The Morris Dance

Morris Dancing is England&folk dance tradition, with the earliest records dating from the 1400&Today it is a very popular leisure pastime offering an enjoyable way of socialising, meeting new friends and visiting interesting places. During a dance "season" Morris Teams will perform at Festivals, Pubs and events all over the country and frequently abroad. There are a number of different styles of Morris Dance, called "Traditions", the most common of which are; Cotswold Morris (from the Oxfordshire region), Border Morris (From the English/Welsh border region) and North West Morris (from Lancashire). Morris Dancing is a "display" dance form and not competitive. Its origin is unclear; there are fertility and possibly pagan connections with certain celestial and seasonal events and more recently holiday times during the Industrial Revolution. Frequently Morris Dancing was used as a means of supplement the income of poor farm workers (Border Morris) mostly during the winter when living off the land was difficult. Border Morris dancers would typically black their faces with soot and disguise themselves with rags and tatters to prevent recognition by land owners as begging was illegal and penalties severe. Records also show Morris Dancers being paid to perform at London Guilds events in the 1400&One of the most celebrated Morris Dancers was Will Kempe, an actor in the company of William Shakespeare, who danced from London to Norwich (a distance of over a hundred miles) in a journey...