Morris Ring facts for kids
The Morris Ring is a group that helps connect and support Morris dance teams. Morris dance is a traditional English folk dance. The Morris Ring started in 1934 with six founding teams: Greensleeves, Cambridge, East Surrey, Letchworth, Oxford, and Thaxted.
Teams that are part of the Morris Ring often meet up several times a year. These "Ring Meetings" are hosted by different member teams. The Morris Ring has grown a lot! Today, it includes about 150 teams. There are also 35 other associate and joint member teams. These teams come from all over the world, including Australia, Canada, Denmark, the Netherlands, and the U.S.A.
When it first started, the Morris Ring was only for men's Morris teams. But in 2018, there was a big vote at their yearly meeting. Most members agreed to change the rules. Now, any Morris team can join, no matter if it's all men, all women, or mixed. The main idea is that teams support the original goals of the organization.
The main goal of the Morris Ring is to:
- Encourage people to perform Morris dance.
- Keep its traditions alive.
- Save its history.
- Help all Morris clubs and teams connect.
The Morris Ring doesn't want to take over other groups. Instead, it wants to support them. All the teams that join still get to be independent. Now, any established club or team that regularly does Morris dancing, sword dancing, or mumming can join. They just need to try to keep up the good standards and respect of Morris dance.
Contents
How The Morris Ring Started
.jpg)
The Cambridge Morris Men used to invite important Morris dancers to their yearly dance and feast. These guests would become honorary members of their club. But they realized they couldn't invite everyone they wanted to honor this way.
So, in November 1933, they had an idea. They thought about creating an informal group of Morris clubs. This new group would be called the Morris Ring. They talked to five other clubs about this idea. More discussions happened in April 1934.
On April 14, 1934, at their tenth annual feast, the leader of the Cambridge Morris Men, Joseph Needham, announced the start of the Morris Ring. The six founding clubs were Cambridge, Oxford, Letchworth, Thaxted, East Surrey, and Greensleeves.
A few months later, on June 2, 1934, representatives from five of the six clubs met. They approved a plan for how the Morris Ring would work. Alec Hunter explained the idea to everyone there. The first official meeting of the Morris Ring happened on October 20, 1934, at Cecil Sharp House. About 60 to 70 men attended. Alec Hunter was chosen as the first "Squire" (leader) of the Ring. Walter Abson became the first "Bagman" (secretary). These titles were already used by the Cambridge Club.
Learning and Sharing Dances
In its early days, one of the most helpful things the Morris Ring did was host teaching weekends. During these weekends, different teams would teach each other dances. They shared the styles and traditions of various Morris dances. These teaching events are still a very important part of the Morris Ring's year. The goal is to share knowledge of the dances. It's not about saying one way of dancing is better than another.
Before these workshops, many dancers learned from books. One important set of books was Cecil Sharp's five-volume The Morris Book. It was published between 1907 and 1913. It described about 70 dances from 12 different villages and towns.
Later, all the learning from the workshops led to a new book. It was called "The Handbook of Morris Dancing." People often called it "The Black Book." Lionel Bacon wrote it in 1974. It was meant to be a helpful reminder, but it quickly became a very important guide. This book has almost 400 Morris dances from over 20 places! A second version was released in 1986. Lionel Bacon was the Squire of the Morris Ring from 1962 to 1964. He was also a founding member of the Winchester Morris Men in 1953.
At one time, the Morris Ring only sold Bacon's book to its members. Teams could only join if existing members approved them. This often meant that only male-only teams could get the book. In the 1970s and 1980s, this rule was criticized by newer groups like the Morris Federation and Open Morris.
Even though some people still have strong feelings about all-male, all-women, or mixed Morris teams, the three main organizations now work together. They share common goals through the Joint Morris Organisation (JMO). They even have a joint annual Day of Dance.
On March 12, 2018, the Squire Eddie Worrall announced a big change. At the Annual Representatives' Meeting, members voted to remove the male-only rule from the constitution. A huge 87% of members voted for this change.
What The Morris Ring Does Now
The dances performed by Morris Ring members are not just old traditional ones. Sometimes, teams will create new dances. They might base the steps on an existing dance. But they dance it in the style of their own area. Sometimes, these new dances are given funny names. The Morris Ring still supports this creativity. They do this through regular dance workshops. They also have someone who collects information about new dances.
Ring Meetings, hosted by member teams, are still a very important part of the Ring's activities. However, because it costs more money now, these meetings might be one-day events or just "days of dance."
The Morris Ring also publishes regular newsletters and magazines. These include "The Bagman's Newsletter," "The Morris Ring Circular," and "The Morris Dancer."
The Morris Ring website is a great place for anyone interested in Morris dance. It's not just for members. It has lots of information about Morris dance in general. You can find dance tunes, notes for dances, lists of traditional events, and advice for teams. It also has details about member teams and their locations, plus lots of history.
Keeping History Safe
The Morris Ring Archives hold the largest collection of Morris and sword dance materials in the world. This collection is even bigger than the Morris documents at Cecil Sharp House. A small part of the archives is available online. More online access is expected in the next few years. A journal called "The Morris Dancer" has been published sometimes since 1978. Another big event in the dancing year is the "Dancing England Rapper Tournament" (DERT). Several Morris Ring teams attend this event.
