West Somerset Morris Men at Dunster by Candlelight 2008 lifting a lady aloft
Eavesdropping on a conversation at Dunster by Candlelight last weekend about the need to get in new members, it occurred to me that joining a dance group is a great way of meeting people and become part of a very friendly and welcoming community.
So, if you would like to make new friends and have fun socially, why not contact your local traditional dancing group. You will probably be welcomed with open arms.
Traditional dancing enables you to see lots of new places too. When I go to folk festivals all over the country there are almost always groups of traditional dancers who have travelled from other parts of the country too – sometimes even from abroad.
West Somerset Morris Men musicians at Dunster by Candlelight 2008
Traditional dancing is very good exercise too and a wonderful way to keep fit. If you would like to shift the extra ounces or lbs you have put on over Christmas, traditional dancing may be a great way to do it while also having fun and making friends.
What a great idea for a New Year’s resolution 
Traditional dancing is friendly. Barn dances, which involve dancing in a circle or square, often mean you get an opportunity to dance with everybody else who is on the floor. Morris dancing is available for men and women and, I believe, even for mixed sides. It’s just a matter of finding the dance side that is right for you.
Traditional dancing is very ‘family’. When I go down to Sidmouth Folk Festival and watch the ceilidhs in the car park behind the Anchor Inn, sometimes called the Anchor gardens, it is usually full of families. There is even an organisation called Folk Camps where you can go camping with other families who enjoy traditional dancing and playing traditional music.
So, what’s holding you back. Check out your local traditional dancing groups, telephone them and get involved. You are quite likely to find friendship and may even encounter love and marriage born from a shared interest which many argue is, at the end of the day, the best way to build a relationship.
So, back to my eavesdropping at Dunster by Candlelight. I was standing next to the West Somerset Morris Men and there was a dancer from a different Morris side. They invited him to join in and in a moment he was happily dancing along with the rest of them.
Bye for now
Rob
