They swooped in like feathered birds, wearing colourful rags and masks.
They whirled and twirled with bells on legs and shoes.
These are Morris Dancers, performing old-age dances that some say even the Druids performed at Stonehenge during the summer solstice.
The leader of this group of dancers looked fearsome.
Musicians dressed in black played wild music.
I fell in love with the beauty of the accordion.
Some groups of Morris Dancers dress in white and dance with handkerchiefs.
Others dress in feathered rags and dance with sticks that they knock against each other.
When I was younger, I thought that Morris dancing was for nerds.
But now I appreciate the tradition of a dance that binds the past with the present.
There is a bit of insanity in dancing that does everybody a great deal of good. ~Edwin Denby
These are the Morris Dancers I saw at the Steyning Fair in May when I was in England.
For more traditions, please visit: My World.
Lady Fi 
this would be so cool to see…going to see if i can find a youtube vid…what cool costumes…
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Wonderful photographs! Morris Dancers are pretty difficult to photograph in my experience, but these are great. I love the accordian close-up too.
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Your photos are brilliant. I like those traditions in other countries. I also like to know the origine of each tradition.
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Keeping traditions like that alive is quite a valuable achievement. Hooray for them, and thanks for you great photos that tell the story as well.
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the past with the present.
Beautiful. Thanks for the continual educaton, Lady, Fi.
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You have really cool traditions in your part of the world. Very different from us here.
I love accordion music.
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Jingle – Jangle and ring a ding ding.
Magic shots.
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Great photographs of such a lively time …. keep the green masked guy away from me though!
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Looks like a fun festival!!! Do you know how the tradition has been kept alive and how accurate the tradition is? Especially the costumes? Pretty fascinating when you think about it…how this all traversed the ages!!!
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Funny How these are young men keeping the tradition going. Wonderful and colorful. Thanks for reminding me. I had heard of them when I lived in the UK.
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that sure seems great fun!
in india too we have a dance with sticks being knocked called ‘dandiya’!
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Now that is beautiful I love those coloured rags and the dance looks so interesting
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fascingating. i like their rag costumes.
my world is poste at http://calrat.blogspot.com
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What fun. I’d love to see them perform.
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Love that quote. I think children have it correct. Spontaneous happy dancing when the mood strikes. 🙂
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The facial paint did look scary. But when I saw the accordion I knew all was well. A friendly musical instrument there never was. Love those raggedy costumes.
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Very cool! Isn’t it funny how our attitudes change with age?
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Love the Laura Ashley look 🙂
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Such vibrant colours!
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Nerds..my goodness..you are gently getting older Lady Fi! Such colorful rags..they look a little scary but still fun.:)
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I love to learn of traditions like these! Thanks! Now i want to go to England to see them!
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this sound like a lot of fun. .)
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Wonderful! Lovely colors and photos.
Happy week to you:-)
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Wow. Love the accordion close up, and the elegance of the player’s hands. And the colours – which captured a little bit of joy for me. Thanks.
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Oh, how fun!
I love their costumes but the accordion is my favorite picture!
Beautiful photos!
Thanks for all the beauty you share!
Margie 🙂
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that first shot is eye-catching….so colorful! I’ll have to ask hubby if he’s heard of this.
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Traditional and mysterious dancing!! Intriguing and stimulating imagination. Dancers and people have fun. It is great to past down such an old, precious tradition from generation to generation. Thank you for great story and photos! Have a wonderful day!
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That looks very colorful and attractive – I love the way you captured the movement in that last photo.
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This is my first ‘up close encounter’ with Morris Dance! Another good post with great pictures 🙂
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When I saw the first two photos, I thought this looked like some of Japanese traditional dance to ward off evil spirits. The music instrument is different. I love the accordion, too. Thank you for sharing.
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dancing, whereever you may be, I am the lord of the dance said he.
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I like their costumes 🙂
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Amazing, those Morris dancers!
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Fantastic! Love your photos and the brilliant colors/costumes! What fun! Thanks for sharing it with us!!
Sylvia
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beautiful and colourful series of photos.
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I’ve never seen Morris Dancers before. Beautiful photos!!
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Your photos are impressive and they are really good even seen so big!
But I have never heard about a custom like that, never is too late to learn new 🙂
Nice sunny summer to you!
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very good exposition of Morris Dancing. Yes, our view matures over time – thank goodness! 🙂
Aloha from Waikiki
Comfort Spiral
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I think its important to keep our traditions alive, by encouraging our young people to continue on with them. I enjoyed these photos Fi – Dave
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I’ve been in England for the last three years and I’ve never seen these Morris dancers perform though I’ve seen them once in an old pub! Lovely photos. You’ve done a great job.
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En härlig värld med färg skulle jag vilja säga. Fint att du vill bjuda på denna värld. Min värld är lite rödare…
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Hi there – nice to see these dancers again – happy mid-summer from our happy mid-winter!
Stewart M – Australia
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I have seen morris dancers before, such a spectacle
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There’s another theory that “Morris” dancing is an Anglicization of “Moorish” dancing, and that in England it only dates back as far as the Crusaders returning with vague memories of Arabic dances.
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How neat!
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Good! This form is preserved thus. Colorful and lively. Love those costumes.
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Very colorful and fun getup.
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Thanks for showing the world the crazy Morris dancers, just like the sealed knot lot, they are a bit bonkers!
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That would have been something for me ! I wished I could have seen this life !!
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I’ve read about Morris Dancers, but never seen them (obviously). Thank you so much for sharing this. The accordian is gorgeous–but I’m curious about the green-faced leader. Is he meant to be a reference to the Green Man of legend?
So much history & folklore here. Love it!
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Those costumes are FABULOUS!! The colors are so FUN!
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So very fun!
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Very cool. The accordion shot is fantastic!
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Nice pictures, I’ve loved these dresses made with scraps.
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wonderful action shots LadyFi. I really like what they’re wearing. they sort of resemble some things in my closet 🙂
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Never seen Morris Dancers but I can imagine how they look and sound live!
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I love to see Morris men dancing. I’ve never seen the rags, though.
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So colorful and charming! Wonderful lively captures 🙂
My Yatra Diary…
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Happy Wednesday!
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I HEART THE ACCORDION! GAH!
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Fabulous photos of the Morris dancers!
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This photo shoot is done very well. I feel like I am right there with the dancers :^)
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I love the accordion too
the dancers are wonderful
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That’s a raggedy bunch if I’ve ever seen one.
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Very eye-catching shot of the accordion!
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Great post. Saw the other side of this years ago on a pre-Christmas (i.e. winter solstice) visit to Stonehenge. Lots of witches and druids about, including one young and very pregnant woman who was hoping to deliver her baby that night within the stone circle.
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Odd how traditions and stories that we discounted when young become more important as we get older. Wonderful pictures; great you were there to see this festival.
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