Come One, Come All!
It’s May Day morning -
Help us dance up the sun!


(the Morris community’s answer
to "dancing 'till dawn")

Morris Dancer
Original image likely by Roberta Wackett
reproduced courtesy of EFDSS

 

Due to COVID-19 health concerns, most May Day celebrations have been cancelled, restricted, or changed to virtual gatherings.  Please do not violate stay-at-home laws.  We also recommend you contact your local team or event to confirm details (there are a lot of last-minute changes going on and we don't always get timely updates.



We know most of you are under shelter-at-home restrictions. We fully support you keeping safe! That said, the Belles of London City (Southwark, England) have provided this public service instructions on a DIY at-home May Day celebration.


Morris dancers throughout North America and England will gather together with their sticks, ribbons, bells, hankies, and baldrics, for music and dance in our annual May Day celebrations (this year Friday, May 1st, 2020).  We dance to wake up the Sun and keep it coming back up for a whole year!  Besides being a great deal of fun, does this show dedication or what?!  You may have noticed that it works, too.

Be a part of it. Show up while it’s dark and watch the Sun make its grand entrance.  See the spectacle!  Watch the magic!  Cheer the dancers!   Join in the celebration!  Wonder why you’re up at this hour!  Wear whatever you want, but bring layers - it may be cold this early in the morning.


FIND A MAYDAY CELEBRATION NEAR YOU
Sunrise and event starting times can vary significantly depending on location or weather.
You may need to reach a specific team's contact (squire) directly to find out more about the local schedule.
Look for the symbol - it means the latest info is we received was during 2020
(but it still may not be current vis-à-vis COVID-19).

Meanwhile, taste the imagery of
Rose Blakeley's Ceremony of May
(audio requires Flash plug-in)


PACIFIC TIME ZONE
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Vancouver with Vancouver Morris Men and Tiddley Cove Morris

 

Public celebrations cancelled due to COVID-19 restrictions.  Stay home and be safe!

  • For more information email or
: May Day 2016: To the Market - an original Tiddley Cove dance written by June Harman (Dance), Nini Ury (Music)
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Gabriola Island, BC with   
Drumbegger Border Morris will be dancing the May this year for 2nd time. Come out and support them! Be a part of history!
  • 5:30 am - meet in the parking lot of Drumbeg Provincial Park (south end of Gabriola Island), process to hill top, dance up the sun and sing in the May.
  • Afterwards Gorilla dance outs around the island.
  • For more information, check the team Facebook page, or email or call 250-247-7935

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Victoria with Hollytree Morris, Island Thyme Morris, and Quicksbottom Morris

           


                 Island Thyme Morris                                                      Quicksbottom Morris
 

Public celebrations cancelled due to COVID-19 restrictions.  Stay home and be safe!

  • For more information (including other possible events during the day) contact the teams
  • Island Thyme dancing Skirmishes and in Eynsham
    Quicksbottom dancing Duntze Head or Drowsy Maggie
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    Seattle, WA with North by North West Morris, Sound and Fury Morris, The Mossyback Morris Men, and Misty City Morris

    Public celebrations cancelled due to COVID-19 restrictions

    • For more information:
      • North by North West - email the or call Libby 206-323-7519 or Judy 206-634-2535, see their Facebook page
      • Sound and Fury Morris - contact us
      • MossyBack Morris - contact us
      • Misty City Morris - or call 425-865-9368
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    Portland, OR with Bridgetown Morris Men, Renegade Rose Morris, Wild Rose Garland with special guests Raven's Magic

    Public celebrations cancelled due to COVID-19 restrictions.  Stay home and be safe!

    • Contact the individual teams for more information:
      • Bridgetown Morris Men: see their Facebook page, email
      • Renegade Rose Morris: email or call 503-860-6611
      • Wild Rose Garland: email or call 503-544-7967
    Bridgetown Morris Men performing Abbotts Bromley, White Ladies Aston or Bampton Side Step
    Renegade Rose Morris dancing The Idiot or Weavers March
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    Eugene, OR with Two Rivers Morris

    Public celebrations cancelled due to COVID-19 restrictions.  Stay home and be safe!

