{"id":595,"date":"2026-07-16T17:53:48","date_gmt":"2026-07-16T21:53:48","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.americantravellingmorrice.org\/atm\/?page_id=595"},"modified":"2026-07-20T09:58:14","modified_gmt":"2026-07-20T13:58:14","slug":"about-morris-dancing","status":"publish","type":"page","link":"https:\/\/www.americantravellingmorrice.org\/atm\/about-morris-dancing\/","title":{"rendered":"About Morris Dancing"},"content":{"rendered":"\n

Headington Quarry Morris in an undated early 20th century photo. Will Kimber is in the center with the concertina.<\/em><\/p>\n\n\n\n

Morris Dancing is an old English country tradition. Its origins are debated, but historical references date back to the 15th Century. Shakespeare cherished the Morris as an ancient custom and mentioned it in at least three of his plays. One of his star actors, Will Kemp, Morris danced from London to Norwich in nine days as a publicity stunt (approximately 90 miles). By the 18th century, hundreds of English villages supported Morris teams (called \u2018sides<\/strong>\u2019) and the dancers often competed for prizes at country fairs. The Industrial Revolution brought social changes that eroded much of village folklife. Young people left farm towns to work in urban factories and old traditions such as Morris suffered.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

On Boxing Day (December 26th) 1899, a chance meeting between musicologist Cecil Sharp and the Headington Quarry Morris Side near Oxford, England resulted in a scholarly effort by Sharp to save the knowledge of the dances and tunes. Sharp was thrilled with the street performance and invited their musician William Kimber to come back the following day to help notate the tunes. Sharp and others traveled to collect the music and dances wherever they survived. They published their notations and helped teachers keep the traditions alive in schools, sparking a rebirth of interest in the Morris through the early 20th century. The folk music revival of the 1950s and 60s led to a proliferation of \u2018sides,\u2019 both resurrections in their original villages and new sides including here in the US. Today there are about 150 active sides in the US.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Morris dancing is a form of display dancing \u2014 as opposed to social dancing \u2014 for others’ entertainment. There is an explosive element in the various kinds of leaping which encourages individual dancers to show off their power and skill, as well as a synchronized pattern which emphasizes the camaraderie and unity of the side. And the music often comprises catchy folk tunes based on old folksongs.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Modern morris dancers are enthusiasts, old and young, who have formed a strong community, and enjoy “The Morris” for a variety of reasons: to stay in shape, to make lifelong friends, to connect with the past, to show off in front of an audience, and to generally have fun. There are big, spectacular morris dancing events (called \u2018ales<\/strong>\u2019 and \u2018tours<\/strong>\u2019), attended by a dozen or more sides from near and far and lasting an entire weekend with hundreds of spectators. And sometimes, there are morris performances staged by a single side outside a pub for fifteen minutes in front of an old man and a dog, before retiring into said pub for a beer and a chorus song or two. Many of the most rewarding morris performances are the ones done for children, the elderly, or those with special needs.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The dances are traditionally done with six men synchronized in energetic, choreographed motions of legs and arms carrying handkerchiefs or sticks (depending on the specific dance) and with bells strapped to their legs. Each sides will wear an identifying \u2018kit<\/strong>\u2019: usually white pants and white collared shirts, along with a uniquely identifying set of colors (much like a sports team) by using some combination of arm ribbons, sashes, baldricks, rosettes, etc. The ATM uses navy blue suspenders, a single rosette and armbands with blue, red and grey colors.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

While most morris dances reveal a similar basic structure (six men, verse, chorus, verse, chorus, etc.), a keen eye will notice some major differences. You will hear sides cry out, “And now a dance in the style of the village of –” and then a village’s name because each village developed their own flair and style for the Morris. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

The American Travelling Morrice dances several different village traditions every year, and not always the same ones. When you see us, ask us which ones we’re focusing on this year!<\/p>\n\n\n\n

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The American Travelling Morrice in 2024 dancing near the Brooklyn Bridge<\/em><\/figcaption><\/figure>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Headington Quarry Morris in an undated early 20th century photo. Will Kimber is in the center with the concertina. Morris Dancing is an old English country tradition. Its origins are debated, but historical references date back to the 15th Century. Shakespeare cherished the Morris as an ancient custom and mentioned it in at least three […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":597,"parent":0,"menu_order":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","template":"","meta":{"footnotes":""},"class_list":["post-595","page","type-page","status-publish","has-post-thumbnail","hentry"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.americantravellingmorrice.org\/atm\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/pages\/595","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.americantravellingmorrice.org\/atm\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/pages"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.americantravellingmorrice.org\/atm\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/page"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.americantravellingmorrice.org\/atm\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.americantravellingmorrice.org\/atm\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=595"}],"version-history":[{"count":3,"href":"https:\/\/www.americantravellingmorrice.org\/atm\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/pages\/595\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":629,"href":"https:\/\/www.americantravellingmorrice.org\/atm\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/pages\/595\/revisions\/629"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.americantravellingmorrice.org\/atm\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/597"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.americantravellingmorrice.org\/atm\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=595"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}