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Country Dance * New York, Inc. |
English Morris Dancing is very old and very lively. It's also somewhat mysterious since no one knows exactly where it comes from or how it evolved. (See Charles Darwin, The Origin of Morris). This particular form is Cotswold Morris from the southwest of England.
Each spring Morris dancers perform to celebrate the end of winter, when spring starts, the earth's reawakening, and to bring good luck for the entire year. Although the styles of dance vary from village to village, all English Morris dancers are distinguished by bells on their legs, festive ribbons and outfits, waving handkerchiefs and clashing sticks.
HOW OLD IS IT?
No one is really sure. A few of Shakespeare's plays mention it. Our team dates back over twenty years, and the exact origin of our team is lost in the transparent mists of recent antiquity. Such is the folk process.
The Greenwich Morris Men, founded in 1974, have performed all over the metropolitan area, the eastern seaboard from Vermont to the nation's capitol, as far west as Minnesota, and at many dance and music festivals, including the Clearwater Festival, the New England Folk Festival, and have even danced in Toronto, Ontario, as well as in England, where the team's tradition originated in Leefield, Oxfordshire.
Although the team is busiest in the spring, The Greenwich Morris Men have been featured in the
The Christmas Revels
for more than twenty years, and have also danced at Town Hall on Garrison Keillor's Prairie Home Companion on National Public Radio.
If you have an event that requires something special, Morris dancing may be just the thing. We're available for hire and would love to dance for you. Email David.
The Greenwich Morris Men always welcome new dancers. If you are male and can count to two (four is preferable) and you don't mind being seen in public wearing bells and green and yellow ribbons, then we would be delighted to have you join us. Email as above.
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See more recent pictures of the Greenwich Morris Men.
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Call the Dancephone: 212-459-4080
Write to CD*NY at P.O. Box 878, Village Station, New York, N.Y. 10014
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Country Dance * New York, Inc., is an affiliate of the
Country Dance and Song Society.