April was in March (and so was I).

So, I have survived my first ever dance-out!  Woohoo 🙂  We were set to start at 11.30 in the market square of a town called March, which I had never visited before.  They were having their St.George’s Day fair and wanted some attractions, and the Ely and Littleport Riot women’s morris side had been employed as one of these.

We didn’t know where to meet.  ‘In the market square’, I’d been told, but I didn’t know where the market square was, and the town was much bigger than I thought.  Fortunately, however, we bumped into some jingling ladies in the car-park, so the whole meeting up thing was accomplished with no difficulty.

Here we are lined up about to start off with Ely Stars:

Which is a stick dance for 6 people

As you can see, I gave it my all:

My all is not very much at present, but I’m hoping that with enough practice it will increase.  I also started a diet yesterday with the aim of eventually being able to close my waistcoat without the extra stomacher!

And then we did several more dances including Pottersbury, Goose Green, Country Gardens and finished off the set with Padnall.

It ain’t over until the fat lady dances!

After that we wandered up the high street, passing organ grinders and jesters and people riding penny farthings

and donut stalls and cheese stalls etc etc, stopping to do one or two dances every 500 feet or so.  By half one we called it a morning and went to the pub for lunch.  And unfortunately after that I had to leave because Ailith needed to be taken to a birthday party, and Rose wasn’t feeling well, so needed someone to be at home with her.

I messed up only one dance, and even in that one I managed to find my place again without disrupting anyone else.  So, the duck is broken and I’ve done it once now (returning home with a celebratory rosette 🙂 )  I’ll feel a bit more confident on this coming Thursday when I’m dancing out again at 7pm in the evening in Whittlesea.