it's good to be remembered

The Cotswold morris was collected from people who had danced on teams largely comprised of agricultural workers. The nature of their agricultural work varied depending on whether the surrounding terrain was field, or one of the few remaining forests. In a few cases the nature of the work influenced the themes in the dances. One such case was the Headington short stick dance Bean Setting. In Bean Setting the distinctive figures employ the sticks in gestures that resemble pushing a bean into the soil.

Modern morris dancers are much more likely to be information workers. In recognition of that, many years ago we produce a derivative dance known as Parameter Setting. In this dance we employ computer keyboards instead of sticks. Instead of dibbing and clashing sticks, we dib and clash the keyboards. Most keyboards do not survive to the end of the dance. Given our team membership we have always had access to an ample supply of old, dead keyboards, so we can destroy several dozen of them in a season.

The local crowds, and especially the kids, love Parameter Setting. The kids who know us look forward to it with expectation, and all the kids dive for keycaps with their favorite letters when we are done. With the help of kids, on occasion we have not needed to sweep after the performance. Even the adults remember that dance well.

It's Lammas now, so it has been three months since the most recent performance. Yesterday I was walking through town on my way to work when one of the city employees looked up and saw me. He shouted out "Keyboards!" I smiled.