Conference paper
THE EARLY HISTORY OF MORRIS DANCE IN ENGLAND: LESSONS FOR THE STUDY OF EUROPEAN FOLK DANCE
John Forrest
; State Univerity of New York, U.S.A.
Abstract
Writing about the history of morris dance from the fifteenth to the eighteenth century, the
author argues that rural people are capable of creating their own forms of creativity which
are admirable in their own right. He further argues that once they find a particular dance form, such as morris, even if it originally came to them from elite circles, they are capable
of transforming it in interesting ways.
He also thinks that the English case shows that moresca can be seen as both a
universal phenomenon and indicative of local culture and values, provided we accept two
propositions:
(1) The dances have not remained static, but have evolved constantly over time.
(2) The dances have been performed by and for different classes at different times.
At one time (i.e. the late fourteenth to the early sixteenth century) a variety of
dances called moresca (or some analog name) were popular among the royal courts of
Europe. The author is not suggesting that they all originated from a single dance in a single
place, but always consisted of a stock of related dances. Because of the international nature
of these courts, the dances spread the length and breadth of the continent. But in numerous
locations these dances were adopted or parodied by lower classes who took them and
transformed them to suit their own needs and desires. They, thus, evolved a local character
that shared some of the general characteristics of the originals, but were also distinctive.
The common features that we see thus reflect the common origin pool, and the distinctive
qualities represent what local communities have added to the common stock.
Keywords
history; Morris dance; England; moreška; Europe
Hrčak ID:
33255
URI
Publication date:
3.12.2001.
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