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This Little Morris Side Went to Market…
Today Worthing Larks were once again performing out and about; our 4th Saturday in as many weeks! Today we made our Shoreham debut at the Shoreham Farmer’s Market; a brilliant event with lots of delicious goods on sale and a wonderful, captive audience sitting outside the local cafes and restaurants adjacent to where we wereContinue reading “This Little Morris Side Went to Market…”
Larks About Town
The return to performing has been a very busy time for Worthing Larks, as it has for various other morris sides up and down the country who have had to re-establish themselves in their local areas in a variety of different ways now that restrictions have lifted. Some Sides have taken a gentle approach toContinue reading “Larks About Town”
Oyez, Oyez, Oyez! Larks Are Back in Town!
Yesterday (24th July 2021) Worthing Larks made our way into Worthing Town at lunchtime for a spot of busking! There were quite a few firsts which made it special; the first dance out after the lifting of restrictions, the first outing for us under our new name of Worthing Larks (with shiny new badges!), theContinue reading “Oyez, Oyez, Oyez! Larks Are Back in Town!”
Offington Roundabout
Today, a group of 8 Worthing Larks met at Downsbrook so that we could learn a dance the Squire had written for the Side called Offington Roundabout. The dance is named after an actual roundabout in the Worthing area and also takes inspiration directly from road layouts, including figures such as Crossroads, Mini Roundabouts andContinue reading “Offington Roundabout”
What a Lark!
For the last week the Bag has secretly been slaving over her sewing machine to produce a Lark costume for the Side to use as our Beast mascot when out and about, and tonight surprised everyone at practice by turning up wearing it. What a lark! The Squire, in on the surprise, was ready withContinue reading “What a Lark!”
A Murmuration of Larks Descends on Worthing
This evening, after the further lifting of Covid-19 restrictions, a murmuration of Larks descended on Downsbrook Primary School in Worthing for our first practice as a full side (without the rule of 6) in a very long time. We were all very excited to see each other, and with friendly hugs, a lot of stickContinue reading “A Murmuration of Larks Descends on Worthing”
Sunday Practice Success!
With further lifting of restrictions on the horizon and the idea of everyone meeting as a group again soon to be a reality, the Worthing Larks have been practicing very hard to prepare ourselves for our first dance out of the year, for which planning is underway. Today we had two practice sessions of 6Continue reading “Sunday Practice Success!”
Happy May Day 2021
As Worthing Larks were unable to dance together today, due to Covid 19 restrictions, Eliza the Squire decided that she would instead welcome in the May with a solo jig. Unfortunately she didn’t quite get the memo to see in the sunrise and her jig didn’t take place until Midday due to a pre-meditated lie-in,Continue reading “Happy May Day 2021”
Morris Dancing for Dummies
Quite often, when teaching a new dance, morris dancers can mysteriously find themselves in the wrong place at the wrong time with no explanation as to how this happened other than the musicians being at fault somehow, as the music is supposed to tell the dancers what to do and when. Recently we have foundContinue reading “Morris Dancing for Dummies”
Happy as a Lark to be Dancing Again
Along with lockdown restrictions lifting, the Worthing Larks have flown enthusiastically back to Downsbrook to dance once more. Hooray! Practicing in sixes has been challenging, and for the last few weeks we have been out bi-weekly in various groups and weathers (including a snow shower!) to start mastering our core dances once more in preparationContinue reading “Happy as a Lark to be Dancing Again”
We are the Worthing Larks!
The Larks are very excited to announce that, along with an awesome new badge design, we also have a brand new name! No longer will we be Sompting Larks, and instead have chosen to become the Worthing Larks. We feel that this better reflects who we are as a Side, as we both practice andContinue reading “We are the Worthing Larks!”
Tweeting Larks
Tweet Tweet! The Larks are now on Twitter! We plan to chirp about all our activities, and those of the local Worthing community, over there so please do click the link below to follow us: https://twitter.com/SomptingLarks Alternatively, if you do not have Twitter but are still keen to know what we’re up to, you mayContinue reading “Tweeting Larks”
Larks and Downsbrook
Since Sompting Larks changed from being a youth Side to a fully mixed Morris Side in the summer of 2019, we have been meeting weekly at Downsbrook Primary School (https://www.downsbrook.org/Welcome/) in Broadwater, Worthing to practice dancing. Prior to the pandemic we would meet in the school hall on a Tuesday evening, but once restrictions cameContinue reading “Larks and Downsbrook”
An Egg-celent New Side!
The Larks Foreman, afflicted with cabin fever due to Lockdown, has found a solution to the lack of practice and has hatched a brand new side all of his very own. He managed to scramble a set of 6 together and the first dace he plans to teach, once they are over the initial shellContinue reading “An Egg-celent New Side!”
Riley Windsor
As we are now in full Lockdown in the UK, and unable to meet due to this, the Larks Squire and Foreman have been collaborating to produce a series of stepping and jig tutorial videos. Here is one of our outtakes from the dance Betty Windsor, featuring Riley the dog, who decided that she wantedContinue reading “Riley Windsor”
Lilongwe comes to Worthing…
Today, after having previously shelved our Lilongwe (Malawi) tradition dances due to social distancing and Covid-19, we rekindled our passion for them with a dedicated practice session for two bubbles of dancers and another of musicians. These dances, performed in single steps with interesting figures such as Bonfire and Wigwams, and the unique Dulwich Hey,Continue reading “Lilongwe comes to Worthing…”
First Badge!
Sompting Larks love a reason to celebrate and today we were all exceptionally proud of one of our younger members, who earned her first badge after mastering South Australia, an Adelaide Morris dance in the Adderbury style, and one of our Core Dances. Well done!! If you look very closely you can just about makeContinue reading “First Badge!”
Badges all round!
Today, despite the intermittent spells of rain, we had an extremely productive socially-distanced, outdoor practice with 2 bubbles of dancers and one bubble of musicians. We managed to get through 4 of our core dances and even try out a new one, all in an hour and a half, with lots of the Side earningContinue reading “Badges all round!”
Success!
This weekend, after several extremely productive practices, in which we reshuffled our signature dance of South Australia to be Covid-friendly in sets of 4, we are proud to announce that two of our younger Apprentices earned their very first badges! Congratulations guys! This has been a great achievement for them as the younger members haveContinue reading “Success!”
They’ve Fledged!
Today we had the privilege of promoting two of our Apprentices to fully fledged Larks and rewarding them with their braces, as they have each mastered 5 of our core dances. Despite the challenges of practicing through lockdown via Zoom, then outside in the fading light and elements, they have both stuck with us throughContinue reading “They’ve Fledged!”
