The Ceremony of May at The Stables Theatre

^click to enter The Ceremony of May^

Take this chance if you are in the area of popping over to Hastings, Sussex on the 6th October to see The Ceremony of May and Travels Through Time being performed at the Stables Theatre, The Bourne, TN34 3BD. Well worth the visit you’ll be tapping away and grinning before you know it.

Travels Through Time:

Dip into a dramatic exploration of episodes from local life. From Smugglers and witches, entertainers and poets to modern fishing quotas, the company weave a dramatic musical tale adding both verse and quotes from contempory sources.

Ceremony of May

The Ceremony of May was cited a “complete triumph” when premiered at the years Jack in The Green in Hastings and rapturously received at Rochester Sweeps Festival. Rose Blakeley’s expressive poetry on the mystical traditions of spring, adeptly set to music by Sussex violinist Garry Blakeley, becomes a fiery fusion, with Jane Downes’ redolent tones conveying the magic.

Tickets are available for The Stables Box Office on 01424 423221 or you can book online at www.stables-theatre.co.uk

The Countdown has begun

I promise I'll not mention it too often but I am getting a little bit excited as its not long now till the best weekend of the year for this little household. The Jack in the Green weekend was revived in its current format 27 years ago and is a weekend of Morris Dance, music and fun before on the Monday the main event of Jack being released.

There are various characters in the parade:

The Jack; the centrepiece of the celebrations Jack-in-the-green is a traditional May Day figure. He may be a garland that has expanded in size dating from the 17th century but to others He is also a representation of The Green Man in his various forms.

The Bogies and Black Sal; The bogies are Jacks protectors, staying with him till the end ensuring his safety and "greening" anyone on the way. Sal is Jacks consort and also stays with Him till the end.

The Sweeps; Possibly the reason that the Jack started as he currently looks, the sweeps made the garland that eventually grew in size to cover a whole man.

The Giants; They have become part of the festival over the years celebrating a history of gianting through out Europe and representing various characters such as Herne and Andred.

Morris sides; Mad Jacks (responsible for this revival), Hannah's Cat and visiting sides show off their talents throughout the weekend before joining in the parade.

Rhythm Sections: And lastly the Drummers. Different groups, Section5, Pentacle Drummers, Rumpledrumskin and Sambalanco add the toe taping, body moving beats that will rumble throughout the town for the weekend. Various drummers have in past years helped welcome in the Dawn on Beltane plus a Drum Off on the Sunday.

Throughout the weekend there is a lot of music and dance. If anyone is interested in seeing the programme then visit the Jack-in-the-Green site for the list.

30 days to go! yippee, now best get on with finishing the costumes...

The Ceremony of May

The day has arrived and rather like a small child I was skipping through the older part of our town on the way to pick up a treasure that I’ve been eagerly waiting the last month for. And having just played it beginning to end it was worth the wait. What was the treasure? Well it’s the latest CD from the Blakeley family.

A family of musicians and poets they have combined their efforts in order to put the lovely poems and verse written by Rose Blakeley to music arranged and written by Garry Blakeley. Their son not to be left out has added his part with additional instruments. As the album title states it’s all about May and the ceremony surrounding that great day Beltane and the folk customs that have arisen from May Day in particular those in our town.

A mixture of dancing tunes, songs and spoken word & decorated with artwork by Rose the whole album awakens the memories I have of the fun we have for that weekend. Pictures of us welcoming in the Sun, the drum-off’s and music everywhere you turn, the Bogies chasing people to “green” them and the Jack dancing through the streets on His way to the castle. Oh how I do enjoy our Jack celebrations, and this album just is the cherry on the top. A job well done, hats off to you all.

Now for the winner of my giveaway you’ll be able to hear this for yourself as I’ve brought an extra copy to add into the Greenman gifts, but for the rest of you please do go visit the website, have a listen and hopefully you’ll like it (and the book) as much as I do and will get yourselves a copy!