Dance Out - Lassington Oak Day of Dance and the Midsummer Fiesta
The 1st of July was a busy day as it contained the Lassington Oak 40th Anniversary Day of Dance around Gloucester and Cheltenham, as well as the Midsummer Fiesta. We joined Lassington Oak for one spot on the Promenade in the centre of Cheltenham during the afternoon.
After about an hour's break for hydration and ice creams, we had moved across town to Montpelier Gardens to take part in the Midsummer Fiesta. We got a half hour long dedicated spot at the bandstand to dance in front of our 'home crowd', hopefully boosting our local outreach and word of mouth. We had a great time and had a large crowd gathered by the end of our time slot, probably the largest we have danced in front of so far.
We danced through our whole repertoire (including a pair of duels), along with a sneak preview of the music for our next dance during a mini interval. This was the first time we used a PA system, so there was a lot of last minute uncertainty for us to deal with.
I'm proud of the side for how well we danced and how professionally we conducted ourselves. We were the only Morris side present (to my knowledge), and so it was a privilege to have the opportunity to introduce folk dancing to everyone.