Dancing for St George

The dance out on Sunday went very well – despite the occasional drizzle.

All the teams turned up, and everyone in Tyne Bridge who said they would. Even Madame Fifi who rang me at about 10.30 to ask what we were going to do if it rained. She gets Guitarman in and out of his wheelchair so it wasn’t an unreasonable question.

Baltic Square is one of the best places to dance on Tyneside. It is flat, sheltered by the Baltic and the Tyne gorge and faces west . In the afternoon it is quite a suntrap. There is an excellent backdrop of the Sage, the bridges and Newcastle Quayside. The Millennium Bridge, and Q-buses, bring a steady stream of visitors who almost all stop to have a look. The steps up to the road even provide seating for the audience. The Baltic itself has toilets and a café where thirsty dancers can acquire water, coffee or even lunch. There is also good (if expensive) parking nearby with exceedingly enthusiastic parking attendants. On a sunny afternoon it is almost perfect.

As we were ready first we opened the proceedings at noon with Pipers Ash. Then the order was Hexham Morrismen, Short Circuit women’s rapper, Hexhamshire Lasses, Addison Clog, Addison Rapper, then back to us again. So there was plenty of time for conversation with old friends (and adversaries) between dances. There were also plenty of volunteers to hold umbrellas over musicians when the drizzle came. Much to our delight Mr & Mrs Library turned up - she still with a slight limp after pulling her calf muscle at Morpeth Gathering.

As neither the Squire nor Deputy Squire were there it fell to me as the Officer to sort out the dancers and dances. But I insisted Mrs Recorder (an ex-squire) get involved, and most other people put their two-pennyworth in too. Which is useful if you don’t know where people usually go, and some can’t remember.

Anyway after Pipers Ash we did Great Wishford Garland and were about to do Runcorn hanky dance when we saw Hehamshire Lasses get their hankies out so changed tactics and did the Mobberly Stick dance. Grenoside stick and Rose & Crown garland both got an airing.

As these two are both 6-person dances I took the opportunity to get the dragon out and terrorise small children in the audience. The dragon kneels in front of them and some are bold enough to pat his head. Others cower behind Mother’s skirts or just cower. As the event was to celebrate St George the dragon was appropriate – and appreciated.

The local wildlife expressed its appreciation with a seagull scoring an almost direct hit on Guitarman. Fortunately his wheelchair and guitar were easily wiped down.

By 2pm almost all teams had run out of dances or dancers so we finished the proceedings with Runcorn hankie dance. Then back to the cars before the tickets ran out.

NEXT BOOKING
1st May, Dancing at Dawn on Town Moor. We meet at 04.30 to process to the middle of the Moor to be dancing as the sun rises at 05.22.
See you there?

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