12th September 2023 – Joshua Dyer’s wonderful film about Ella Mary Leather

There is a fabulous fifteen minute film on YouTube about the Life of Ella Mary Leather made by Joshua Dyer of Mad Pie Productions last year with music from Ben McElroy. Joshua has interviewed John Simons who wrote a short biography for the latest edition of Leather’s Folklore of Herefordshire published by Logaston Press in 2018. I bought my copy at its launch at The Globe Theatre in Hay on Wye.

Joshua has expressed interest in this project too, he has kindly offered to assist with some spontaneous morris dancing if required as he is a member of Leominster Morris. I am certainly hoping to take some of the music and dances back to places they were originally collected and I am very interested in movement, whether walking or dancing, as a method to experience rural place.

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Published by jackiehmorris

I am a folklorist investigating our place in the world through creative and participatory practices. As an artist maker with a textile sensibility, I craft engagements, events, workshops and year long projects. I have a BA(Hons) Fine Art and MA in Contemporary Dialogues. I am currently writing up the thesis of my research investigating rural place in Herefordshire (UK) with its community through its folkloric heritage and landscapes of common land. I live in Herefordshire and study at Manchester Metropolitan University. I am Australian born to British parents and have lived in both countryside and cities of Britain. Rural conversations and fieldwork with my art collective 'Fold' supports and inspires my thinking. My art practice, Volka Arts, is named after my recent investigation into the now enclosed Volca Common Meadow, a short distance from my home. j.morris@volka-arts.org

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