Not so much a vernacular or style, nor a particular set of songs or dances or other rustic artefact; folk is participatory and dynamic and evolving and it contributes to a vital and lived sense of community and place. Morris was historically gendered male (Sharp, 1912: 42) and women’s participation—where it was acknowledged at all—was typically portrayed as a substitution, or borrowing from the men’s dance. Our troupe trains dancers of all ages with girls as young as three through to young women of twenty-six. Our troupe principal Bev, and her assistants, Pauline and Lorraine, are all ex-morris dancers and with over 70 years experience between them, they provide excellent training and coaching for girls of all abilities and ages. We practise every Tuesday from 6.45pm at Edna Road Labour Club, or if you want to get in touch e-mail us at :-, Pauline                 Lorraine           Troupe Principal Bev. To see further information about a side just zoom _gaq.push(['_trackPageview']); Troupes devise and polish a single dance per year; selecting new music and creating costumes, drawing on an active network of trainers and supporters. Let us know if you find any groups performing in Liverpool or Wirral in future though, as would love to go along. I come to know them first while pouring over photographs in morris dancing archives; crinkle-cornered black-and-white film blushing into Kodachrome as I flick forwards through the contents of scrapbooks, travelling in time. This is brilliant James – just shared it on Twitter and Facebook: https://twitter.com/FolkloreThurs/status/834372848689016832 Not sure what Morris is about in the area now. var s = document.getElementsByTagName('script')[0]; s.parentNode.insertBefore(ga, s); Often overlooked in accounts of English morris dancing, girls’ (carnival) morris is a highly competitive, team formation dance popular in the Northwest of England and parts of North Wales. In some cases this is an approximate location but in most it is the place where the side meets to practice. ga.src = ('https:' == document.location.protocol ? })(); If you’d like to help keep #FolkloreThursday going, do check out our Patreon page to pledge a small monthly amount to tell us you think #FolkloreThursday is great! #FolkloreThursday 27 Old Gloucester Street, London, United Kingdom, WC1N 3AX. I have barely scratched the surface. Perhaps girls’ morris can provide a site through which to re-evaluate the boundaries of morris dancing; one that also enables us to give new meaning to a range of contemporary cultural products—even those not currently or readily recognised as ‘folk’. at various venues throughout the year, culminating in a Championship weekend at the end of season. So after my final year with Tanhouse, I decided to join another troupe as I didn’t want to stop dancing all together. K Stars Morris Dancing Troupe have ended a fantastic second season by scooping a staggering 30 trophies at their championships earlier this month. 1, pp.53 – 67. 11022198. However, Mike Heaney described it as coherent with any ‘defensible definition’ of folk dancing (Heaney, 2006: 39), while Roy Dommett considered girls’ morris ‘heir to the richest of the English dance traditions’ (1986: 5). Girls’ morris has a rich past and a vital present that deserves to be better documented, and doing so could help to elucidate the role and nature of folk dance in contemporary England. 375 likes. The following week, rehearsals begin again from scratch. Girls’ morris dancing—sometimes described as ‘carnival’ or ‘fluffy’ morris, but known simply as ‘morris’ or ‘troupe’ dancing in the communities of which it is a part—is a highly competitive team formation dance from the Northwest of England and parts of North Wales. Also contributing to the neglect, the traditions of urban dwellers typically received less attention than those of their rural counterparts (Boyes, 1993; Buckland, 1991), as folklore was believed to reside more ‘authentically’ in unindustrialised places (cf. Some snapshots reveal a performance in action; teams of girls in matching uniforms carrying crepe paper pom-poms, marching high-kneed in street parades and dancing in formation on crowded carnival grounds. A MUM-OF-THREE who set up a Morris dancing troupe from scratch – despite knowing nothing about the art – has spurred them on to scoop more than 50 trophies. Leigh West Park compete with other troupes in the North West under the main body of the North West Dancing Asscociation (N.W.D.A.) Leigh West Park is also a little friendly community with a great social side for both the girls and their parents. The web page for Hemlock Morris, a morris dancing side from Bedford, Bedfordshire, UK. var ga = document.createElement('script'); ga.type = 'text/javascript'; ga.async = true; i was born and grew up in