What is Morris Dancing?

Morris dancing is a form of ritual folkdance which comes from the Cotswold region in western England.  It is a form of ritual dance, originally performed exclusively by men,  we think as fertility rites of an agrarian society. The tradition goes back to at least Shakespeare's time, but we like to think it is much older.  It nearly died out with the Industrial Revolution, but it was rediscovered and introduced to the world at large by Cecil Sharp, Mary Neal and others in the late 19th and early 20th centuries.  Now Morris dancing is done throughout England and in much of the English speaking world by both men and women - sometimes even together.

Morris dancers usually wear bells at their knees, ribbons on their arms, and often wave hankies or clash sticks.   The dances are traditionally  performed around the time of major seasonal changes.  They are done to live music, traditionally performed on instruments such as pipe and tabor (a small drum), button accordion, and fiddle. Modern Morris dancers have been seen accompanied by saxophone, baritone horn, guitar, or whatever else is handy. The songs are mainly traditional in origin, and each dance goes with a particular tune. Since Morris is a living tradition, new dances are being written all the time, to traditional or new tunes.

Originally each village would have it's own Morris dance group, known by the name of the village, that would dance in it's own style to a particular repertoire of dances and tunes.  Today groups of dancers are not so strictly geographically based.  Each "team" as we refer to them has a distinctive name and "kit" (costume), and may do dances from one or more English villages.  No formal competitions are held, as the word "team" might imply.  Morris dancing is done to celebrate the seasons, for the camaraderie, and to have fun.

This description was adapted from About Morris Dancing by Connie Waters, Ishmael on Morris Dancing by Ishmael Stephanov-Wagner and Seabright: What is Morris by Steve Allen.