    • For more information, check the team Facebook page, or contact .

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    Coos Bay, OR with Side of the Tide

     See the team dancing Ragged Crow
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    Sebastopol, CA with Apple Tree Morris

    • 5:30 am - Come help Apple Tree Morris celebrate the beauty of Spring in Sonoma County as we dance up the sun on May Day in the parking lot behind the Sebastopol Community Center Youth Annex, 425 Morris Street, in Sebastopol.  The dancing goes through sunrise and a little bit more (around 6:20 am), and then you are welcome to join us for a potluck breakfast at 7:00 am at Wischemmann Hall (bring something to share).
      • There will be morris dancing to watch and country dances everyone can do, as well as wonderful music and singing. We'd love it if you'd join us for this celebration!  Dress warmly, since it tends to be chilly before dawn, and you may want a lawn chair or blanket to sit on.
      • Directions:
        • From Santa Rosa and points east: Get onto Highway 12 around Sebastopol.  Turn right/north at the light onto Morris Street, and park when the street turns left.
        • From Sebastopol: Get onto Highway 12 heading towards Santa Rosa, and at the first light outside of town (at the sign for The Barlow), turn left/north onto Morris Street and park when the street turns left.
    • Later that day....they usually tour local schools and parks.  Contact the team for details.
    • For more information, email , call 707-823-6925, or see their Facebook page.

      Apple Tree Morris dancing Old Peculiar in 2013 and Huntress in 2017
      2018 May Day flyer
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    San Francisco, CA with

    • Meet at Christmas Tree Point on Twin Peaks Blvd around 5:45 am, in the parking lot overlooking downtown, the East Bay and (in theory) the rising sun.
    •  Dancing starts around 6:00 am.
    • There's likely more dancing during the day - details on their Facebook page.
    • For EXACT directions and more information, email or call Heather at (510) 653-7507
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    Palo Alto, CA with Deer Creek Morris Men and Kitchen Sink Molly Deer Creek

    Public celebrations cancelled due to COVID-19 restrictions.  Stay home and be safe!

    • We will have a traditional May Day celebration on Zoom at 6:00 pm.
    • For more information email the squire for

    See video excerpts of May Day past, care of Maryam Webster
    (disclaimer - some names of persons and dances in titles are inaccurate)
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    Santa Cruz, CA with Seabright Morris and Sword and White Rats Morris

    Public celebrations cancelled due to COVID-19 restrictions.  Stay home and be safe!

  • For more information check our website or contact squire
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    Santa Barbara, CA with Pacific Sword Company as part of the May Day


    • 6:00 am  - pursuing our annual tradition of sleeping in.
    • 4:00 pm to 6:00 pm - Revels hosts its annual May Day celebration at Center Court of the Paseo Nuevo Shopping Center on State Street in downtown Santa Barbara.  There's lots of spectacle and audience participation:
      • Sing special Spring songs with Revels Songleader, Adam Phillips.
      • Learn seasonal dances.
      • Make flower garlads and nosegays.
      • Enjoy performance by the Revels Dancers.
      • Come join in the May Pole celebration and learn how to weave the ribbons 'round the pole.
    • For more information, email .
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    Los Angeles, CA with Rising Phoenix Morris     

    Public celebrations cancelled due to COVID-19 restrictions.  Stay home and be safe!

