What do morris dancers wear?

Dancers often wear clogs, and have very ornate costumes bedecked with ribbons and beads. Border morris: from the counties of Herefordshire, Worcestershire and Shropshire. Dancers typically wear rag coats and often black (or otherwise paint) their faces.

Why do morris dancers wear white?

Cotswold morris dancers normally wear white clothes. It is probable that white clothing developed because of the dances’ links with Whitsun. Whitsun has been linked to the colour white since the 1600s. Christians often proclaimed their faith on this day processing from their church on whit-walks dressed in white.

Why is Morris dancing so called?

The word Morris apparently derived from “morisco,” meaning “Moorish.” Cecil Sharp, whose collecting of Morris dances preserved many from extinction, suggested that it might have arisen from the dancers’ blacking their faces as part of the necessary ritual disguise.

Where do morris dancers attach their bells?

This pair of bell pads came from Finstock, one of the major dancing centres in the Morris stronghold of the Wychwood Forest area of West Oxfordshire in the first half of the nineteenth century. Finstock used to hold a kind of village festival known as a Whitsun Ale; Finstock’s ceased to be held by about 1850.

What is a Morris dance stick called?

Most of the dances, which originate from Gloucestershire and Oxfordshire, involve either six or eight men who dance with handkerchiefs or sticks. They include one called the Beaux of London City (Adderbury) which, I am told, could well be a secretly subversive dance that makes fun of the upper classes.

Why do morris dancers wear black face paint?

Blackface and disguise, often in a pagan themed context have their own history which intersects with morris tradition. There is evidence from the 1450s onward of the blackening of faces with charcoal as a means to evade identification, and in association with pagan themes.

Why do morris dancers paint their faces?

Is Morris dancing a fertility dance?

The exact origin of morris dancing remains shrouded in mystery – the earliest records found date from the rule of Henry VI in the 15th century, however it is believed that the dance predates these written accounts. Some believe it to be a harvest dance, others claim it is a fertility rite.