We'd talked about doing a wassail. Some time around Twelfth Night, as is traditional, in Bewdley, as you would expect. Our squire had happened to mention it at the Harvest Fair, and the ever-enthusiastic Ellie, from Bewdley Development Trust was on board before you could shout "Gesundheit!"
"We need to get the schools involved, can you do some workshops? Teach them a dance, how to make rag jackets, that type of thing." To be honest, we'd just been thinking about a low key do, us and perhaps another side, doing a bit of dancing, a bit of drinking,bit of singing, sprinkle some cider around a few trees, job done. Down to the Cock and Magpie for a well-earned session and home to bed happy, if not completely sloshed.
Ellie's energy is infectious though, and before we knew it, we'd agreed to do a workshop one Sunday in December, followed up by a session in each of two schools to reinforce what they'd hopefully learned. I must admit, whilst I'm always happy to go along with anything, I wasn't overly hopeful about any kids turning up for a dancing lesson on a cold Sunday afternoon in December. So at about 1130, with little anticipation, I lugged my drums from the car park to the museum (yes, I'm still lugging, whether Santa sees fit to reward my fairly good behaviour all year with a sturdy drum trolley remains to be seen).
They'd set us the education room aside for the workshop, and we all gathered in there around the radiator, which was lukewarm. And our first customer! He was there too, a young lad who had stepped up to the mark at the Harvest Fair and enjoyed it so much he'd come back for another go. He came out with his mum to watch us do a few dances in the courtyard. As we danced, a few others turned up, and before we went back into the education room, we were in double figures!
Our Squire started off by introducing the dance and the side danced it through, to polite applause from the mums and dads and excitement from the kids. And then we were off, teaching a group of about a dozen children, aged between five and ten, a dance. And pretty good they were too! The good thing about children is that they are all so enthusiastic! They worked really hard, whilst the bemused parents looked on with pride. After only about an hour, they (the kids this is, the parents I suspect would have taken considerably longer) had just about grasped it. We taught them the song to go with it, and then started on the jackets.
Rag jacket making for beginners:
1. Take a child's tee shirt, cut it down the front middle to make a little jacket
2. Cut some strips of coloured material. We had brown, red, orange and yellow, like our own.
3. Use PVA glue to stick said strips on randomly on the jacket.
4. Use a hair dryer to speed dry the glue.
Here at last was a great opportunity for the mums to get involved, and soon the floor of the room was littered with happy families all making rag jackets. Great! I'd dread to think what the electricity bill was like though, three hair dryers going full blast for about an hour. I bet the little disc was spinning like an old 78 record!
The jackets done, we had time for another run through, and then took them outside, for their FIRST PUBLIC PERFORMANCE! And very well it went too. A fair crowd watched the proceedings, and gave them a good round of applause at the end. And so our first children's workshop came to an end. All in all, a pretty good show. The Wednesday after, six of us held a workshop for children at St Annes School, which also went very well. Under the watchful eye of Headmaster Simon Tapp (who dances with Alvechurch) we put about twenty young hopefuls through their paces, many of whom had been to the Sunday event. It only remains now to wait for 5th January, when the wassail takes place, and the children's hard work can be seen by all. The excitement is intense.
PS. Long-standing readers may have noticed no references to cider, beer or spirits. For once your drummer was responsible, and not a drop passed his lips. I'm waiting for the wassail.
