It was the last dance of our local Morris Men yesterday. Bittersweet to document it, but they gave it their all.

by howtokrew

21 comments

  1. I know their descendants from the famous chain of grocery shops they own!

  4. From the pictures I assume this was some kind of Sharks vs Jets gangfight/dance-off

  7. Morris dancers were a regular thing when I was a kid in the 80s. Not seen them for years and years sadly. Sad to see it die out.

    Ps: those white borders really detract from the photos.

  8. I feel like there should be a film or TV show set in England where the main character is a morris dancer who is put in a situation like Steven Seagal in Under Siege or John Wick and it turns out all the hopping and swinging the sticks around is actually like an English version of Capoeira or something. A deadly dancing martial art.

    Anyway, they go on some mad rampage flapping their hankies and cracking heads to the point all the goons in the boss’s hideout are trembling when they hear the sound of bells.

  11. This is dangerous.. It’ll only push Morris Dancing further underground, illegal bells & wooden sticks being shaken & struck in dark, dingy basements. Forever yearning a return to the light, these rebels will lose sight of tradition & plot by candle light, perfecting the art of decapitation by ribbon & dance..

  12. They look like nutters prancing around with little sticks but this is genuinely sad.

    I kind of enjoy laughing at them.

  13. People are very quick to wiggle their little union jacks and talk about traditions dying out, but never actively want to do anything about it. Join your local Morris side, or at least try and support them in some way. It’s been going since at least the 15th C!

    Morris has actually seen an uptick in the last few years, lots of young people joining sides and loads of festivals all around the country.

    Stop bloody moaning and pick up yer bells and hankies!

    (From a proud youngish Morris dancer!)

  14. Many years ago I was asked if I would like to become one. I admit I was tempted for a few minutes. At 70 I fear I would break in half now.

  15. This has just moved me to have a look at local Morris groups with a view to errrrr… we’ll see…. One of my local ones has the tagline:

    “Experts in the least stealthy of the Martial Arts”

  16. We are a strange folk in a lot of ways.

    Shame to see it die out.

  17. Only time I’ve been to a Morris lead event, (as a friend was a member.) fights almost broke out within the troupe on three separate occasions.

    Not saying all are like this but was hilarious to me how a group of people who worked together to such a degree could hate each other so much.

  18. What time? Still lots of young people getting involved in Morris and sword dancing in Sheffield. City full of folk music and electronic music but unfortunately not a lot of fusion between the two. Need to see cyberpunk morris

  19. All these people banging on about traditions dying but don’t actually care about the tradition In and of itself

    I can’t stand Morris dancing so I /nor anyone like me can expect others too care about it to uphold my perceived sense of tradition

    But I wonder in Like 300 years time they’ll be traditionalists for some of our dying (at that point) hobbies

    Wee teenager typing on his holopc ” it’s a shame the last trainspotter has given up, come up guys grab your anoraks tradition is dying”

    Or

    “The last ever netball team played there last match, as the younger generation prefer Hoverball and other spots from the last century that don’t require arm movements, it’s ashame we will never see people in traditional bibs again throwing the ceremonial rubber ball again”

  20. Is it still a tradition if you change the millennia-old custom under the slightest bit of pressure? Or is it just a cruddier new attempt at tradition that’s off-putting to those who might otherwise care about it?

  21. Morris dancing is fucking athletic!

    I think sides can shoot themselves in the foot with not allowing women and so on.  It’s all made up any way – it’s folk! 

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