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Crosskey
was formed in 1982 by the Peterborough dancers of Northampton based clog side
Poly Olbion. They, having danced with Poly Olbion for some time, decided to form
a local side.
Dancing
in the Northwest tradition of morris, i.e. with traditional English clogs (not
to be confused with Dutch clogs, that’s a whole new ballgame.. !!) Kit is
distinctive red and navy plus a leather badge showing the crossed keys, these
being part of Peterborough City's Coat of Arms and symbolises St.Peter's role as
the keeper of the keys to heaven.
Dances
are of a traditional nature rooted mainly from the Northwest when cotton mills
were in abundance. The clogs haven’t changed much over the years - leather
upper, wooded sole and with, to the underside of the soles, either rubbers
or irons. When clogs were worn in the munitions factories the irons were made of
copper to prevent sparks coming off them !
Over
the years Crosskey have become well established and have been seen at various
events locally and nationally, from local pubs and fetes, to festivals such as
Whittlesea Straw Bear, Rochester May Day, Scarborough, Sidmouth, the late
lamented Expo Steam and others, plus TV appearances.
1992
was the 10th anniversary and also the year they danced in Portugal both as
buskers on the streets and as representatives of English dance in a festival
organised to incorporate song and dance from different nations
Like
many organisations, Crosskey have had a number of changes, perhaps the most
notable was the change form an all ladies to a mixed side, men came in to dance.
Initially it was the partners and husbands - once either part of the band or
part of rent-a-crowd - who came in to dance. While this did boost the number of
available dancers, it did reduce the size of the band. A clog side is best
presented with a big band - in days of yor it was the local brass band that
played for the dance - it adds lift to the dances, punch to the presentation and
just plain welly !! ( and who can forget that infamous Expo Steam "Big
Band" when our own Mike Hurry fronted clog musicians, local ceilidh band
musicians, plus other borrowed musicians to number in the region of 26
!!) They always say you can hear a good clog side band about three streets away
!!!.
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