I bet you'd be better than a fair number of them what's already doing it. You wouldn't believe how bad you can be and still get away with it! That's the trouble with the public perception of morris, there's a lot of crap morris dancers around, and the good stuff (high energy, exciting) is harder to find. I guess it's the same with any pastime or pursuit. I bet there's a lot of bad archers around, or orienteers, or macrame-ists, but they have the good sense not to display their hobby in the High Street on a Saturday morning!
good point, and also it's something that people don't 'get'...which gets them off to a bad start with the public! It's odd really, that it's so sneered at, it's a great part of England. I think it's the costumes that make people snigger. Last time i saw Morris Dancers they were all rather young and gorgeous...i wouldn't mind dancing with that lot! lol
Absolutely on both counts - morris is English as tuppence, and should also be quite a lot about sex! It would have been a lot to do with young men proudly showing off their strength and agility. Cotswold morris in particular is about getting off the ground - 'I can dance higher than you!'. That's why it's a bit sad to see 50 year olds with sagging beer bellies dancing with very low energy and zero lift. That's not being ageist, I know some fantastic dancers in their 50's and 60's even. And of course some lousy dancers in their 20's.
H I think if you put the same commitment in to that as you do in every thing else ,we may have another Suzi Quatro on our hands Seriously the talent on this board never ceases to amaze me
Away at Aston Villa a few seasons ago "You need Ashley Young" - what a great chant that was, AY in the stands just before his transfer, but I digress - I was in a pub with some mates pre-match in Brum city centre and they had a Morris Dancing competition/festival going on. Men and buxom wenches abound, dancing, drinking, storytelling, plays, folk music... had the lot. Great afternoons' entertainment. Shame the footy got in the way, we lost 2-0 if I recall...
OOOERRR SOOOOOOZIE Q..... I'll get my bass down from the loft btw, sorry I missed training this morning, Norway! But 8.00am, c'mon! Now if it were a round of golf...
Sounds about right. What it really is about is a group of mates getting together and making their own entertainment. Probably like footy was in the 1880's. Fez, when you said you had a go at morris, which side was it?
one of my first singles was 'Can the Can' lol..loved Suzie Quatro! lol...couldn't believe it when i saw her singing nursery rhymes on some childrens video or other..most disturbing sight! lol
Funny that, one of mine was Devil Gate Drive - my first was Seven Seas of Rhye, followed up with Come Up and See Me (Make Me Smile). 1974, not a bad vintage...
OK deep breath... Three main forms of morris 1) Cotswold- the one everyone pictures, whites, crossed baldrics, bells, hankies. From Gloucs & Oxon, i.e the Cotwolds. Villages had their own sides and their own dances, though obviously lots of cross pollination. mainly a Whitsun / summer tradition 2) Border Morris. From Shrops, Heref. & Worcs i.e, Welsh border, not Scots. Much wilder and looser than Cotswold. Often dancers blacked up to preserve their anonymity because they would be dancing for money with menaces when out of (agricultural) work during the winter. Decorated their weekday jackets with ribbons 3) North West Morris. From Cheshire & Lancs mill towns. Iron shod clogs. Very military style. Boring unless done v. well. Floral hats. End of GG's morris tour. (But the short answer is- yes, used to vary from area to area and from village to village, and many parts of the country had no morris at all. Nowadays all styles found everywhere.)
My original bash was getting roped into it whilst on a pub crawl in Denham village about 10 years or so ago. That is where I gained my respect for the art, in three minutes of lung busting, knuckle crunching mayhem! The Towersy Morris are the (relatively) local group, on the Bucks/Oxford border. Had a nibble at it but decided it was not for me - I did not think I could do it justice, two left feet indeed! and there is not much call for heavy metal bassers in a Morris Troup. Always happy to watch and pop a £ in the tin. I rather suspect it was the same group I encountered at Denham as I know they put on shows there when I 'auditioned'.
