THE DANCES & PLAYS
performed by the Vancouver Morris Men
The dances and plays vary with the seasons of the year:
THE SPRING AND SUMMER
These are the seasons when the Vancouver Morris Men perform
COTSWOLD MORRIS. The dancers wear white clothes with
bright sashes and jingling bells. They flick white hankies (probably to
accentuate the hand movements) and vigorously clash sticks
(possibly symbolizing ancient combat). The Cotswold dances are graceful,
but virile. Music is to the pipe-and-
tabor, melodeon or fiddle. The dancers are often accompanied by a
bizarre "Beast", and sometimes even a "Fool" dressed in an old
farmers smock and carrying an inflated sheeps bladder. See some pictures of us dancing the Cotswold morris here.
In the summer during the mid- to late-90's, we danced NORTHWEST MORRIS, these dances
coming primarily from Cheshire and Lancashire,
the counties of the north-west of England.
Northwest Morris is danced by
at least nine men and is of a processional nature in that the dancers
move around in set figures accompanied by much stepping. A very
elaborate costume is worn, and the somewhat militaristic dances are
performed in clogs which accentuate the rhythmic stepping. The music is
generally loud, with lots of percussion. During the latter half of the 1900's, many
Lancashire communities saw the rebirth of their teams - Manley,
Horwich, Preston, Leyland and many more - and a few teams have recreated
the Rushcart tradition, most notably at Saddleworth which the Vancouver
Morris Men attended in 1994. To see some more pictures of the Vancouver Morris Men "in action" performing
NorthWest during the summer of 1996, click here.
A special highlight of the Spring
season is May Day, when we
"dance up the dawn" usually accompanied by the famous "Green Man". Around
Easter, a PACE-EGGING MUMMERS PLAY is sometimes performed.
THE FALL (AUTUMN) AND WINTER
These are the "dark" seasons, when, for the Vancouver Morris Men,
the Morris takes on a different, more earthy character - some say
degenerate! This is when the Vancouver Morris Men perform WELSH
BORDER MORRIS. We wear dark clothes and rags and have our faces
"blacked" as a form of disguise. The Welsh Border dances are probably the oldest variants of the Morris.
Nearly all the dances consist of
vigourous stepping and powerful stick clashing accompanied by a
loud band comprising melodeon, banjo, fiddle, whistle, drums,
triangle, trombone and tuba! See some picutres of us dancing Welsh Border
here.
On Plough Sunday
(the first Sunday after 12th night), we
perform MOLLY DANCING and assoicated rituals from East Anglia.
(Traditionally, these dances and rituals were performed on the first Monday after 12th night, but as
most of us are at work on that day - unlike olden times! - we've moved the event one day earlier.)
For Molly dancing, the men,
dressed in old farmers clothes and with blackened faces, typically carry a
plough from door-to-door, performing a strange, stamping dance lead
by the "head" couple - the King and the Molly (a "man-woman"). The photo
to the right was taken in 1992 during our inaugural Molly dance-out, an
event which has now become a regular, annual event. The
dances, which come from the villages of Girton and Comberton near
Cambridge, are based on Feast Dances - communal social dances from the
19th century. Also on Plough Sunday, we perform the "WOOING" MUMMERS PLAY from
Bassingham. Here are some pictures of the VMM "in action" on
Plough Sunday, January 2003 and
Plough Sunday, January 2005.
For an article on Plough Sunday in Vancouver, please
click here.
Vancouver
Morris Men
Webmaster: Graham Baldwin
E-mail: grahamb@vancouvermorrismen.org