Today's Christmas movie is The Holly and the Ivy (1952), in which a vicar whose neglect of his children comes to fore over Christmas. #ChristmasMovie #TheHollyAndTheIvy

Today's Christmas movie is The Holly and the Ivy (1952), in which a vicar whose neglect of his children comes to fore over Christmas. #ChristmasMovie #TheHollyAndTheIvy

Increasing my # vocabulary 😉
#FrostyMosstodon #Frostodon #BriskWalk #minus5degrees #TheHollyAndTheIvy #JustTheIvy #FrostyRailings #railings #IndustrialArt #Nippy #Bitey #mosstodon

Anyway, I want to tell you the hand gestures to go with the chorus of #TheHollyAndTheIvy

One year we were at the Vic Hotel and I was realising that not many of my friends knew this #ChristmasCarol, so I did a spontaneous a cappella performance.

You must imagine me seated at a piano but I'm twisted around to face the group. I began singing tenderly:

"The holly and the ivy
When they are both full grown
Of all the trees that are in the woods
The holly bears the crown"

Then I reared out of my seat for the chorus, accompanied by a gestural routine I spontaneously choreographed in the moment:

Now you can do it too:

"O the rising of the sun": stand up, raise hands palms out & swipe a sunrise arc

"And the running": bend forward, hands in fists at sides make 'running' circles

"of the deer": spread fingers up on head like antlers on 'deer'

"the playing of the merry organ": pantomime of playing a keyboard (the first time I did this I turned back to the piano and pretended to play it)

"sweet singing in the choir": palm-up generous gesture to my fellow singers with left hand on 'singing', then right on 'choir'