Like all forms of morris dancing, rapper has unique qualities - it is the fastest of all the dances described, it requires the least space it is often performed inside pubs! At the beginning of the last century when Sharp and other collectors sought out former morris dancers like Thomas Wright, they noted down the dances and tunes.
In some cases only one or two men in an area knew any dances, but in others a side still continued to dance. For example at Bampton in the Bush, Oxfordshire, the morris has been performed without a break for more than four hundred years. The cover photograph is of the Traditional Bampton Morris Dancers. Traditionally morris dancing took place during set periods in the calendar: in the South Midlands, this was during early summer around Whitsuntide.
Performances of North West morris took place during the Annual Rushbearing in summer , and for longsword and rapper sword dances, the traditional time was during the Christmas and New Year period. Of course, it was possible for sides to perform outside these times: especially if encouragement, in the form of payment or beer! When Cecil Sharp first saw the Headington Quarry Morris Dancers perform, on Boxing Day , they apologised for dancing out of season but the winter was hard and they were working men trying to earn some extra money!
Mumming describes an astonishing range of traditional drama. Mumming is the term generally used but each region had its own local term and plays including Souling, Tipteers, Plough Jacks and Pace-eggers. Different areas had distinctly different types of play, performed at set times, usually between the end of October and Easter.
These plays do not require a stage in the strict sense, but are best described as being performed as a 'Roundinaspace' - inside the pub, outside on the road or wherever! Most plays were collected before , and the performance and delivery at this time was taken very seriously.
However, the collected texts are now often only used as a guide, the actors being at liberty to change words and use contrivances. Mummers will generally wear a disguise; some traditional Mummers wore elaborate streamers made from wallpaper, rags or newspapers which covered them from head to toe, while others wore a costume to reflect their character.
Morris dancers may perform a locally collected play during the Christmas season, especially if they are dancing on Boxing or New Years Day. They are likely to perform a Hero-Combat play, with Father Christmas introducing himself as:. I hope Old Father Christmas will never be forgot. There will be a fight. One will die. A highly qualified Doctor will appear who will resuscitate the dead with some amazing concoctions as below such as the Golden Gloucester Drops, or perhaps the Quick Risers!
Mummer Plays are great fun; try to seek out and watch a local performance. England has numerous traditional and curious customs. The various Jack-in-the-Green celebrations in Rochester Kent , Hastings East Sussex , and Greenwich London , now exist because local morris sides revived them in recent years.
When a custom is revived it can develop in a new and interesting form, diverging from previous occurrence. It will be worthwhile travelling to see many of Englands traditional customs.
The origins of many are long forgotten, but they all add to the rich tapestry of our cultural heritage. Morris dancing cannot happen without suitable music. Historically, the instrument used for accompanying the dances from the South Midlands was the pipe and tabor the whittle and dub. By , the fiddle had superseded the pipe and tabor as the main instrument. The fiddle has a greater pitch-range and can be played in more keys than the pipe and tabor, but many dancers found it difficult to dance to without a separate rhythmic accompaniment.
By the s, the melodeon and anglo-concertina were becoming widely used. These instruments, although limited by only being able to play in two or three musical keys, were ideal for providing the music - good bellow control gives a staccato attack that suits the dance. The piano-accordion, developed in the early twentieth century, also proved popular as an accompanying instrument.
Many other instruments can be used, such as the penny whistle, mouth-organ and even the banjo! Whatever instruments are used, they will have two things in common, portability and audibility! Listen to four Morris tunes from Joan Sharpe The apparent simplicity of the three hole pipe and tabor belies a very complex musical instrument The tunes used for morris dancing have come from a variety of sources.
Some date from the late mediaeval period, while others were popular tunes from the 18th and 19th centuries. Each village would generally have its own individual variants of the tunes that were used.
The music used for the North West Clog morris is more regular and military in form. In the s, the music would have been provided by a Fife and Drum band; later, with the availability of brass instruments, a brass band would have accompanied the dancers. Today, there is likely to be a mixture of brass and melodeons. This allows a fast and exciting dance to develop, and spectacular movements to be performed.
Some composers have taken the traditional tunes and made arrangements from them. Fools and Beasts have their own website! The Fool is an integral part of any side performing dances from the South Midlands. The Fool provides a link between the dancers and the audience: he will entertain and provoke. However, historically he would have been the best dancer in the side and would on occasions be asked to demonstrate his skill by performing a solo jig.
There is no specific costume for a Fool; each dresses as he wishes. Often the Fool will carry a short stick with a pigs-bladder attached by a piece of string. This performs a very important function should any man not be putting enough effort into his dancing, or if they do something wrong, it is the Fools job to encourage them to do better. What better way than to whack the offenders head or bottom with a bladder!
Alongside the Fool, there may be a mythical and mysterious Beast! Traditionally, this would have been a Hobbyhorse, but now it is just as likely to be a Dragon or a Unicorn. Be assured all morris Beasts are friendly and just love doing what Beasts do best: tormenting and teasing the audience, especially children. Additionally, they like sunbathing, riding bicycles, drinking beer, and eating - eating money of course, coins of the realm. The Bibliography and the Credits appear in the printed booklet, however some other sections have been added to help the Web version, namely: buying a copy of the printed booklet; some notes on the web version of the booklet; an identification of the dancers who feature in our cover picture; and some comments about the Trafalgar Square celebration in This description can only touch the surface of morris dancing - it's a vast subject.
Often danced for an audience, part of the interest of the performance is the tradition of enhancing the dance by wearing a costume. However, you can vary the clothing that you wear and even make the accessories yourself.
For the basics, any comfortable trousers can be worn or a pair of breeches with long white socks, a plain white shirt, and black shoes. Some dancers wear a tunic, a tabard or a baldric; two loops of coloured ribbon which pass over your shoulders and cross front and back.
Then you can get inventive, choose some of the accessories from those listed above and away you go! Dancing began this year at a. A lad had better be in good physical condition to adhere to that regimen. Dancing takes place throughout the day in a variety of locations; in the old town marketplace, in spacious gardens of private homes and in the street before pubs. The Bampton Traditional Morris dancers performed at 28 locations, taking time out only for lunch and tea.
The Traditional Bampton Morris Dancers performed at 14 venues, and the Bampton Morrismen danced at 20 locations throughout the village. Morris dancing may be an ancient custom, steeped in tradition, but the participants are often young. Men with gray and thinning hair are joined by teens, who participate in the festivities with as much enthusiasm as their fathers. Children who are learning the steps are often allowed to join in a dance or two. These rookies can be identified by their black trousers.
Roy began dancing with the Bampton Traditional Morris Dancers at age I spoke to a woman spectator whose father had been a dancer, whose husband was cavorting this day, and whose son was a black-trousered beginner, maintaining the tradition for another generation.
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