  • For more information email squire or call 818-416-8845
  •  

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    San Diego, CA with   Morton Bay Fig Morris

    • Meet us before dawn at the top of Mount Soledad Park in La Jolla.  Arrive early to hike up the hill.
    • 5:45 am - Dance up the sun on Mount Soledad Cross on Soledad Park Road
    • 6:30 am - Breakfast at Harry's Coffee Shop, 7545 Griard Ave, in La Jolla
    • Locations/Directions (directions are progressive):
      • Mira Mesa and I15: Take I15 South to SR163.  Keep Right on to SR163.  Take the SR52 exit to go West.  Go straight over I5 onto La Jolla Parkway.  Turn Left at the Torrey Pines Road Intersection.  Go up Hidden Valley Road until it T's into Via Capri.  Turn Right onto Via Capri.  Wind up the mountain until that T's into Soledad Road and La Jolla Scenic Drive.  Turn left onto Soledad Road and drive through the gate, if it is open, or park if it is not.
      • Soledad Mountain (From I5): Take Garnet West to Soledad Mountain Road. Turn Right/North on Soledad Mountain Road and go till it ends in a T. Turn Right onto La Jolla Scenic Drive. Drive into the Soledad Natural Park and look for morris dancers.
      • To Harry's - (from Soledad Mountain): From the park head back down Via Capri La Jolla Parkway and Torrey Pines Road.  Go West on Torrey Pines Road, Left on Girard at the Von's.  Harry's should be right there on your left (across from the Von's Parking lot).
    • For more information, email squire
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    MOUNTAIN TIME ZONE
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    Edmonton, AB with Edmonton Magpie Morris     

    May Day in the park is cancelled due to COVID-19.  We'll dance at home and put photos on our Facebook Page.  Stay safe!

    • For more information, email the team or call +1-780-475-1826
    Magpie Morris Dancers teach a dance to the public, Beltane 2016
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    Billings, MT with Montana Morris
    • Arrive about 5:45a, and dance at 5:55a, for about 15 minutes at Swords Park (about a mile east of Billings airport).
    • If there's an audience, we will teach a simple Shepher's Hey, and invite them to sing a couple May songs.
    • For more information, contact Bill at 406-696-0454, Amy at 406-698-2642, or
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    Denver, CO with Maroon Bells Morris and maybe Breathless in Berthoud Border Morris

     

    Public celebrations cancelled due to COVID-19 restrictions.  Stay home and be safe!

  • For more information, email squire or call 303-870-8671
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    Phoenix, AZ with
    Photo by Raven Kline

    • Due to a tear in the space-time continuum because Arizona doesn't do daylight savings time, we actually dance up the sun on Friday night, May 2.  Go figure!
    • 7:00 pm - We're (drinking and then) dancing at Phoenix's First Friday, staring at the The Lost Leaf (914 N 5th St), and then proceeding to dance in the surrounding blocks where the other First Friday events are.
    • For more information (including directions), email or call 480-286-2122.
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    CENTRAL TIME ZONE
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    Omaha, NE with Prairie Waves Morris

    • We are likely to do a few dances out in the street in the neighborhood.  This is good for scaring the dogs and puzzling/amusing the neighbors.  However, its mostly about keeping the faith.
    • For more information, email or call 402-553-2562
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    Minneapolis, MN with Bells of the North, Minnesota Traditional Morris , and Ramsey's Braggarts


    Bells of the North

    Minnesota Traditional Morris

    Ramsey's Braggarts

    Public celebrations cancelled due to COVID-19 restrictions

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    Madison, WI with Oak Apple Morris

    Public celebrations cancelled due to COVID-19 restrictions.  Stay home and be safe!

  • For more information, email squire
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    St. Louis, MO with and The Capering Roisters

    • 5:45am - meet at The Jewel Box in Forest Park located at Wells and McKinkey Dr in St. Louis, MO
    • All are welcome, and over the years quite a crowd has accumulated!  Dancing continues for at least an hour and usually longer.  Sometimes there is a Maypole, but there is always singing (song sheets provided).  Breakfast follows at a mysterious location to be revealed.
    • For more information, email front person or call 314-560-2778
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    EASTERN TIME ZONE
    Marquette, MI with Marquette Morris
    • We know they exist and not much else.
    • For more information, email or call 906-458-2683
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    Burlington, VT with On the Border Morris    

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    Rockport, ME with Highland Mary

    • Sunrise - meet at Beech Hill, Rockport (map), and continue to Rockland town landing
    • For more information, email
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    Thetford, VT with Four Corners Morris, Green Mountain Morris, Maple Leaf Morris, Catamount Morris

    Public celebrations cancelled due to COVID-19 restrictions.  Stay home and be safe!

