2019

TG2208 : The Powderkeg Morris dancers

taken 5 years ago, near to Norwich, Norfolk, England

The Powderkeg Morris dancers
The Powderkeg Morris dancers
They are assembled on Millennium Plain, in front of the Forum. Performing at Norwich today are 24 sides (or groups) of Morris dancers at different locations in the city, where all types of Morris and traditional dance will be on display at various spots, including Cotswold and Border Morris, Sword dancing and North West Clog dancing.

The group depicted here is known as the Powderkegs, a mixed group of men and women who dance traditional and evolving Border Morris. The Powderkegs are based at Whaley Bridge in the High Peak district of Derbyshire.
Morris dancing

Morris dance is a type of English folk dance . It is usually accompanied by music and based on rhythmic stepping and the execution of choreographed figures by a group of dancers, frequently wearing bell pads on their shins and wielding sticks, swords or handkerchiefs. The earliest known and surviving English written mention of Morris dance dates from 1448 and records the payment of seven shillings to Morris dancers by the Goldsmiths’ Company in London. 

The name was first recorded in the mid-15th century as Morisk dance, moreys daunce, morisse daunce. The modern spelling 'Morris'-dance first appears in the 17th century. It would seem that the dance became part of performances for the lower classes by the later 16th century, and in 1600 the Shakespearean actor William Kempe Morris-danced all the way from London to Norwich - an event chronicled in his 'Nine Daies Wonder'. By the mid 17th century, the working peasantry is documented to have taken part in Morris dances, and Morris dancing continued in popularity until the industrial revolution.

A number of English folklorists were responsible for recording and reviving the tradition in the early 20th century, often from a bare handful of surviving members of mid-19th-century village sides. The most notable among these are Cecil Sharp, Maud Karpeles, and Mary Neal. In the first few decades of the 20th century, several men’s sides were formed, and in 1934 the Morris Ring was founded by six revival sides. In the 1950s and especially the 1960s, there was an explosion of new dance teams, some of them women’s or mixed sides. At the time, there was often heated debate over the propriety and even legitimacy of women dancing the Morris, despite there being evidence from as far back as the 16th century that there had always also been female Morris dancers.

Historically, Morris dancing music is believed to have been played on loud and rhythmical instruments of the time such as the pipe and tabor. Today, the music is often played on accordion, melodeon and concertina, the so-called "free-reed instruments," but fiddle and flute can also often be heard, together with percussion instruments such as the tambourine, tabor and bass drum.


Creative Commons Licence [Some Rights Reserved]   © Copyright Evelyn Simak and licensed for reuse under this Creative Commons Licence.
Geographical Context: City, Town centre People, Events
This photo is linked from: Automatic Clusters: · Norwich [1472] · City [606] · Weeks [333] ·
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TG2208, 4039 images   (more nearby 🔍)
Photographer
Evelyn Simak   (more nearby)
Date Taken
Saturday, 14 September, 2019   (more nearby)
Submitted
Sunday, 15 September, 2019
Subject Location
OSGB36: geotagged! TG 2287 0840 [10m precision]
WGS84: 52:37.6545N 1:17.4977E
Camera Location
OSGB36: geotagged! TG 2288 0840
View Direction
Northwest (about 315 degrees)
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Image Type (about): close look 
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