What it's like to be a Morris dancer: We’re keeping tradition alive

Shrewsbury Morris have been captivating audiences with their music and dancing for more than 40 years.

It’s fair to say that, at times, morris dancing has attracted some ridicule from those who consider it to be unfashionable and outdated.

But this 35-strong passionate group is on a mission to prove critics wrong – while enjoying plenty of fun and laughter along the way.

“It’s infectious. You can’t help but feel uplifted by the music, you can’t be sad or miserable when you’re dancing to music. It makes you feel happy and if you are feeling down, it can cheer you up,” says Hilary Hymas, who is one of the longest standing members.

The roots of the traditional English folk dance can be traced back more than 500 years. Since then the routines have been passed down through the generations and continued to evolve with hundreds of groups dancing up and down the country.

Shrewsbury Morris, who were founded in 1976, have three teams – The Bull & Pump Morris Men, The Shrewsbury Lasses and Shrewsbury Clog.

Dressed in green waistcoats, white shirts, brown breeches and green socks, the morris men are known for their vigorous stick dances based on traditions from the Welsh Borders, as well as some more traditional Cotswold Morris and sword routines.

These often involve either six or eight men and are described as ‘displays of showmanship’. One of their favourite dances is called Bricklayers, which sees them swapping their sticks for trowels and is rooted in the industrial heritage of Shrewsbury.

While the Shrewsbury Lasses wear their brightly coloured pinafore dresses and perform in a range of styles including handkerchief, short stick and garland dances.

One of their most well-known routines is Shrewsbury Flourish, which was first written to teach at workshops at the Sidmouth International Festival and is now danced by over a dozen other teams across the country.

And the clog team has developed a unique style of performance that features a variety of dances from across the country.

Every member of Shrewsbury Morris is encouraged to play a musical instrument or percussion. This means when the men are showing off their fancy footwork, the women play the music for them and vice-versa.

“The idea behind doing this is to give us a bigger sound and it looks good from an audience point of view when we are dancing out. We are always thinking about what it looks like for the audience that is watching us.

“There is a criticism of morris dancing that it’s six people in two lines facing each other so we want to make sure there is lots of movement and shape to the dances.

“We want people watching to be entertained because it’s really street theatre. We are there to perform and entertain the audience,” explains bandmaster and founder member Ray Langton, who is a virtuoso melodeon player and folk singer.

Rehearsals take place on Thursday evenings at Shrewsbury Academy in Corndon Crescent where they practice and perfect their routines.

“We rehearse to learn the routines, keep fit and make sure we all know what we are doing before we dance out. We never dance a routine for the public until we know we’ve got it exactly right and nobody dances out until we know they are ready,” adds his wife Bev, who is the leader of the Lasses.

What is clear from talking to the members is how much they enjoy dancing and performing for the public.

“I’ve always thought the music was beautiful but to me morris is wellbeing. It provides fun, friendship and fitness,” says retired military nursing officer Graydon Radford, who also runs the group’s Twitter account which has more than 81,000 followers.

“We love dancing out in the community. We recently danced out at Shrewsbury Railway Station to commemorate the 150th Anniversary of the Heart of Wales line to Swansea. We didn’t know what to expect but it was a lot of fun and a lot of people watched us.

“That’s the thing about morris, people laugh at it but then they stop and watch. They can’t help but be entertained by it. It’s captivating.

“We do have a lot of fun together, there is great camaraderie within the group. I think people are always surprised at how much fun we have,” said former teacher Richard Brett who joined Shrewsbury Morris around four and a half years ago. We’re a really close-knit group. We have laughs together but we also pull together when someone needs support. We’re like a family and that’s one of the reasons that makes it so enjoyable. We’re not just dancing to beautiful music, we’re dancing with our friends It’s also a great way to keep fit and active,” adds Lynne Bates, who has been a member of the Shrewsbury Lasses for eight years having started with the clog team.

The group has a busy diary throughout the summer having been booked for events including Shrewsbury Folk Festival on August 25 to 27 and Oswestry Heritage Day on September 15.

A recruitment evening for The Bull & Pump Morris Men will be held on September 27 at Shrewsbury Academy at 8pm.

Shrewsbury Morris is also busy making plans for its popular Christmas Ceilidh which will take place on December 1.

Heather Large

l More information is available from www.shrewsburymorris.co.uk, by calling Ray and Bev Langton on 07799 408297 by following Shrewsbury Morris on Twitter @shrewsmorris