2021 Ale Information

The 41st Annual Midwest Morris Ale:

The Perseverance Ale

May 28 – 31, 2021  *  Memorial Day Weekend  *  Virtual Event

A Virtual Morris Ale

When we are all in the same place for a Morris Ale, we create a joyful community celebration. At the 2021 Virtual Ale, we will try to capture some of that magic! This Ale will include:

The online / zoom space will also be intentionally structured for folks to spontaneously organize their own gatherings within the Ale, along with some extra zoom rooms for quiet side conversations. 

Help make it happen!

The Midwest Morris Ale is a celebration of our greater Morris community. 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. 

There are several ways to get involved and help make the Ale happen:

Workshops and Presentations. We are seeking community members with a talent or skill who would like to teach a workshop in zoom format. Examples of past interactive workshops over zoom have included Morris jigs, other kinds of dancing, musician’s workshops, vocal performance technique, history presentations, and many others.
What’s your area of expertise? Please tell us about an interactive workshop you would like to teach, or a presentation you would like to give. Sign up here.

Community Discussions can engage folks across different locations and help expand understanding, knowledge, or repertoire of certain Morris-related topics. Potential topics for Community Discussions include:

  • How does your team recruit new members?
  • Documenting tunes and traditions
  • Does your team have a presence on social media?

What are the things important to you to discuss with others in the Morris community? Would you like to lead (or co-lead) a Community Discussion? Sign up here.

Pickup Dancing. Are you one of the people who stays up late and does every single pickup dance? We are seeking folks who would like to help coordinate during evening pickup dancing — both dancers and musicians! Sign up here.

Singing. In the past year, online song sessions have proliferated. We are seeking a few folks to host singing sessions over zoom. Sign up here.

 

Weekend Volunteers. Who can forget our Trusty Native Guides on bus tours? We are seeking volunteers to help the Ale weekend run smoothly during the weekend.

Do you have experience using Zoom or Discord? Want to volunteer your time during the weekend to help make the Ale happen? Learn more here.

 

Participate

Show Dances: Postcards from the Pandemic

We recognize that this past year has been really strange for all of us. Teams have been gathering – or not – during the pandemic as befits their safety. The Ale wants to spotlight what you’ve been doing this year! Send us a “postcard” to show us what you’ve been doing. This postcard could be a video of: 

    • your Zoom Morris dance
    • a socially distanced, masked in-person show dance 
    • a collage of pictures of your team members at home
    • a song that your team sang virtually together
    • a short video message of hope and happiness 
    • something creative that only your team can think of!

For more about show dances and video postcards, click here.

 

Shirts

We will have shirts and other cool Morris-themed stuff available for purchase.

Registration will open on May 1, 2021.