    • For more information, email or call 802-672-1244.

      Watch Maple Leaf Morris as the sun peeks over the horizon on May Day 2010
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    Putney, VT with Putney Mountain Morris

    Public celebrations cancelled due to COVID-19 restrictions.  Stay home and be safe!

    • For more information, email squires or

      Watch Putney Morris Men at Town Hall, May Day 2008
      Watch Putney Mountain Morris on the mountain, May Day 2011 and at town hall, May Day 2012

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    Toronto, ON Canada with Green Fiddle Morris, Cold Barn Morris, and others

    • We are looking at how to mark May Day this year for the Toronto and GTA community.  There are some technical issues we are attempting to address with a virtual sing which may happen.  That said, we will still do May Day in Toronto, along with a tour of the City after breakfast as in a normal year. We are still here and we will mark the day in some physically distant socially responsible way.
    • No Toronto Women's Sword gathering due to COVID-19
    • For more general information, email

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    Syracuse, NY with Heartwood Morris Dancers of Ithaca, Bassett Street Hounds, Ribbonsteel Rapper, and Snowbelt Morris of Rochester, hosted by Thornden Morris

     

    Public celebrations cancelled due to COVID-19 restrictions.  Stay home and be safe!

    • We're having a May Day celebration online this year, by posting videos of dancing, a mummer's play and singing on a YouTube channel.   We will post this link on our regular web site thorndenmorris.org.

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    Marlboro, VT with Marlboro Morris and Sword, along with the Marlboro Morris Men, and Windham

    Public celebrations cancelled due to COVID-19 restrictions.  Stay home and be safe!

  • For more information, email squire

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    Nelson, NH with Firebird and Jack in the Green

    Plans are still up in the air due to COVID-19.  It may or may not happen at the Nelson Town Common, 5:30 am, Friday or Saturday.

    • For more information email Firebird contact or Jack in the Green squire .

    Albany, NY with Pokingbrook Morris Dancers


    Pokingbrook Morris has been dancing up the sun in Washington Park in Albany for 40 years.
    • 6:30 am ("morris dawn") - gather near the Moses statue that faces Madison Avenue, and dance for an hour or more.
    • Afterwards, adjourn to a local diner for breakfast, bringing many of our regular fans with us.
    • 2:30 pm - After dancing on a village green or two, arrive at Universal Pathways in Berne NY, for a maypole, picnic, more morris dancing, and a Beltane bonfire.
    • Anyone who can't make it for the early morning dancing and/or wants to catch up with the tour later on should email or call 518-464-8603 and leave a message.

    Ann Arbor, MI with

    Public celebrations cancelled due to COVID-19 restrictions.  Stay home and be safe!

    • For details on the day's schedule or other information, email the , or check out the team Meetup Group with this and many other events.

      Watch a video of Ann Arbor Morris

    Montague, MA with Stick'n the Mist Border Morris and a host of others.

    Public celebrations cancelled due to COVID-19 restrictions.  Stay home and be safe!

    • For more information, email the team

    Chesterfield, MA with   

    • Just two of us dancing the sun up at the Chesterfield Gorge, in West Chesterfield, MA 01084.
    • Anyone who wants to participate should park down river and watch for it to pass and sing!!! This will happen just after 5:30 am.
    • For more information, email or call 413-325-4039.

    Amherst (area), MA with Juggler Meadow Morris Men, Johnny Jump Ups, Hart's Brook Garland, Marlboro Morris Men, Wake Robin Morris, and And Sometimes Y Manx,Morris & Sword Guiding Star Clog Morris


    Juggler Meadow Morris Men

    Hart's Brook Garland Women

    Wake Robin Morris


    Rapscallion Rapper

    And Sometimes Y

    Public celebrations cancelled due to COVID-19 restrictions.  Stay home and be safe!
     