the northern part of Liverpool and, during the 1970s, joined the Southport Swords – a male side doing primarily longsword dancing. We have our own bus which operates a pick-up and drop-off service on competition days and it serves as secure base for the day for girls getting changed and storing our equipment. We practice at St.Marys church Wellington road rhyl on Tuesday and Thursdays 5 til 8pm depending on age. The map below shows where all Morris Ring member sides are based (both in the UK and overseas). Implements such as sticks, swords and handkerchiefs may also be wielded by the dancers. Specsavers in Norris Green has joined other key businesses in the local area to save the fate of the community’s 37 year old Morris Dancing Troupe. Boyes, Georgina. 26 likes. Danced primarily by girls and young women, it is characterised by heavily embellished costumes, pom-poms (‘shakers’) and precise, synchronous footwork—the ‘pas de basque’—choreographed to recorded pop music. Sharonettes Morris Dancers are an established Morris Dancing Troupe who have been going since 1980. We would start off in a straight line marching with hands on our hips to music, then split off into various dance routines. Shardenaires Morris Dancing Troupe, Chorley. Morris dancer David Young, who has been dancing with the troupe for the past seven years, said he was disgusted that folk dancers were treated ‘like yobs’. Ethnomusicologist and artist, Dr Lucy Wright reflects on her ongoing fieldwork within the  girls’ Morris community …. Glad to come across this and see you doing well: it’s well written so a reader who doesn’t automatically relate to it (me!) The Paulettes morris dancers 1971 . It is a Very successful Morris Dancing Troupe that frequently win weekly competitions & end of year championships. http://player.bfi.org.uk/film/watch-bootle-may-day-demonstration-and-crowning-of-the-may-queen-1903-1903/, https://twitter.com/FolkloreThurs/status/834372848689016832, British Folklore: The Traditional Jack-in-the-Green, All Hael! Around that time, I went to Bootle library and found photographs and newspaper paper articles mentioning morris locally. Then we would all end up on some field, where we would perform in turn our Morris Dancing routines. We were aware of carnival morris, e.g. (1986) Roy Dommett’s Morris Notes, CDSS of America. I’ve seen a group for women in Heswall I think, but that’s it as far as I know – a shame! The following two tabs change content below. _gaq.push(['_setAllowLinker', true]); Any troupes infringing this rule will be disqualified. The Salford Stars Morris Troupe started in Charlestown almost thirty ago and now takes part in competitions all over the North West. Our troupe trains dancers of all ages with girls as young as three through to young women of twenty-six. Your Privacy, Dr Lucy Wright is an artist and ethnomusicologist, currently employed as Research Associate on the AHRC-funded. Adams, Natalie Guice and Bettis, Pamela, J. Girls’ morris dancing—sometimes called ‘carnival’ or ‘fluffy’ morris—is a highly competitive team formation dance, performed in the Northwest of England and parts of North Wales. Sharp, Cecil. What then, is the case for reevaluating girls’ morris dancing as an aspect of English folk dance? Singing with the Kibbo Kift. d.write('')})(); utmx_section("Legacy Footer"). Early folk dance scholars were often dismissive of girls’ carnival morris. Nice work, Dr Lucy. Interesting. var ga = document.createElement('script'); ga.type = 'text/javascript'; ga.async = true; (function(){var k='2354831680',d=document,l=d.location,c=d.cookie;function f(n){if(c){var i=c.indexOf(n+'=');if(i>-1){var j=c.indexOf(';',i);return escape(c.substring(i+n.length+1,j<0?c.length:j))}}}var x=f('__utmx'),xx=f('__utmxx'),h=l.hash; Edensor, Tim. Today, girls’ morris functions at a distance from the morris dancing of the English folk revival; despite performing with an all-female Cotswold Morris side, Waters Green Morris, based in Macclesfield, Cheshire—in the very heart of girls’ morris country—I was previously unaware of this parallel strand of morris performance taking place on my doorstep. Later on, I attend weekly competitions hosted in out-of-town sports halls and suburban community centres, and am almost overwhelmed by the popularity and vibrance of this female-led tradition, conducted largely under-the-radar of the English folk movement in which I came of age. (1921, 1978) The Morris Book: With a Description of Dances as Performed by the Morrismen of England, Charles River Books. 's://ssl':'://www')+'.google-analytics.com'+'/siteopt.js?v=1&utmxkey='+k+'&utmx='+(x?x:'')+'&utmxx='+(xx?xx:'')+'&utmxtime='+new Date().valueOf()+(h? Almost thirty ago and now takes part in competitions all over the West! 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