I don’t know if Morris dancing exists in America, but it consists of men and women wearing bells on their knees and elbows and hopping about shouting “Yip!” while hitting each other’s wooden sticks. It was the Winter Carnival in my little town today and there were around six shamelessenesses of competing Morris dancers.
I love them. They fill me with wonder. Watching them today, I had to run into a shop and buy a notepad and pen just so I could write about them. I was particularly charmed by the shamelessness of men wearing red, white and blue rosettes pinned to their shirts in exact alignment with the nipular area. Also, by the shamelessness of one dance in which the women with blacked-up faces held their wooden sticks as if they were cough members cough while the men bashed at them. It’s clearly all very pagan and fertility-related.
But how does one get into Morris dancing? Do these men wake up one morning and think to themselves “I feel it’s a good use of my time to hop around jingling at the elbows”?
There were other things at the carnival - Women’s Insitute chutney, cake raffles and win a goldfish. An old organ and a jazz band in top hat and tails playing “Rudolph the red-nosed reindeer”. A pig on a spit, almost picked bare and frightening small children. A Santa on stilts, also frightening small children. I loved it.
I’ve never heard of it, but it sounds as if it’s definitely a sight to behold. I love winter carnivals, but I don’t know of any near me. In Palo Alto, CA, they actually bring in several tons of snow and close off several streets for the winter carnival. It doesn’t snow there very often, if ever, so this way the kids get a chance to play in it for a little while.
I’ll swap you a Fourth of July parade & fireworks show or a Revolutionary or Civil War battle reenactment for either a May Day celebration or a Harvest Festival – your pick! ('Cause, you know, variety’s the spice of life.)
The closest I’ve come to seeing Morris dancing, outside of maybe some possibly Morris-like dancing at a Society of Creative Anachronism Renaissance Faire, is an old Men Without Hats video and the movie “The Wicker Man”.
I SO wish there was a Morris dancing group near here. I think that would be the neatest thing ever. I’d like to be a Morris musician (even though I’m not 100% certain what kinds of music they dance to.) I do have some John Kirkpatrick CDs that (I think) have Morris music on them.
Don’t forget the Morris dancers in Lords and Ladies!
Morris dancing is not unknown here in the United States. I tried it on occassion, but felt too self-consciously silly doing it. There is a semi-organized group in St Louis, Missouri. They dance several time a year, notably at dawn on May Day. Something about making sure the sun continues to rise each day for the rest of the year.
I beleive Morris dancing is fairly popular in New England, along with a number of other folk dances like contra, Scottish Country, and English Country.
While vacationing in Bath, England about dozen years ago we ran into some Morris dancers. The dancers were surprised to find an American familiar with Morris dancing.
I was introduced to Morris dancers in Florida at an SCA event. And, of course, I tried it…it’s terribly difficult to feel any sillier when one is already at an SCA event and referring to family members by pseudonyms.
I understand that we Philly folk get Mummers by way of Morris traditions?
Morris dancing is found throughout the US midwest. My wife is a folk musician who plays at their events sometimes. My role is to watch all the silly fun.
A convention is called an “ale”. I’ve attended them in Michigan and Missouri and Iowa. The biggest one I’ve personally seen had 20 teams from various local clubs and abuot 15 people per team average.
We/they did a massed-Morris parade through the local university commons; the locals were suitabley impressed.
It doesn’t seem to have much of a Web presence; Knowing at least our local Morrissers, they’re sorta the antithesis of the folks with hobby websites.
Fran i’ve got several mates who do it. From what i can tell, the general recruitment process is highly selective. It involves:
Regularly going to a pub where a group of mufti Morris Dancers drink.
Starting to drink with said group and discovering that they are Morris Dancers.
After a sufficient period of them lulling you into a false sense of security, they’ll eventually get you really pissed and persuade you to give it a go.
Thats it - you’re hooked for life by the sense of community within the group and the obscene amount of drinking they do.
Be warned though - the dancing gear is quite expensive…
I once danced with a Doris who made peculiar noises, probably the closest I’ve got so far. But I am approaching the age of uncertainty . . . the erstwhile latent Morris Man Gene could suddenly snap into gear, colourful gear at that.
At this significant time of the year, I entreat all male British adults over the age of [sub]forty[/sub] to watch carefully for an unintentional shift in weight to one leg, followed by a raising of the knee . . . it can strike at any mome
Can anyone verify who it was who first made the famous observation about Morris Dancing and incest? Oscar Wilde perhaps? Or Sir Arnold Bax? Sir Thomas Beecham? Whoever it was he wasn’t a bad judge IMHO.
I belonged to a Morris team, Queen’s Capers Morris, based in Charlotte, NC for about 6 years. I loved it. I love the bells, the clashes, the weight of the dances. None of this twinkle-toes ballerina stuff for me. It’s simply terrific fun.
Depends on the team, casdave. I get the impression that in England, it is more of an all-male affair. In the States, though, you have all-male teams, mixed teams, and all-female teams. I belonged to a mixed team and wouldn’t have it any other way. Some purists get shirty about women Morris dancers, but folk dance is a living tradition. It evolves and changes.
I have a girlfriend who was allowed to fill in on an all-male Morris team when one of their dancers was away. When he came back, though, they kicked her off the team. Bad move. She was the costumer for the team as well, and after being told she couldn’t dance anymore, she made everyone’s pants too small to fit.
