Midwest Morris Ale

Morris dancers across the Midwest of the United States – and beyond!

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2020 Ale Information

We hope everyone has fun during the 2020 Virtual Morris Ale! In case you are looking for it, here is the schedule of all events.

Our Code of Conduct provides a guide for event attendees to treat others with respect and kindness. If you observe someone violating the Code of Conduct or you have concerns about behavior during the event, please email conduct@midwestmorrisale.org


What’s a Virtual Ale?

A lot of work went into planning for our in-person Ale (now canceled). Many thanks to Oak Apple Morris and General Hardware Border Morris for their on-the-ground organizing efforts in the great state of Wisconsin. We look forward to joining these fantastic teams in their home state in the future!

The 2020 Midwest Morris Ale will be held in a virtual format during the weekend of May 22-25. The group of people organizing the Virtual Ale are from several different Morris teams from the greater Midwest Morris Ale community.\

For a few things, you may want to prepare something ahead of time — submit a video of a show dance, or a video for Skit Night — but mostly just show up and have a good time!

Interactive Events

Most of the Midwest Ale is about interacting with each other! These are some of the main interactive events for 2020:

Live Stream Mass Stand

The Live Stream Mass Stand will have two parts:

  • Show dance videos — submit a video to showcase your team!
  • Mass dances for one = Mass Jigs!

The May Jig Festival will be hosting jig workshops throughout the month of May 2020. These jigs will be the mass dances for the Midwest Ale! If you want to spend the month of May learning the mass dances, you can. There will also be an opportunity to watch the workshop recordings later.

Learn more about the May Jig Festival.

We will also be holding a CROSSOVER EVENT with the Marlboro Morris Ale. Their mass stand will also be live-streamed during the weekend — see the schedule for details.

 

Virtual Tours

On a Morris tour, you get to spend some time bonding with another team — on the bus, in the park, in the pub. The “Virtual Tours” are an opportunity for you and your team to have some of that social time with one or two other teams. It’s not a performance, so there’s no audience — just some social time with your friends from other teams in faraway states.

No dancing is required. Participation in the tour is optional, and not everyone from your team has to attend. To keep it light, most teams will be allocated one Virtual Tour for the weekend. 

When you register for the Ale, we’ll ask which team(s) you’d like to tour with.

We will also be holding a CROSSOVER EVENT with the Marlboro Morris Ale. In addition to Midwest Ale tours, there will be an opportunity to join a Virtual Tour with a team from the Marlboro Ale.

 

Other Interactive Events

In addition to these core interactive events, we will be hosting several other events during the weekend, including:

  • Workshops
  • Pick-up dancing
  • Singing
  • Mealtime chats
  • Skit Night

Check out the updated SCHEDULE for a full list of activities! And scroll to the bottom for activity descriptions.

 

 

Things to do before the Ale

Submit Your Show Dance Video

In order for your team to be featured in the Live Stream Mass Stand, we’ll need someone to submit a video of a show dance. This can be a video of your team from a previous year, or a new video creation. If you elect to make a new video with your team, please practice social distancing responsibly. 

When you register, let us know that you want to submit a video, and we’ll contact you with more information.

 

Get Ready For Skit Night

This is where you can really shine! Skit Night will be a combination of live-streamed and submitted material FROM YOU! If you want to submit a video for Skit Night, you’ll need to record and upload it beforehand. If you want to perform a skit live over Zoom, you may wish to practice.

When you register, let us know that you want to submit a video, and we’ll contact you with more information.

 

Off-Screen Activities

We have a number of screen-free activities designed to keep you up and moving! Learn more here.

 

 

Help Make The Ale Happen

The Ale doesn’t happen without everyone pitching in to call a pick-up dance, lead a song, teach a workshop, or start a game. 

If we were all in the same place, activities would spring up organically. This year, with an online format, we need to do a little bit of planning. In order to make the Ale happen, we are looking for:

Workshop leaders. Have a favorite workshop you like to host (or even just attend) at the Ale? Help create a virtual version!

Session leaders. Which part of the Ale is your favorite? Singing, pick-up dancing, hanging out on the tour bus? We are seeking Session Leaders to get these activities rolling.

Trusty Virtual Guides. Where would we be without our Trusty Native Guides? Here we are looking for volunteers who are “native” to the digital environment, to act as Zoom Room moderators and troubleshoot any technical issues.

 

 

Shirts

The deadline has passed to pre-order your shirt and receive it in time to wear it during the Ale. 

However, there is still an opportunity to order your 2020 Midwest Ale shirt and have it delivered directly to your door! Shirt design and more info here.

 

 

Technology & the Virtual Ale

Most of the events at the Virtual Ale will be interactive events held on the Zoom platform. We chose this platform because it is relatively easy to use and has a lot of features that work well for interactive groups.

To join a Zoom event, you can open the link in a web browser, or you can download Zoom for free.

As the number of videoconferencing users has skyrocketed in 2020, Zoom has received some negative publicity about the security of its online meetings. During the Ale, Zoom Rooms will use enhanced security precautions by requiring meeting passwords, as well as using the Waiting Room feature. To keep the Midwest Morris Ale fun and safe for everyone, we are asking all attendees to register prior to the event. Details about Zoom Room links and passwords will be sent to all registered participants.

 

Registration Information

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