Morris Dancing

FESTIVALS AND CELEBRATIONS

Lots of towns celebrate festivals annually, - the Hop Festival at Faversham, the Cockle Festival at Leigh, the Oyster Festival at Whitstable and the Sweep Festival at Rochester – Morris dancing adds to the colourful scene.

The First of May is a very important date in the calendar of Morris dancing – it is traditional for several Morris sides to get together on a high location in their area to greet the dawn breaking and to celebrate the beginning of Spring and the new life of flowers, crops etc.

It is often said that England does not have a traditional costume or dance, but Morris Dancing must surely be as near this as it is possible to be, dating back to Pagan times. Try spotting a Green Man in most of our Cathedral architecture. Morris and Clog dancers are very proud to be carrying on part of our English heritage.

 The whiteness of the handkerchiefs and shirts could symbolise purity, the stick dances, which sometimes characterise a fight could be symbolic of the struggle between the forces of good and evil, or sometimes banging the stick on the ground could symbolise the stirring of mother earth into action.

Different regions in England have produced their own style of dancing. Cotswold Morris is perhaps the most well known and easily recognisable from the white shirts, black or white trousers and baldricks. 

Morris dancing dates back to very early days and there are scant records of when it started or even why. It is generally believed that it is part of a fertility ritual of bringing good luck. The answer must still be that no one knows for sure.

Their stepping is quite complicated and they use sticks or handkerchiefs in their dances.  Border Morris is very colourful with bright ‘tatters’ coats, made from strips of cloth and their faces blacked. This was to disguise their appearance from their employers.