The ‘Flowers of Ilmington’ women’s Morris began in August 2017, thanks to the tenacity of Tim Owen. Tim, who has danced with the Traditional Ilmington Morris Men for seven years wanted to establish a women’s dance side so put up posters around the village and was pleasantly surprised by the positive responses from local women.
Dance practices started on Thursday evenings on the tennis courts (and occasionally in the games room during inclement weather) of Ilmington Manor House where Tim works as a gardener.
With the darker evenings came a necessity to move to Ilmington Village Hall along with a change of practice night to a Tuesday. The group settled down with a core team of seven women (Chris, Janet, Nicola A, Nicola B, Cecelia, Jo and Judith) who since September 2017 have been expertly schooled in the art of dancing the traditional Ilmngton dances by our Tim and Jim, whilst Nigel, an ex-Ilmington Morris dancer and experienced musician plays the dance tunes on his melodeon.
Our first ever ‘dance out’ for an audience (what a large crowd were watching!) with the brilliant Belle D’Vain North West dancers on 22 December 2017 outside the Red Lion, Front Street in Ilmington. The evening was a great success, we put on a good show and most importantly everyone enjoyed the experience.
Since then, we’ve gone from strength to strength with practices continuing and confidence growing. ‘The Flowers’ have officially joined the Morris Federation as an independent ‘side’. We dance at events in Ilmington, Shipston and surrounding villages in the spring and summer months.
At the heart of ‘The Flowers’ ethos is a focus upon having fun, being with friends and keeping ourselves fit. We do what we do because we enjoy it, because we want to entertain others and because we want to be part of the living and developing tradition of Morris dancing.
Flowers Of Ilmington Ladies Morris Side 