Morris dancers mob Trafalgar Square

[cesare]

Thanks for your input,

NP

 

[cesare]

fantastic pictures..

i heard a rumour that a certain low profile urbanite has tried his hand at morris dancing.

mind you, i'm not sure that i wouldn't like to give it a go myself... u75 morris side anyone?

try anything once, don't they say?

We'll need a pig's bladder

 

[_pH_]

fantastic pictures..

i heard a rumour that a certain low profile urbanite has tried his hand at morris dancing.

mind you, i'm not sure that i wouldn't like to give it a go myself... u75 morris side anyone?

try anything once, don't they say?

that was suggested after the severn valley meet! sadly nothing came of it i really wanted to see doggy waving his hankies

hardcore Morris: http://www.rathergood.com/morris_dancers

i'd deffo give it a shot if it was really like that

 

[cesare]

Are women allowed to do morris dancing

 

[the button]

I'd be up for doing the music for this, and teaching others the tunes. Morris tunes are notoriously basic . (Other than some of the jigs).

This is about the easiest dance there is, IMO ("Constant Billy").

 

[the button]

Are women allowed to do morris dancing

They are now. Morris dancers are more sectarian and purist than Trots, and there are two national morris organisations -- the split happened because some sides wanted to admit women and others didn't. IIRC, the Morris Ring are the "no ladies" side of the operation, but I could be wrong.

 

[_pH_]

Are women allowed to do morris dancing

there was ladies with the side I saw this afternoon. some of them less than pensionable age too! but yes, there are some men only morris sides.

 

[Divisive Cotton]

I can't think of any think more uncool then Morris dancing... I really can't...

 

[cesare]

I'm probably better making sandwiches and pouring pints tbh I don't mind doing that though *undermines entire feminist movement in one fell swoop*

 

[_pH_]

bollocks to uncool!!

*waves hankies*

*jangles bells*

 

[kittyP]

I have to say that I still find Morris dancer a little unnerving as I did as a child.

I have a friend called Maurice who has a dance degree..... he is not amused by the joke anymore

 

[killer b]

Are women allowed to do morris dancing

yeah. some of the all male sides are a bit fussy about it, but the healthiest sides (ie, those with some members below 50) are mixed.

morris dancing wouldn't exist at all now if it wern't for the ladies who learned the steps in the first and second world wars to pass them on...

that said, personally i prefer an all-male side with sticks & swords - but that's all down to aesthetics i think.

my favourites: the britannia coconut dancers of bacup - no swords or sticks, but the finest outfit of them all (and a great dance too)...

 

[_pH_]

whittlesey straw bear:

 

[_pH_]

I have to say that I still find Morris dancer a little unnerving as I did as a child.

I got chased by the hobby horse when I was a small child. It made me cry

I don't find it weird now, but I know what you mean. There was some weird stuff at the morris dancing this afternoon though, strange tapestries and a morris man suit (complete with balaclava) covered in bells

'It's all a bit 'wicker man' isn't it?' - Trashpony

 

[lang rabbie]

try anything once, don't they say?

I think I'm with Streatham's most famous musical son on this one:

A sympathetic Scot summed it all up very neatly in the remark, "You should make a point of trying every experience once, excepting incest and folk dancing."

 

[upsidedownwalrus]

Incidentally, Morris dancers (a corruption of "moorish," apparently, cos of the blacking-up) always refer to it as "the Morris" rather than "Morris." It's a different world.

Apparently it stems from being a celebration of kicking the Moors out of Spain

 

[upsidedownwalrus]

Rimmer: None of you like Morris dancing! Wouldn't it bother you every once in a while, the jingle of bells, the clonk of wood on wood? No, every time I mention it, you all pretend to be ill!

 

[the button]

yeah. some of the all male sides are a bit fussy about it, but the healthiest sides (ie, those with some members below 50) are mixed.

morris dancing wouldn't exist at all now if it wern't for the ladies who learned the steps in the first and second world wars to pass them on...

that said, personally i prefer an all-male side with sticks & swords - but that's all down to aesthetics i think.

my favourites: the britannia coconut dancers of bacup - no swords or sticks, but the finest outfit of them all (and a great dance too)...

