| 16 teams of Morris dancers gathered in London Ontario
for the annual Morris Ale. They came from as far away as Virginia to join
their Canadian hosts in this celebration of English folk dance styles. There
were 160 camping and more from London and the surrounding towns. This is
Albemarle Morris from Charlottesville, Virginia who dance in a traditional
Cotswold style from the west of England. One of them was even born in
England! |  |
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From Shepherdstown, West Virginia this team dance a Lancashire North West
style in clogs. There are actually three North West sides in this picture
dancing together. They said it was quite fun because they all dance the same
dance slightly differently. I think the other two sides are both Canadian. |
| Dance would not be possible without its musicians.
Many of the tunes are common so the few musicians of one side may be
augmented by others at festivals like this. These are the musicians from
Orange Peel in Canada. The bassoon is an unusual instrument for the dance
but this player is a very talented musician from Toronto. The melodeon
player on the far left was born in England not a mile from where I was
brought up. It is a small world. |  |
 | As
with English Morris men, North Americans like their beer too. At lunchtime
we adjourned to a local hostelry which had an good selection of ales. After
an excellent sandwich lunch they decided on an impromptu dance which
included drinking. Here we have Virginia and Ontario each trying to outdo
the other. |
| On Sunday we all travelled out to the small town of St
Marys where the High St was closed off for the revels. Shepherdstown ladies
were quickly into the swing of things. |  |
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Morris dancing can be done by anybody. There are no gender, age or colour
bars or even size, although it does help to be fit. Many of the dances use
short or long sticks and can be quite dangerous if you aren't careful. Even
remaining a spectator isn't safe as several sticks were splintered during
the weekend. Many smaller teams are mixed which helps them to survive.
Some would argue that true Morris remains the province of the
unreconstructed male but they are a dying breed. |
| Although many of the dances are freelance designs by
the individual teams there are many traditional dances which enable
everybody, even spectators, to join in in a communal dance. |  |
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The Cotswold styles are very energetic with the dancers seeking to impress
by how high they can jump. I think this was Minnesota Morris and they could
jump higher than this photo shows. |
| There were several local teams who worked together to
organise the weekend (and it was a tremendous amount of work). This is
Forest City, a ladies side which dances very good Cotswold and sword dances.
They are suffering at the moment from injuries and lack of numbers. There
were two new members dancing out in this dance. At the end (as is the
custom) the new dancers were carried off in triumph by Jack in the Green to
the great amusement of the audience and complete surprise of the new
dancers. |  |
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This team (Red Herring) only fielded four dancers but they entertained the
audience outside the Stratford Theatre later in the day. The sticks really
are flying. |
| As the dancing community ages we worry about the
future of the dance. However it is in safe hands with Ontario's Maple
Morris, a young team which dances Cotswold styles with great athleticism.
There are few teams anywhere who can compete with this and they were much
admired by all. They are of course young and very fit and have already been
dancing for years. |  |
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Border Morris is always colourful with the rag jackets. They dance a style
from the English/Welsh borders and many paint their faces. They mainly dance
with big sticks not being into these 'wimpish hanky dances'. This is Orange
Peel again, from Orangeville just to the north east of London and near the
edge of Peel county. |
| Morris also has its 'characters' of whom a few were in
evidence usually disturbing the children. Here we have the unicorn? and is
that a red herring he is carrying? |  |
 | We
had lunch in a park in Stratford which had this stage on the other side of
the road. Here two of the finest musicians and dance leaders entertained
themselves, and us, with a medley of tunes. Jim Morrison from Albemarle and
Tom Kruskal from Pinewoods could well be considered the godfathers of
American Morris. |
| Onward to more dance displays in Stratford. This is
Pinewoods, a Cotswold team that takes its name from the dance camp in
Massachusetts. It is one of the oldest teams in America and one of the most
skilled. Here we have at least one father and son dancing so the tradition
will carry on. |  |
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One of the other sides deeply involved in the organisation of the weekend
was St Marys North West team. They were athletic for a Northwest team with
some interesting footwork. |
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The melodeon (right) is a more common instrument for Morris as played by the
musician for St Marys Quarry Girls. He was also the chief barman of the
weekend responsible for the beer and the awesome G & Ts - a man of many
talents. Less common is the piano accordion played here by the musician
for Muddy River from Massachusetts. It is much harder to play the staccato
notes requiring a particular touch on the keys and an attitude with the
bellows and she is an outstanding exponent of the style. |  |
| We danced and played outside the Stratford theatre as
the patrons came out and the bard looked on. He used to be master of the
revels at court and would have been familiar with at least some of the tunes
and styles. There were many masters of the revels who guided the groups
through London, St Marys and Stratford and many more who toiled tirelessly
behind the scenes to make this such an enjoyable weekend. Heartfelt thanks
go out to them all from the teams and from ourselves whom they kindly
allowed to gatecrash the party.
|  |
 | A
brief pause for a photo call. This is Orange Peel who were present in force.
We didn't leave any behind. Many will be back next year. |
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