A Message from Morris Ring Squire, Peter Halfpenney:
Those at the ARM will have heard of our great disappointment at the lack of interest shown in our art by the coordinators of the Olympics. We met with the JMOs a fortnight before the ARM and received an up to date report from John Clifford (Open) who is as close to this subject as anyone in Morris and from Paul Reece who is our own Olympics newschannel.
My understanding of the position is:
- Opening ceremony to be produced and coordinated by the team behind 'Slumdog Millionaire'. They appear to be looking for youth involvement in particular with a Hollywood shine on the proceedings. There seems to be little interest in indigenous folk culture (for the first time ever in the history of the Olympics). Morris representatives have attended every national meeting of perceived worth and been given no indication of interest. Lord Coe's "5,000 Morris dancers" was froth and spin with no expectation of fruition.
- Closing Ceremony directors were appointed this month. Their background is generally pop music having produced Take That's comeback shows, Pet Shop Boys & Lady Gaga. We are on their list of who to call but I suspect we shall be standing by a silent phone for quite a while!
As a result the MR have thanked Paul Reece for the efforts he has contributed on our behalf but we cannot expect him to dedicate his life to chasing this dog's tail in circles for ever. He is keeping an eye on the overall picture for us and will report if anything comes up on our radar. - Torch Procession is being coordinated at local level and your best chance of involvement is finding out who is responsible in your area so that you might entertain the crowds along the route or even bear the torch for a leg.
Ignoring the Cultural Olympiad machine, there will be events that we organise eg. Chipping Campden Ring Members Meeting and events in and around Stratford-upon-Avon all of which will be advertised in more detail later. Best advice seems to be, forget the national machine; just organise what you can locally.
A Comment From Paul Reece
" There is a history of the Peoples' Games from the West Country to the Highlands, notably the Halgavor Games Bodmin, the Dover Games or Cotswold Olympics Chipping Campden from 1612 and the annual revival Olympic Games at Much Wenlock from 1850. Chipping Campden are planning their Cotswold Olympics Ring Meeting for 2012, Stratford-upon-Avon is the possible venue for the 2012 JMO showcase event, Saddleworth Rushcart with its wrestling and gurning has all the ingredients of the games and Norwich with Will Kemp's long distance Jig could all be linked by long distance relays and related Flash mob Morris events to London. Chipping Campden to Camden Cecil Sharp House, Stratford-upon- Avon to the Stratford Olympic Games Park, Norwich to London, Jarrow to London from anywhere where our culture and the heroism and spirit of ordinary people needs to be marked, remembered and celebrated. Let us use our Ring Meetings and other events to celebrate our own culture.
Let us not play the Olympic Games to their rules of big business and sponsored culture but our own alternative Peoples' Games for our own benefit and publicity in 2012. If the Birmingham Opera can stage Othello with the Morris, the Morris can stage its own story to rival Othello and Shakespeare, not as a tragedy but as a life affirming success a comedy of the morris art on a world stage. "
Those of you not packing suitcases or planning exile (like Lucy Mangan and her Dad) for Summer 2012, can follow any other developments via the Open Morris web site.