A morris dance is a form of English folk dance usually accompanied by music. It is based on rhythmic stepping and the execution of choreographed figures by a group of dancers. Implements such as sticks, swords, and handkerchiefs may also be wielded by the dancers. In a small number of dances for one or two men, steps are performed near and across a pair of clay tobacco pipes laid across each other on the floor.
There are claims that English records of the morris dance dating back to 1448 exist, but these are open to dispute. There is no mention of "morris" dancing earlier than the late 15th century, although early records such as Bishops' "Visitation Articles" mention sword dancing, guising and other dancing activities as well as mumming plays. Furthermore, the earliest records invariably mention "Morys" in a court setting, and both men and women are mentioned as dancing, and a little later in the Lord Mayors' Processions in London. It is only later that it begins to be mentioned as something performed in the parishes. There is certainly no evidence that it is a pre-Christian ritual, as is often claimed.
In the modern day, it is commonly thought of as a uniquely English activity, although there are around 150 morris sides (or teams) in the United States. British expatriates form a larger part of the morris tradition in Australia, Canada, New Zealand, and Hong Kong. There are isolated groups in other countries, for example those in Utrecht, Netherlands, the Arctic Morris Group of Helsinki and Stockholm, and Alsace, France.
Origins of the term
While there is still some dispute as to the origin of the term "morris," the most widely accepted theory is that the term was moorish dance , morisques in France, Moriskentanz in Germany, moreška in Croatia, and moresco , moresca or morisca in Italy and Spain, which eventually became morris dance . Dances with similar names and some similar features are mentioned in Renaissance documents in France, Italy, Germany, Croatia, and Spain; throughout, in fact, Catholic Europe. This is hardly surprising; by 1492 Ferdinand of Aragon and Isabella of Castille succeeded in driving the Moors out of Spain and unifying the country. In celebration of this a pageant known as a Moresca was devised and performed. This can still be seen performed in places such as Ainsa, Aragon. Incorporated into this pageant was the local dance — the Paloteao . This too can still be seen performed in the villages of Aragon. The original ´Moresca´ is a sword dance. The sticks in Morris dance are a residual of the swords in the 'Moresca'. The similarity to what became known as the English "morris" is undoubted. Early court records state that the "moresque" was performed at court in her honour, including the dance — the "moresque" or "morisce" or "morys" dance.
History in England
Before the English Civil War, the working peasantry took part in morris dances, especially at Whitsun. In 1600 the Shakespearean actor William Kempe morris danced from London to Norwich, an event chronicled in his Nine Days Wonder (1600). The Puritan government of Oliver Cromwell, however, suppressed Whitsun Ales and other such festivities. When the crown was restored by Charles II, the springtime festivals were restored. In particular, Whitsun Ales came to be celebrated on Whitsunday, as the date coincided with the birthday of Charles II.
Morris dancing continued in popularity until the industrial revolution and its accompanying social changes. Four teams claim a continuous lineage of tradition within their village or town: Abingdon (their morris team was kept going by the Hemmings Family), Bampton, Headington Quarry, and Chipping Campden. Other villages have revived their own traditions, and hundreds of other teams across the globe have adopted (and adapted) these traditions, or have created their own styles from the basic building blocks of morris stepping and figures.
Several English folklorists were responsible for recording and reviving the tradition in the early 20th century, often from a bare handful of surviving members of mid-19th-century village sides. Among these, the most notable are Cecil Sharp, Maud Karpeles, and Mary Neal. Boxing Day 1899 is widely regarded as the starting point for the morris revival. Cecil Sharp was visiting at a friend's house in Headington, near Oxford, when the Headington Quarry morris side arrived to perform. Sharp was intrigued by the music and collected several tunes from the side's musician, William Kimber; not until about a decade later, however, did he begin collecting the dances, spurred and at first assisted by Mary Neal, a founder of the Espérance Club (a dressmaking co-operative and club for young working women in London), and Herbert MacIlwaine, musical director of the Esperance Club. Neal was looking for dances for her girls to perform, and so the first revival performance was by young women in London.
In the first few decades of the 20th century, several men's sides were formed, and in 1934 the Morris Ring was founded by six revival sides. In the 1960s and especially the 1970s, there was an explosion of new dance teams, some of them women's or mixed sides. At the time, there was often heated debate over the propriety and even legitimacy of women dancing the morris, even though there is evidence as far back as the 16th century that there were female morris dancers. There are now male, female and mixed sides to be found.
Partly because women's and mixed sides are not eligible for full membership of the Morris Ring, two other national (and international) bodies were formed, the Morris Federation and Open Morris. All three bodies provide communication, advice, insurance, instructionals (teaching sessions) and social and dancing opportunities to their members. The three bodies co-operate on some issues, while maintaining their distinct identities.
