Join us: Seven Champions Dancers
The Seven Champions Molly Dancers are a male side that practises mostly, but not exclusively, in Kent.
Weekly practices take place at Baddlesmere Village Hall (between Ashford and Faversham in Kent) on Thursday evenings.
Monthly Sunday practices are laid on for the wider Champs diaspora living too far from Baddlesmere to attend on a weekday evening. These alternate between Mereworth (4 miles from the M20 near Maidstone) and Beedon, near Newbury. Thus the Seven Champions are a truly national molly side.
Despite this, we are a friendly and close-knit side. Full training is given so that dancers from other traditions, and non-dancers, learn by taking part.
We aim to dance at festivals and to demonstrate the high precision for which we have become known. We aspire to be the best whilst having fun doing it.
Why become a Champ?
Dancing with Champs is…
- a great social activity
- good for fitness
- performance oriented
- involves pubs
- be part of a highly respected team
- regular bookings at local and national festivals (to which partners are welcome)
- bells and handkerchiefs – NEVER!
Champs kit
See the annotations below.
The side has plenty of expertise to help with ribbons, sashes, hobnails and more. Note that musicians wear the same sash but in green:
The Seven Champions have… “…added ‘lallygag’ to the morris vocabulary… (a lallygag is a piece of string tied by ploughboys round their leg, below the knee, in order to stop rats climbing up the inside of your trousers!) Their dance style is energetic and precise with sharp movements and a willingness to embrace anything that might entertain an audience.”
Chippenham Folk Festival