  • For more information, contact the team(s):
    • And Sometimes Y, email or
    • Guilding Star Clog Morris, email
    • Hart's Brook, email
    • Johnny Jump Ups, email
    • Juggler Meadow, email or 413-320-9598
    • Wake Robin Morris, email or call 413-834-8761
  • Wake Robin Morris dancing Nutting Girl as a jig for all of the team who went on the tour to England, at Stone Henge  July 2016.

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    Boston, MA May Day this year is called off due to COVID-19.

     

    This May Day celebration has been annually going on since 1973.  It may be the oldest continuing May Day celebration in the USA.

    • 5:30 am - 8:30 am at the Weeks Foot Bridge (directions here), going over the Charles River in Cambridge by Boyleston St.  There will be a Maypole, Morris dancing, Garland dancing, some folk dance and much singing.  This is a community event.  Everybody joins in the Maypole, the dancing and the singing.  Hundreds of people usually show up.
    • Afterwards teams will progress to two other locations around Harvard Square.
    • Wax nostalgic and get the feeling of a May Day past.
    • For more information, email Newtowne's squire -

      Watch the videos from May Day 2003 and May Day 2005
      Red Herring performing Takking at NEFFA 2013

     


    Binghamton, NY with Binghamton Morris Men and B. F. Haridans

     

    • The teams are scheduled to dance in the EVENING of May 1st (how sensible!), but may be subject to COVID-19 lockdown in the county
    • For more information, contact or call 607-723-1660.

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    Narragansett, RI with Ladies of the Rolling Pin     

    The Ladies of the Rolling Pin is one of only a few all women's Border Morris dance teams. We have been stirring things up in Rhode Island since 1998 with just the right mix of leavening and levity. We never fail to get a rise out of audiences with a well-seasoned style, energy and music.

    Instead of a public gathering, we will be posting a special surprise on May on our Facebook page

  • For more information, email or check out their Facebook page
  • See their 2016 May Day flyer

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    • 5:41 am - a few folk meet to dance at the Main Street Dock and Bridge and Stoningon Point, simultaneous and at the same time!
    • For more information, email Westerly's squire .

    See Mystic Garlandschannel


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    New Haven, CT with New Haven Morris and Sword

       

    Public celebrations cancelled due to COVID-19 restrictions.  Stay home and be safe!

    • For more information, email or call 203-776-1812

      Check out our 2008 ale video


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    Brooklyn, NY with Ring O'Bells 

    The May Pole is an all-inclusive, multi-generational event.  All are welcome.

    • 5:45 am - Nellie's Lawn in Prospect Park (meet at the Grand Army Plaza entrance to the park).  Check out our incredibly detailed map.
    • 6:00 am - Maypole time - dig the hole, get the pole, make the ribbons!
    • 6:45 am - Grab a ribbon and join the dance.  The May Pole is an all-inclusive, multi generational event.  All are welcome.  Bring instruments if you'd like to play music, or songs to sing.  Bring a short reading on a spring theme (animals and children are great topics) if you would like to read something aloud after the May Pole dance.
    • 7:15 am - Potluck picnic breakfast and Morris dancing.
    • Bring the Day!
    • For more information, email the

      See Ring O' Bells on May Day 2006

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    New York City, NY with  Bouwerie Boys Morris Dancers

    Public celebrations cancelled due to COVID-19 restrictions.  Stay home and be safe!

  • For more information, email

    Watch a video of Bouwerie Boys in action!

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    Princeton, NJ May Day Celebrations Organized for 35 years by Millstone River Morris, with guests Mercer Maypole Dancers, Singers, & Padstow Hobby Horse Troupe

    Public celebrations cancelled due to COVID-19 restrictions.  Stay home and be safe!

  • For more information, email or call 609-240-6543

    See Millstone River Morris on May Day 2009
    See Millstone's May Day 2018 flyer

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    Philadelphia, PA with Kingsessing Morris and Renegade Morris 

     

    Public celebrations cancelled due to COVID-19 restrictions.  Stay home and be safe!

