One of the country’s leading venues for the arts, London’s Southbank Centre, played host to “5000 Morris Dancers” last weekend, using mixed media of film, art, dance, music and debate to shine some much needed light on the oft-maligned English dance tradition of morris.
The great strength of this festival was to acknowledge the complex nature of the morris revival seen during the last 40 years, and to gentle tease out the various interconnected threads, weaving together a full and satisfying picture.
Morris dancing was once the mainstay of rural identity throughout the length and breadth of England, but suffered bitterly from the joint blows of first the industrial revolution, and later the First World War.
Particularly poignant was the tale of the Adderbury Morris Men, brought into sharp focus by a charming and moving documentary film by Tim Plester and Rob Curry, premiered at the weekend-long event.
One of the few traditions to survive the disintegration of village community that accompanied England’s rise to become the world’s first industrialised nation, the entire Adderbury team went to the battlefields of The Somme. Only one man returned.
After lying dormant for many years, the tradition eventually resurfaced in the Oxfordshire village, and became an integral component of Tim Plester’s childhood, particularly with both his father and uncle being key members of the local morris team.
Way of the Morris gently and evocatively charts Tim’s journey, from teenage resistance to his family and community traditions, to eventual acceptance and participation. In so doing, we gain a clear and compelling insight into the profound role of morris dancing within village life.
The great strength of this festival was to acknowledge the complex nature of the morris revival seen during the last 40 years, and to gentle tease out the various interconnected threads, weaving together a full and satisfying picture.
Morris dancing was once the mainstay of rural identity throughout the length and breadth of England, but suffered bitterly from the joint blows of first the industrial revolution, and later the First World War.
Particularly poignant was the tale of the Adderbury Morris Men, brought into sharp focus by a charming and moving documentary film by Tim Plester and Rob Curry, premiered at the weekend-long event.
One of the few traditions to survive the disintegration of village community that accompanied England’s rise to become the world’s first industrialised nation, the entire Adderbury team went to the battlefields of The Somme. Only one man returned.
After lying dormant for many years, the tradition eventually resurfaced in the Oxfordshire village, and became an integral component of Tim Plester’s childhood, particularly with both his father and uncle being key members of the local morris team.
Way of the Morris gently and evocatively charts Tim’s journey, from teenage resistance to his family and community traditions, to eventual acceptance and participation. In so doing, we gain a clear and compelling insight into the profound role of morris dancing within village life.
