of events, and you
can even find out what happens at a Berkshire Bedlam Bunfight ......
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What's
going on - Summer 2008
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**
2008 PROGRAMME **
Our travels this year have already taken us to a chilly Yorkshire, a
changeable
Dorset, and a hot Norfolk - read here
our latest news about our 2008 activities including what happened on our
Dorset weekend and how that pig fitted in (it didn't very well)
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**
2008 BUNFIGHT **
It's almost never too soon to start thinking about the next Berkshire
Bedlam Bunfight ceilidh - Sat 29 Nov 2008, California Ratepayers Hall,
Finchampstead, with the fabulous Random and equally fabulous caller Nick
'marvellous' Walden - theme this year (as always entirely optional) 'Myths
and Legends' - advance tickets £8 each now on sale
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**
EGGHEADS -
"we wuz robbed" **
In September 2007 BB were featured on the BBC2 quiz programme Eggheads, and so nearly won thanks to the heroic efforts of Andy and
Jameson - but in the end narrowly missed out on the £59,000 prize, a
lifetime's supply of coconuts.
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**
GERMAN TRIP -
October 07 **
Last October the Big Caper once again hit the Continental road, to take part
in a Festival in Ribnitz-Damgarten in the former East Germany. Its
probably fair to say they don't get a lot of passing English Morris teams
out there, but we had a great time anyway - read
all about it in the 2007 news section or see
the pictures
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| You
can read about all our recent happenings in the detailed latest news section,
find out when we are coming to a town near you in our future
event guide, see
the gallery section
for more pictures, or just wallow aimlessly in BB memorabilia throughout
the site ... |
| Berkshire
Bedlam in the Media !! |
BB
on DVD - Berkshire Bedlam are one of the sides to feature in a series of
morris DVDs put together by Steven Newland, and features a variety of dances from the
repertoire and a revealing interview. It's available to buy from the website 'Morris
Dancers of England' (other morris sides DVDs are available but check they are also in
the top 99% of all teams before purchasing ...) |
Read
here a great feature by Yvonne Baker on the side from the 'Best
of British' magazine - good to see objective, unbiased
reporting.... |
Berkshire
Bedlam have featured in a video made by Genius Productions for
Reading based electro-funk band Saloon. Called 'The Good Life', the
video features footage shot at the Banbury Canalside Festival and adapted to fit the dreamy techno track. Watch and listen to an
extract here - The
Good Life featuring Berkshire Bedlam (QuickTime format)
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Contact Us / Join Us
We're always delighted to welcome new members, dancers and musicians.
We practice on Thursday evenings at the Scout Hut in Evendons Lane, Wokingham,
RG41 4DX (click
here for map) and dance out at festivals, pubs and other events
throughout the summer. If you would like to come to any of our practice evenings to try
it for yourself, you will be very welcome any time, or come to one of our taster
evenings in October.
Phone or e-mail
if you would like more details or would like to contact us about anything
else as follows :
Main contact & Webmaster - Malcolm Major - Tel 0118 9771952 - e-mail
malcolmmajor at ntlworld dot com
You can also contact the following :
Squire - Jerry West - jerry dot
west at ntlworld dot com
Foreman -
Tim Taylor - tj dot taylor at btinternet dot com
And finally, if you would
like to find out more about other Morris sides, or Morris
dancing in general, try these links :
Mainly
Morris Dancing
: an invaluable source of general information and the best links to
teams webpages
Morris
Side Finder : a UK wide guide to find
teams in all parts of the country
Morrisdancing.org
: Links to worldwide morris organisations and affiliated sides
SEFAN
: South East Folk Arts Network - what's going on in folk arts in the
South East
and
remember ....
....it never rains on Berkshire Bedlam
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