    • We'll be putting together a movie of individual team members dancing and put it online...
    • For more information, email the squire for or
       
    • See Kingsessing Morris do the dances Takking from May Day 2009 and Devils Highway from May Day 2010
      Check out 3 generations of Renegade Morris doing Steamfitters from May Day 2011

    Bloomington, IN with

    Public celebrations cancelled due to COVID-19 restrictions.  Stay home and be safe!


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    Washington, DC with Foggy Bottom Morris Men, Rock Creek Morris Women and joined this year by new American champion sword team Sligo Creek Sword

    Rock Creek Morris Women     

    Early morning route through Takoma Park, MD:

    At this point we jump on metro and head somewhere downtown (DC), causing mischief.  This year its:

    Note: Morris dancers stranded in DC for May Day are welcome to join us in kit or not for any part of this tour (including breakfast and lunch).  For more information, see our Facebook event, or email Foggy Bottom's squire .

    (All Map links at once)


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    Charlottesville, VA with Albemarle Morris Men (with a possible guest appearance by Underground Morris)
    Albemarle Morris Men
    • Start dancing at sunrise - Lee Park, one block north of the Downtown Mall in Charlottesville (there is no off-street parking).  There are usually muffins and hard boiled eggs available.  Feel free to bring your own coffee or treats (although it's luckier if you bring enough for the dancers, too!)
    • For more information, email Albemarle squire

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    Yorktown, VA with Druken Weasels Border Morris 

    Public celebrations cancelled due to COVID-19 restrictions.  Stay home and be safe!


    Asheville, NC with Ashgrove Garland Dancers

    Celebrations cancelled due to COVID-19 restrictions.  Stay home and be safe!

  • For more information, email or see their Facebook page.

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    Brasstown, NC with Dame's Rocket Northwest Clog and Rural Felicity Garland Dancers, StiX in the Mud Border Morris, and Magic Rapper

    Public celebrations cancelled due to COVID-19 restrictions.  Stay home and be safe!


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    Gainsville, FL with

    Public celebrations cancelled due to COVID-19 restrictions.  Stay home and be safe!

      For more information, check the team Facebook page or email squire

      See Greenwood in action on the team's channel


      What IS Morris Dancing?

      Morris dancing is a living tradition of English celebratory and ritual dance with live music, and origins shrouded in mystery and the mists of time.   Shakespeare used it in his plays and it was old then.  The dancers usually wear bells at their knees and often wave hankies (to attract and welcome benevolent spring and summer spirits) or clash sticks (symbolizing the eternal battle between winter and summer), and the dances have traditionally been performed around the time of major celebration or seasonal cross points in the calendar.  Indeed, dances of comparable form and dancers in similar costumes are found elsewhere in Europe and around the world, and may be thought to be part of the universal urge to influence and honor the unknowable forces which govern our lives.

      One of the most colourful descriptions of morris was provided in the 15th century, by Edmund, Duke of Edinburgh, the Black Adder who said, "Morris dancing is the most fatuous, tenth-rate entertainment ever devised by man.  Fourty effeminate blacksmiths waving bits of cloth they've just wiped their noses on.  How it's still going on in this day and age I'll never know."

      Modern morris includes several different types of dance, all from different regions of England; Cotswold Morris from the south, Border Morris from the west, Molly Dancing from the southeast, and Northwest Morris from the northwest. Other dance styles such as Longsword, Rapper (sword), Clog, and Garland are often included in the term "morris".

      There are lots of ways to get more detail about Morris dancing, but the absolutely best way is to find a morris dancer, take them to a pub, offer them refreshment, and ask for the real story.  It's guaranteed good luck, too!


      Morris team logos copyright the respective teams, used with permission
      Last update April 30, 2020
      All rights reserved.  Do not cite or reproduce without permission, except for personal use.
      For any questions/complaints/suggestions about this page, contact the