England
Morris Dancing
April 2006, Cotswolds
Image: Morris Dancers
Hi, we are currently in England which is where Jake is from – Jake grew up in London which is the capital city of England. We are in Oxfordshire, which is one of the 86 counties of Great Britain. We are here to visit different Folk Associations and learn all about Morris Dancing.
Morris Dancing originated in the Cotswolds many, many years ago and was passed down from generation to generation until the present day. It is currently performed by over 14,000 dancers. No one knows exactly how or when the dance began but the very famous British playwright William Shakespeare mentions it in some of his plays in the 15th century. You may have studied Shakespeare at school, he wrote the famous play Romeo and Juliet which has since been turned into a ballet and is performed by famous ballet companies all over the world. Traditionally Morris Dancing takes place in the spring and celebrates the end of the cold winter and the coming of the harvest in spring. There are actually three styles of Morris Dancing which differ slightly from one another. They are named after the region that they come from. There is the Cotswold Morris which is danced in the region we are in. This styleis normally danced with handkerchiefs or sticks and has a lot of large hand movements. North West Morris dancing is more military in its style and the dancers often wear clogs. Border Morris Dancing has slightly more simple steps and the dancers normally colour their faces.
Morris Dancing is normally performed in sets of six or eight dances. The dancers wear lots of bells on the legs of their costumes and because they leap a lot into the air they make so much noise! The dance also involves thumping the earth with sticks (this represents the earth coming alive with crops in spring). The music is so lively and there is a lot of clapping and laughing. Did you know that the 2012 Olympics are being held in England? Normally the country which holds the Olympics opens the ceremony with its national dance. Let’s wait and see what it’ll be!
Take care
