the friendly festival
| WIRRAL FOLK FESTIVAL 2020 |  | DANCE SIDES |
NATTY JACK SWORD
Natty Jack are a mixed Traditional Sword Team from the Northwest, formed in 2017. They were formed by children of Southport Swords to help celebrate their 50th year. However, because they were having such fun they decided to keep going in their own right. When the team was younger the swords had a mast hobby of a natterjack toad which was terrifying and a vivid memory for all the children at the time. It seemed oddly fitting tod have a name inspired by 'The Toad'.
And here it is!
Visit Natty Jack Sword's
We hope you will enjoy watching our dance sides and join in with their workshops too. It's great fun and a good way to keep fit!
MIND THE STEP
Appalachian dancing originates from traditional English, Irish and Scottish clogging and stepping styles as danced by the immigrants who settled in the Appalachian Mountains in North America.The dance evolved in remote mountain communities and incorporated steps from the dance style of native Indians and former slaves.
Mind the Step was formed in1990 by a group of dancers wanting to “do something different “ and we have been performing our unique style of Appalachian dancing ever since! We choreograph all our own dances using traditional Appalachian clogging, stepping and flatfooting styles drawing inspiration from many sources ranging from the American flag in a dance called Liberty to the name of the local pub in Windmills. This energetic and exciting dance form will take your breath away, both dancers and spectators alike!
See more of Mind The Step here
MOCKBEGGAR MORRIS
Mockbeggar Morris is a Ladies only Side dancing mainly Northwest Traditional Morris. The name originates from Mockbeggar wharf, an area of sea in Liverpool Bay off the northern coast of the Wirral.
This style of dancing had its beginnings in the mill towns of Lancashire and Yorkshire.
Many women were employed in the Cotton Mills, and with little else to amuse them in those days they would enjoy listening to the Fiddle or Melodeon players. Once WW1 came, the women had to form their own groups and so the tradition of Ladies only sides began.
Their costume is based on the cotton fabric produced in the mills. .The sticks they use represent the bobbins or spindles used in the mills.
They also use hankies to add interest and movement to the steps.
See Mockbeggar Morris