At 1.45pm on Monday 17th December, AVMM performed Donald’s ‘Story of the Dancer’ at Deddington Church of England Primary School. We were delighted by the welcome, attentiveness and responsiveness of around 200 children and their teachers. Donald had adapted ‘Story’ for our young audience who were seated on three sides of the hall. Our six dancers (John, David, Robin (up from Norfolk), Ryan (who had taken time off from work to join us), Pete and Richard) danced in the centre of the hall and together with Donald’s engaging narrative, held the attention of the entire group for our 65 minute presentation. As we have learnt from our prior school visits, Primary school children love to participate and a highlight of the afternoon was a mass Shepherd’s Hey – an amazing experience – around 220 of us dancing together, led by John and with the rest of us demonstrating the hand and leg movements to groups of children.
We should like to thank: Revd Annie Goldthorp, vicar of St. Peter and St. Paul’s and the Deddington Benefice (a Morris enthusiast who generously acted as our ‘agent’ and recommended us to the school), Judy Ward, Parish administrator, teacher Sally Barber (who has already asked us to perform at the school fete), all the other staff present, office manager Jenny Williams and headteacher Clive Evans. We really enjoyed our time with you and were impressed by the tremendous singing and dancing potential among all the children. Thank you!
Richard Teare