What is Morris Dancing?

Morris dancing is an ancient English form of dance, born in the Cotswold region of southern England-so ancient that exactly how old it is, is not known. Shakespeare made references to the morris, making it at least 400 years old, and it probably dates back to well before that time. Also unknown, but theorized about a great deal, is exactly how it started and what it means. The most popular myth is that it has its roots in Celtic paganism, and is a fertility ritual performed in the spring to awaken the earth, drive away evil spirits, and ensure the abundance of crops and offspring (of both man and beast). There is, however, absolutely no evidence that this is true, and it's more likely that morris dancing was started by groups of bored villagers who needed to earn a few pence to spend at the local pub. Sometimes the truth is not nearly as interesting as fiction.

Unlike country or contra dancing, morris dancing is not a social dance with couples participating, but is instead a ritual dance performed by a group of six for an audience. The dancers wear bells on their legs and carry either sticks or white handkerchiefs (depending on the dance being performed) and the movements are lively and vigorous. Originally danced only by men, morris has been performed by women only in the past century. And while it began in only a small region in a small country, today there are hundreds of morris teams world-wide including dozens in the United States.