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It's May Day morning! Help us dance up the sun. Morris dancers throughout the San Francisco Bay Area will gather together with their sticks, ribbons, bells, hankies, and baldrics, for music and dance in our annual May Day celebrations (this year, Thursday, May 1st, 2008). We start by waking the sun and bringing it back for a whole year! (Besides being a great deal of fun, is this dedication or what?! You may have noticed that it works, too.)

Be a part of it. Show up while it's dark and watch the Sun make a grand entrance. See the spectacle! Watch the magic! Cheer the dancers! Join in the celebration! Wonder why you're up at this hour!

(Note: Sunrise and event starting times can vary significantly, depending on location. You may need to contact a specific team directly to find out more about the local schedule.)

Those of you who aren't early risers or have other plans for May 1st can see many of the Bay Area's Morris teams perform on May 10th at the Stanford Spring Faire, a regional fine arts and crafts faire held every year on the Stanford campus on Mother's Day weekend. You can sample most of the Morris styles available in the Bay Area that day and support a good cause — don't miss it!

Did you miss Berkeley on May Day morning? You can see them dance (and maybe join in the maypole dance) on Saturday, May 3rd, at 1:00, 2:30, and 4:30 p.m. at the Jack Russell Brewery in Camino, CA.

Meet at 5:30 am. the Palo Alto Baylands. Take Embarcadero East from the US-101 to the end of the road, turn left, go past the airport, bear right, past the Duck Pond and Gate B, right again to the parking lots. Coffee and muffins will be available. Join in, too, as everyone learns and dances Sellenger's Round (or The Beginning of the World). Yes! We actually teach it!

Teams will be be performing around the South Bay throughout the day. Check each team's site for specifics. For more information on these BACDS teams contact: Mad Molly: email Amy or call (408) 730-9622. Deer Creek Morris Men: email Dick or call (510) 548-1206. FFL Morris: email Ric.

Meet around 5:45 in the Twin Peaks parking lot overlooking downtown, the East Bay, and (if we're lucky) the rising sun.

Did you miss Goat Hill on May Day morning? You might be able to watch them perform with Deer Creek Morris on May 11, a Mother's Day danceout at Ardenwood Historic Farm in Hayward, early afternoon.

For more information, contact the team's Squire or call Jocelyn at 415-731-7104.

Meet at the Lighthouse on West Cliff Drive around 5:30 a.m. for dancing at 6:00. Take Hwy 1, turn on Bay St. towards the ocean, go all the way to the end, then right onto West Cliff Drive — leave extra time to find parking. The schedule for the rest of the day will be distributed at the Lighthouse.

Did you miss Seabright's danceout on May Day morning? Seabright will be dancing out in Santa Cruz on May 4th. The team will offer a free lesson at the Felton Covered Bridge on Sunday, May 4 from 2:00 to 3:00 or 3:30 p.m.. Afterwards the team will head over to downtown Santa Cruz and do a 15-30 minute dance.

Dancing start at 5:30 at the Sebastopol Community Center Youth Annex, 425 Morris Street - actually behind the annex, between the pond and the traffic circle. Morris dancing to watch, country dances to join in, potluck breakfast afterward.

To map the spot, use Google Maps and put in "430 Morris Street, Sebastopol, CA". More info: kalia@nbcds.org or Cliff Stevens at 707-823-6925

Teams listed here are associated with the Bay Area Country Dance Society (BACDS). For additional information about BACDS events and programs, please check the BACDS website,www.bacds.org.