Styles
Today, there are six predominant styles of morris dancing, and different dances or traditions within each style named after their region of origin.
- Cotswold morris : dances from an area mostly in Gloucestershire and Oxfordshire; an established misnomer, since the Cotswolds overlap this region only partially. Normally danced with handkerchiefs or sticks to accompany the hand movements.
- North West morris : more military in style and often processional.
- Border Morris from the English-Welsh border: a simpler, looser, more vigorous style, normally danced with blackened faces (or sometimes otherwise coloured, given the negative connotations for some of blackface).
- Longsword dancing from Yorkshire and south Durham.
- Rapper or Short sword dancing from Northumberland and Co. Durham.
- Molly Dancing from the English Midlands and East Anglia.
Cotswold
Lionel Bacon records Cotswold morris traditions from these villages: Abingdon, Adderbury, Ascot-under-Wychwood, Badby, Bampton, Bidford, Bledington, Brackley, Bucknell, Chipping Campden, Ducklington, Eynsham, Headington Quarry, Hinton-in-the-Hedges, Ilmington, Kirtlington, Leafield, Longborough, Oddington, Sherbourne, Stanton Harcourt, and Wheatley.
Bacon also lists the tradition from Lichfield, which is Cotswold-like despite that city's distance from the Cotswold morris area; the authenticity of this tradition has been questioned. In 2006 a small number of dances from a previously unknown tradition was discovered by Barry Care of Moulton Morris Men (Ravensthorpe, Northants) — two of them danceable.
Other dances listed by Bacon include Border morris dances from Brimfield, Bromsberrow Heath, Evesham, Leominster, Much Wenlock, Pershore, Upton-upon-Severn, Upton Snodsbury, White Ladies Aston, and miscellaneous non-Cotswold, non-Border dances from Steeple Claydon and Winster. There are a number of traditions which have been collected since the mid-twentieth century, though few have been widely adopted. Examples are Broadwood, Duns Tew, and Ousington-under-Wash in the Cotswold style, and Upper and Lower Penn in the Border style. In fact, for many of the "collected" traditions in Bacon, only sketchy information is available about the way they were danced in the nineteenth century, and they have been reconstructed to a degree that makes them largely twentieth century inventions as well. Some traditions have been reconstructed in several strikingly disparate ways; an example would be Adderbury, danced very differently by the Adderbury Morris Men and the Adderbury Village Morris.
North West
The North West tradition is named after the North West region of England and has always featured mixed a
Pole Dancing Granny | Video | Crazy n Funny .com
Granny is shaking it like Polaroid Picture... ... Share and Enjoy: These icons link to social bookmarking sites where readers can share and discover new web pages.
Big Time Pole Dance - Videos - Funny Hub
While doing a sexy pole dance for your husband is a nice gesture, perhaps this approach is not for everyone.
Cracker - Ampd Mobile Funny Advert - Stripper Pole - Video
Cracker - Ampd Mobile funny advert - stripper pole. Watch Video about Commercials,Ads,Video by ... Best Wedding Entrance Dance Rated 3.97 | 41,742 Views. By Hills82. 01:05. Funny ...
YouTube - Pole Dance Funny
If it 's real then who is doing the video cuts over to the man's face and then back to the pole? Even if it was staged, if the fall were real the cameraman would have dropped ...
Pole Dancing Class - Video
Watch Video about Strip dancing,Pole dancing,Chelsea Handler by Metacafe.com ... SHE IS SO FUNNY! I LOVE HER, HOW UNINHIBITED SHE IS AND BEAUTIFUL TOO! CHEERS TO YA ...
Addicted to Pole Dancing » Archive for funny
…imagine, pole dancing with a MASK on. at 21:36 on 01 May. Responses: B. F. at 21:41 on 01 May – hahahaha~~~ from superman to batman~~ T. F. at 21:43 on 01 May – oooo how ...
Pole Dancing Videos - Funny or Die
pole dancing videos - funny or die - funny videos featuring celebrities, comedians, and you.
YouTube - FUNNY POLE DANCING
Bloomin heck gal, that musta hurt, was funny at first but ouchiiieee. Can't say ive ever done that when dancing before, good for her trying infront a audience though!
How Pole Dancing Is Dangerous from StevanHogg - Video
How Pole Dancing Is Dangerous ... Watch videos about pole dancing, funny, sexy, females, dancers, pole, erotic, women, fight, accidents on FunnyOrDie.com
Stripper Poles Portable Stripper Poles Home Brass Party Dance Pole ...
Stripper poles and portable stripper poles and home brass stripper pole dance also ... Funny Pole Dancing Falls ; More On Wii Strip!!! Recent Comments. Tags dance dance poles Dancing ...