What is morris dancing in the UK?
What is morris dancing in the UK?
Morris dance is a form of English folk dance usually accompanied by music. It is based on rhythmic stepping and the execution of choreographed figures by a group of dancers, usually wearing bell pads on their shins. Implements such as sticks, swords and handkerchiefs may also be wielded by the dancers.
Where does morris dancing originated from?
Our style of dancing originated in the cotton mill towns and pit villages of the North West of England, where clogs were the usual type of working footwear and where the Morris tradition was performed by men, women and children.
What is the meaning behind morris dancing?
Morris dancing is a celebration, a display of dance and music performed at seasonal festivals and holidays to banish the dark of winter, celebrate the warmth and fertility of summer, and bring in autumn’s golden harvest.
What are morris dancing sticks called?
Most of the dances, which originate from Gloucestershire and Oxfordshire, involve either six or eight men who dance with handkerchiefs or sticks. They include one called the Beaux of London City (Adderbury) which, I am told, could well be a secretly subversive dance that makes fun of the upper classes.
Why do morris dancers have sticks?
Some words you might hear in the wonderful world of morris Sticks, bells and hankies – for Cotswold Morris. Some think that morris dances date from pre-history, and sticks, bells and hankies were used to frighten off evil spirits, but there is no evidence for this. Sticks come in three forms – long, short and broken.
What are the different types of morris dancing?
Among specific Morris dances are Bean Setting, Leap Frog, and Laudnum Bunches. The few solo Morris dances are called Morris jigs; an example is the Shepherds’ Hey. The name Morris dance is sometimes loosely applied to sword dances in which a group of men weave their swords into intricate patterns.
Is morris dancing Welsh?
The Welsh border counties are Herefordshire, Worcestershire and Shropshire. The dances were often performed at Christmas, rather than Whitsun.
What type of celebration was the Morris dance originally performed at?
Revival. Boxing Day 1899 is widely regarded as the starting point for the Morris revival. Cecil Sharp was visiting at a friend’s house in Headington, near Oxford, when the Headington Quarry Morris side arrived to perform.
Is Morris dancing a fertility dance?
The exact origin of morris dancing remains shrouded in mystery – the earliest records found date from the rule of Henry VI in the 15th century, however it is believed that the dance predates these written accounts. Some believe it to be a harvest dance, others claim it is a fertility rite.
When did morris dancers originate?
1448
What we do know though is that Morris dancing has a long recorded history in this country, the earliest reference being from 1448. One origin of this form of dance probably originated in the European courts of the fifteenth century.
