|
|
>What's New!< |
A Yuletide Revel(photos from Revels 2000)Morris DancingMorris dancing is another old tradition, stemming from the villages
of the Cotswolds.. It probably dates from the pre-Christian customs
of fanners and peasants, but its first written mention is in Chaucer.
By Shakespeare's time Morris dances were already considered an
old English custom. The Capital Region's POKINGBROOK
A
Yuletide Revel
|
The
vigorous ritual dances always began at dawn of May Day and were
thought to exorcise evil spirits and bring good luck and crop
fertility. Morris teams still mark the change of seasons with
festivity and fun. There are more than 400 dance teams in England
and over 90 in the US and Canada.
MORRIS DANCERS will celebrate their 20th anniversary in 1995.
They perform the Abbots Bromley Horn Dance, the Long Sword dances
of northern England, and the more lighthearted Border Morris dances.
The group's purpose is to encourage and perpetuate the old traditional
English dances and traditions.