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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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Latest
news - Spring 2008
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The 2008 dance
season is almost upon is, and our full 2008
Dance Programme is now available - click
here for details - meanwhile here is a look back at some of
the highlights of 2007
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 **
2007 BUNFIGHT ** - Well, another highly successful BERKSHIRE
BEDLAM BUNFIGHT CEILIDH came and went at the end of last year,
this time with the theme of 'Heroes and Villains' - as usual some great outfits, with the boundaries of good taste being satisfyingly tested
once again. Random were terrific as our band for the evening, Hugh
Crabtree as caller was his immaculate sardonic self, and it was great to
see so many old and new friends in attendance. Thanks to all those who
came and enjoyed themselves, congratulations to all the losers at Irish
Bingo, and thank you also to the Keystone Cops of BB who put in an
appropriately incompetent appearance. We will be doing it all again this
year so be there on 29th Nov 2008, tickets still
available.....
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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 our latest news section or see
the pictures
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2007 summer events included our 30th Anniversary weekend 29th Jun - 1st
July, when a great time was had by all, with scarcely a drop of rain (as
you might expect) - followed by highly successful August appearances at
Sidmouth and Towersey - read
about them in our 2007 news reports or see
a selection of pictures in the gallery section
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** EGGHEADS -
"we wuz robbed" say BB **
In September 2007 BB were on Eggheads (a BBC2 quiz programme for those who don't know), 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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| You
can read about all our recent happenings in the 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 Media News !! |
BB
on DVD - Berkshire Bedlam are one of the sides to feature in a series of
morris DVDs put together by Steven Newland. Filmed during 2005, it features a variety of dances from the
repertoire and a revealing interview. It's available to buy from the website 'Morris
Dancers of England' - or click on the image for some preview
footage! |
Read
here a feature on the side from the 'Best
of British' magazine (written by Yvonne Baker)
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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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