There's a concertina on EBay at the moment that can trace itself back to the Bacup nutters. Can't say I'm not tempted.

 

[QueenOfGoths]

Are women allowed to do morris dancing

My sister-in-law is in a mixed group. Mr brother is a morris dancing widower (though I think he enjoys the drinking afterwards aspect of it!)

 

[killer b]

There's a concertina on EBay at the moment that can trace itself back to the Bacup nutters. Can't say I'm not tempted.

for sure! you ever see them dance?

an acquaintance of mine from the pub is a the dude to speak to about n/w morris dancers (he's written a massive tome on the subject), and reckons they'd welcome any youngsters... i only live about 40 miles from bacup.

can't say i'm not tempted...

 

[fogbat]

Sigh.

There's never a "bad apple" policeman around when you need one

 

[cesare]

My sister-in-law is in a mixed group. Mr brother is a morris dancing widower (though I think he enjoys the drinking afterwards aspect of it!)

There's a sub culture emerging here

Say it loud and say it proud.

I can strip the willow

 

[the button]

for sure! you ever see them dance?

an acquaintance of mine from the pub is a the dude to speak to about n/w morris dancers (he's written a massive tome on the subject), and reckons they'd welcome any youngsters... i only live about 40 miles from bacup.

can't say i'm not tempted...

I saw them years ago at an "international festival" of folk dance that my own side was appearing at. It's all a bit of a blur really, but I did learn some lovely eastern european and nordic tunes in the pub after.

 

[editor]

More pics ahoy!

More here: http://www.urban75.org/london/morris-dancers-london.html
and here: http://www.urban75.org/london/morris-dancers-london-1.html

 

[AnnO'Neemus]

Did this film get a release in the end, has anyone seen it?

http://www.telegraph.co.uk/culture/film/4525147/Morris-dancing-film-becomes-cult-hit.html

http://www.morrismovie.com/

http://petition.co.uk/we_want_the_morris_movie

 

[Citizen66]

I saw that and it wasn't that bad

And this from a pro-morris dancer person

From a (hopefully) neutral position, no it wasn't that bad but he does have previous form for going out of his way to push editor's buttons so I can see why people lose patience with him quickly, even if what he is saying is pretty harmless.

 

[editor]

Did this film get a release in the end, has anyone seen it?

http://www.telegraph.co.uk/culture/film/4525147/Morris-dancing-film-becomes-cult-hit.html

http://www.morrismovie.com/

http://petition.co.uk/we_want_the_morris_movie

Trailer looks great.

Look where the film played recently:

01-Apr Fontmell Magna
02-Apr Ferndown SOLD OUT
03-Apr Hawkchurch SOLD OUT
08-Apr Sherborne SOLD OUT

http://www.moviola.org/Morris.htm

 

[editor]

From a (hopefully) neutral position, no it wasn't that bad but he does have previous form for going out of his way to push editor's buttons so I can see why people lose patience with him quickly, even if what he is saying is pretty harmless.

I didn't want a potentially interesting thread being fucked up by an idiot trolling away with irrelevant, attention-seeking, tasteless shit about 'Nazis' and accusations of paedophilia. He was fairly warned at the start, said he'd go away, but then returned to carry on. So he was banned, as per the FAQ. It's just boring now. Further discussion -> feedback forum please.

 

[upsidedownwalrus]

Most English people seem a little bit embarrassed by Morris dancers, which is a bit of a shame seeing as it's one of the few truly quintessential English traditions. You'd think they'd see the common ground too: Morris dancers love to run around with sticks, wave things around, drink vast amounts of beer and bellow out tunes.

I'll post up more pics in a moment - it was an excellent event.

I think it's because the English are probably the people probably anywhere in the world, except maybe the Han Chinese, least likely to celebrate their own traditions.

I mean, it's taken 200 years for us to suddenly notice that our main national festival went into sharp decline in the early 1800s...

 

[Divisive Cotton]

This is proper League of Gentlemen stuff