On Saturday 18 April the streets, squares and open spaces of Bristol Central Areas will be filled with the sound and spectacle of over fifty teams of Morris Dancers from across the country. They will be in the city for the Joint Morris Organisations’ National Day of Dance, a spectacular celebration of this traditional form of street entertainment that has been held in a different town or city each year since 2007.
Morris teams, or 'sides', are affiliated to one of three national associations that together make up the Joint Morris Organisations.
- The Morris Ring is the oldest of the three, and represents traditional men's morris sides including Bristol Morris Men, the longest-running side in the city.
- The Morris Federation celebrates its 40th anniversary this year. It began in 1975 as the Women’s Morris Federation but within a few years it shortened its name and expanded its admission policy to admit both mixed and men's sides, now including Pigsty Morris of Bristol.
- Open Morris started in 1979 as the first of the Morris organisations to welcome mixed Morris dance sides.
When Rag Morris formed in 1981 as Bristol's first mixed Morris side, they joined Open Morris and have been members ever since. For 2015, the side is hosting the JMO National Day of Dance in Bristol for the first time, on behalf of The Open Morris. Based at Bristol University, members of Rag Morris are current and former students, staff and postgraduates as well as other local dancers and musicians. They perform at local, national and international events throughout the year and have been busy organising this spectacular event.
Other local sides in attendance include Winterbourn Down Border Morris and Locksided Rapper & City Clickers.
Hundreds of performers from across the country, from as far afield as Sheffield, Cornwall, Cambridgeshire, Cardiff, York, and Westminster, will be dancing in fabulous costumes and with live musical accompaniment in variety of different styles, all under the collective name of Morris Dancing. Graceful Cotswold Morris with hankies and sticks, from the villages of Gloucestershire, Oxfordshire and Warwickshire. Energetic Border Morris, from the wild Welsh Border counties of Shropshire and Herefordshire. Mysterious Molly Dancing from the flat fenlands of East Anglia. Stave Dancers plus death-defying Rapper Sword and Longsword dancing from the North-East. Processional North-West Clog Morris from Lancashire and Cheshire. These many flavours of morris dancing will be accompanied by Clog Step Dance teams with dances from both English and American Appalachian traditions.
Dancing will take place across the centre of Bristol between 10:30am and 3:15pm, near locations including the M-Shed, Queen Square, Welsh Back, the Arnolfini, Anchor Square, College Green, The Centre, the Colston Hall, The Bear Pit, Broadmead and Castle Park.
At 3:30pm, all the sides will assemble in Millennium Square for a massed morris dance and displays by the Bristol-based sides. This will be an incredible display featuring over 500 performers.
To find out more go to JMO National Day of Dance http://www.jmodayofdance.com.
The JMO Day of Dance takes its place within a month of events celebrating traditional dancing and folk music in Bristol.
On 10-12 April, The Dancing England Rapper Tournament comes to Bristol. DERT celebrates Rapper Sword dancing with competitive performances in pubs across the city and a Saturday evening showcase event in St Georges on Brandon Hill. For more information go to DERT 2015 : http://www.dert2015.co.uk
On Friday 1st May, Bristol celebrates May Day with dancing at dawn on Brandon Hill with Rag Morris and Pigsty Morris and in Castle Park at sunrise with Bristol Morris Men.
From 1 to 3 May, the Bristol Folk Festival takes place at St Georges on Brandon Hill and The Folk House on Park Street, with music from a host of artists including The Full English and The Home Service, with Morris Dancing performances from Rag Morris, Bristol Morris Men, Pigsty Morris, Nonesuch Morris, Locksided Rapper and Silver Flame Rapper. For more information go to the Bristol Folk Festival website at http://bristolfolkfestival.co.uk
On 2 May, Bristol's Jack-in-The-Green procession follows a traditional route from the M-Shed to Horfield Common. This annual celebration of the arrival of summer features a 9 foot tall giant covered in fresh foliage with hordes of ragged green dancing attendants. For more information go to the Bristol Jack in The Green website http://home.freeuk.net/bristoljack
For other enquires about the day of dance please contact: squire [at] ragmorris.com