Can’t even switch on your television without seeing a flock of ragged crows on speed, as we, quite rightly, were described by one punter not so long ago.
Every now and then, we like to surprise folk by doing something slightly bewildering and so we were quite excited to get involved in a bit of television skulduggery to help showcase dark Morris.
It began in the mists of time as these things often do. Or, more accurately, it started last year when we were approached by the nice television folk behind the cosy crime show Beyond Paradise — you know, the cosy crime series that leans into the myths and legends of Devon and Cornwall.
They told us they had a cosy crime storyline centring around a Dark Morris side, that they wanted to portray Beltane’s intense dark border style and would we be up for it?
They were keen to use our Fire Dance in their sequence. Written by the team, the (in)famous Beltane dance closes our performances. It represents a great opportunity for people to stand inside the dance while corvids spin, serpentine-like, and clash sticks all around. Fire Dance’s finale culminates with an invitation to spectators to join a swirling, joyous mass of dark Morris-y folky dancing.
Ah, if you’ve experienced it, you’ll know. It’s like being in the centre of a roaring fire made of black thrashing flames. If you haven’t lived through this yet, then what are you waiting for? Come see us!
So, anyway. There we were, contemplating the ask. I mean, it’s not our usual skulduggery, is it? We talked. We umm’ed and ahh’ed. We talked about how it represented an opportunity to platform Morris and the community we love. We talked some more. Then agreed.
Our very own Nathascha Heijen and Squire Ant worked with Beyond Paradise’s producers to integrate the ethos of Morris into their script and how the choreography and music could bring the myth to life all while ensuring the end result — using an entirely fictional onscreen identity — could still retain the unique and authentic Beltane look, sound and feel.
And so last summer a small flock of dancers and musicians crossed the Tamar (btw, another one of our dances, Tamara, is inspired by the legend of this splendid river) to do our fierce Beltane thing. Actually, we did it because we love to perform and we love Morris.
We couldn’t talk about it for ages. We swore not to. We crossed our dark hearts.
Somehow or other we managed to keep schtum even after too many ales. Even our social media scallywags stayed schtum right up until the week the show aired on BBC One.
We won’t spoil it for you. Check out BBC iPlayer if you want to see whodunnit.
