![[Morris Bells]](images/bells.gif)
"Traditions'' of Morris Dancing
When the morris was originally collected from the dancers, Cecil Sharp
noted that most teams had particular dance figures, arm movements, steps
and variations of the tunes which were unique. He distinguished one team
from another using the name of the village where they lived. To this day
we continue to refer to morris "traditions" with these geographic names.
Subsequent research has led to the opinion that these traditions were
more strongly allied to particular individuals or families than to the
towns. It seems likely that many of the morris teams were based upon the
small teams of agricultural laborers who worked in fields or woodlands.
The organizational needs of morris and agricultural teams are similar enough
to suppose that the foreman of one would be the foreman of the other.
Many modern revival teams compose new dances and include music from
popular contemporary sources. Some of the drive for this innovation comes
from the competitive spirit in modern ales where morris dancers from many
towns congregate to recreate the ancient festivals. There is evidence that
the traditional dancers modified their dance in response to the same kinds
of competitive forces. This would mean that the recorded traditions are
really just snapshots of a changing art form captured just before it died.
In any case there are several dozen of these traditions. Some traditions
are very rich in dances and tunes, others have only one stick dance and/or
one hanky dance, and a few are lost forever except in name because none
of the traditional dancers remained alive. | ![[The Seabright Logo]](images/sms80.gif)
