Morris Dancing
Created | Updated Mar 15, 2002
Morris Dancing is the much neglected & underated English traditional dance form.
It suffered by being preserved by (amongst others) Cecil Sharpe, who rescued what he could of a few dances, wrote them down as he saw them on the day, and that is the form that is commonly seen out & about mostly. The problem lying with people who insist on doing them exactly as they were notated 100 years ago.
It was until then an evolving tradition, having been popular across most of Europe (remnants of the style can also be seen in the dances of the Basque region). It is rumoured that some of those who stick carefully to the notation were themselves dancing 100 years ago!
Anyway, in order to survive, it has to become entertaining to, if not the masses, then at least a large minority. And not just folkies. It needs to compete with Samba Bands, Street Thaetre and other entertainments.
There are Morris Teams all over the world, ad many are now awakening to the idea that they must become dynamic, powerful and above all, entertaining. Even if this is to the old man with his blind dog outside the village pub.
It suffered by being preserved by (amongst others) Cecil Sharpe, who rescued what he could of a few dances, wrote them down as he saw them on the day, and that is the form that is commonly seen out & about mostly. The problem lying with people who insist on doing them exactly as they were notated 100 years ago.
It was until then an evolving tradition, having been popular across most of Europe (remnants of the style can also be seen in the dances of the Basque region). It is rumoured that some of those who stick carefully to the notation were themselves dancing 100 years ago!
Anyway, in order to survive, it has to become entertaining to, if not the masses, then at least a large minority. And not just folkies. It needs to compete with Samba Bands, Street Thaetre and other entertainments.
There are Morris Teams all over the world, ad many are now awakening to the idea that they must become dynamic, powerful and above all, entertaining. Even if this is to the old man with his blind dog outside the village pub.
