#morris dance

[gaykarstaagforever]

Someone please tell English people that the rest of the English-speaking world doesn't know what the hell a "Morris dance" is.

[museumsandfolk]

Unhinged Morris dancing photo

[sarahthecoat]

delightful program about Doc Rowe and his decades of recording of the folk traditions of the people of Britain.

[wilddogsworldwide]

[tobacconist]

[tyetknot]

It turns out it's very difficult to take photos of the Morris dancing while you are doing it, so in lieu of that please enjoy these photos of the beautiful sakura trees in Toronto's High Park shortly after sunrise. I had to get up at 4:00AM to arrive in time for sun up, which isn't pleasant, but the custom demands it! We danced and sang and raised such a hideous racket that the Sun had no choice but to come up!

If you enjoy summertime, thank a Morris dancer!

[prose2passion]

Boss Morris do a fashion shoot. Lovely pics.

[dykepuffs]

I've lately got a real interest in what I can only sensibly call "transformative costumes" - Stuff like the Ursari bear dance costumes, Bulgarian kukeri, mast beasts like the Old Horse and Old Tup, the Dancing Hosebeast, that video of the girl in the grey pompom jacket dancing to untz untz, and inevitably tattercoats.

So, I'm making a tattercoat for May Day! Inspired by Hedge Morris...

So I have about a week and a bit to finish it in if I want to be able to dance up the sun XD

So... Many... Rags! About 100 on there already and I reckon the whole coat will take ~500 plus.

[insidecroydon]

North Wood Way Morris are recruiting dancers and musicians

Continue reading Untitled

[nochd]

Morris dancing is real, and ancient. The Dark Morris is Terry Pratchett's invention -- a silent Morris dance done just before sunset to send the Sun away for the winter.

The Discworld's calendar is different from Earth's, but the Dark Morris would be done at six month's remove from May Day, that is to say on Halloween. If you're in the Northern Hemisphere, that is.

Here in the Southern Hemisphere, we dance the Dark Morris on May Day, and in fact I was playing fiddle for the southernmost Morris side in the world just a few hours ago. (Since the Dark Morris is silent, the bow doesn't touch the strings.)

Around the world today, the penumbra of the rising of the first sun of May is lined with onlookers and wellwishers, eyes on the eastern horizon to catch the first glimpse of a new season.

Because in our hearts, this is how summer returns to the northern hemisphere; this sun a baton passed in the annual relay as the south prepares for what winter may bring.

Among our number, where the hilltops flatten enough for people to trust their feet in the gloom, for over a century now morris dancers have set out in the fading dark to dance in the dawn, for the same reason we do anything: because it's what we do. That's all tradition is, after all.

And every year, alongside the bells, a passage from Terry Pratchett's Hogfather rings in my mind.

"The sun would have risen just the same, yes?"

NO.

"Oh, come on. You can't expect me to believe that. It's an astronomical fact."

THE SUN WOULD NOT HAVE RISEN.

...

"Really? Then what would have happened, pray?"

A MERE BALL OF FLAMING GAS WOULD HAVE ILLUMINATED THE WORLD.

And so, every year, follow the sound of bells and sticks, the chorus of voices singing Hal And Tow, and you'll find a bunch of knackered weirdos in the middle of nowhere in daft hats and a chill breeze, but proud of what they've done.

After all, we just made the sun rise.

[oidheadh-con-culainn]

also the english are weird about folk culture. we are. we've relegated our folk dances and music to the zone of esoteric nerd shit that only weirdos do, and then we go looking for esoterica in the non-english parts of our heritage because we don't think we've got any of it of our own

[incendavery]

lookin good

[banji-effect]

She took a pin and pricked the skin The gravy ran out, and the maggots ran in

[wilddogsworldwide]

[anthonysperkins]

I wanna tell everyone I know I love you I wanna touch the scars And break the chains that hold you But I won’t start Til the sun dips down

Julian Morris and Landon Ross MGMT - Dancing In Babylon (feat. Christine and the Queens)

[anje-satvrnalis]

traditional english miku ! (because it's not like the brits would do it themselves)

bonus obby oss because i love that guy.