Morris dancing article

[wunks]

In the NY Times this morning.  I don't subscribe.

[Wolf Molkentin]

you get access to some articles free of charge, don‘t you?

[wunks]

Yes I do Wolf but use them up quickly.  I usually browse a bunch of headlines then read only a few in depth.  Also my computer skills are rudimentary especially linking articles and such.  I'm a fan of Morris dancing and the music but have never played it myself.  I was also pressed for time this morning and thought perhaps the Tardigrade enthusiasts might have a fondness for Morris as well.

[David Barnert]

Here you go:

 

In England, Morris Dancing Is Loved, Mocked and Getting a Makeover

[wunks]

At least they all look happy😊

[Luke Hillman]

And if you haven't seen the team profiled in the article, here they are in the well-publicized Wet Leg music video:

 

 

I'm embarrassed that my own team, Berkeley Morris, is so fusty and traditional by comparison.

[wunks]

Lovely!  I had a hard time hearing the concertina though.

[gcoover]

Those wild Serpent Women look fantastic! As does Ewe-genie.

 

But it would have been nice if they had credited John Kirkpatrick and the Shropshire Bedlams for being such influential early innovators.

 

Gary

[Leah Velleman]

I feel like every five or ten years, someone goes "Hey! Morris dancing is cool now! This has never happened before!"

[Steve Mansfield]

12 hours ago, Leah Velleman said:

I feel like every five or ten years, someone goes "Hey! Morris dancing is cool now! This has never happened before!"

I'm with the Scottish musician John McCusker, talking about folk music.

"Every now and then they discover us and say we're cool, then they lose interest and move on to something else. Then a few years later they're back again ... and guess what! We're still here!"

 

If we can pick up a few new practitioners and devotees through the latest media spin, or have a few more people appreciate the Morris, then great.

 

The rest of you ... see you next time!

[SIMON GABRIELOW]

I have seen Morris dancing in York years ago. (when it was a more cultured place)! And people watching seemed a mixture of amused and same time also bemused by the extraordinary process involved. It is such an eccentric mixture of typically British character; steeped in distant symbolism and rights 😊😊 

[Sandra A]

I found this Morris dancing when I was researching concertinas.  I found some on you tube with a person playing the concertina.  This one is the Orange in Bloom (on my list of wanting to learn to play) on concertina.   I also found another one with several people playing melodeons.   I don't know much about the history of these though.  Is it always men doing the dance?

 

[Luke Hillman]

1 minute ago, Sandra A said:

This one is the Orange in Bloom (on my list of wanting to learn to play) on concertina.

 

Oh hey! If you play Anglo, I made a tutorial for Orange in Bloom, based on @adrian brown's arrangement:

 

 

58 minutes ago, Sandra A said:

I don't know much about the history of these though.  Is it always men doing the dance?

 

The origins of Morris are shrouded in the mists of time, and traditionally it was a men's dance, but there are plenty of women's or mixed teams today. The team in the article at the top of this thread is an amazing women's team.

[Sandra A]

6 minutes ago, Luke Hillman said:

If you play Anglo, I made a tutorial for Orange in Bloom, based on @adrian brown's arrangement:

I watched it.  Thank you so much, it looks like I am gong to need a 30 button sooner than I expected.  I have a 20b I am learning on but am having to do some repair/maintenance on it right now.  Learning a lot though.  This tutorial you made looks like it will be a great help, thank you for doing this and bringing it to my attention.

[David Barnert]

1 hour ago, Sandra A said:

I found this Morris dancing when I was researching concertinas.  I found some on you tube with a person playing the concertina.

 

Here’s me with my guys (Pokingbrook Morris, Albany NY) doing “South Australia.”

 

[Sandra A]

 

27 minutes ago, David Barnert said:

Here’s me with my guys (Pokingbrook Morris, Albany NY) doing “South Australia.”

Are you playing the concertina or are you one of the dancers?  I think it would be a lot of fun, plus keeping this type of dance alive and people learning it's history.  Why are they using sticks instead of the scarves?

[Paul Draper]

There are stick dances and there are hanky dances and sometimes dances with bare hands.

[Little John]

8 hours ago, Sandra A said:

I found this Morris dancing when I was researching concertinas.  I found some on you tube with a person playing the concertina.  This one is the Orange in Bloom (on my list of wanting to learn to play) on concertina.

 

I assumed at first this was an Anglo concertina, but it's actually an English; demonstrating that you can put lift and bounce (and harmony) into the English system. Nice playing!