"Morris dancing meant different things to different social groups, and its meaning and usage has altered over time.” (Chandler, Keith. “Ribbons, Bells and Squeaking Fiddles”. Wiltshire, England: Dotesios Ltd., 1993). This statement is true for all art forms but especially for art forms that the instrument is the performer’s own body. For example, Morris dance, like many art forms, experienced its share of problems with morality. In 17th century, Puritans were denouncing art and festive dancing as a form of expression. This is combined with activities that were going on with Civil War in England; one would expect the end of Morris dance. Yet it managed to survive.(Allen, S. A Haphazard History of the Morris [Online]. Available:http://www.ucolick.org/~sla/morris/history.html [October 24, 2001].)
It does not take much effort or imagination to understand the exhilaration that these performers must have felt, and feel, during performance. Morris dancing is an art form that has been on the move for hundreds of years. It has touched many lives, encompassing different social levels. It would then be an educated assumption that there has been some form of exchange between the art and the artist. The art can alter the individual, and the change could be both physical and mental. This is the very reason why Morris dance and any folkloric art are referred to as living art. In the past, the majority of participants in folk art, such as Morris dancing, were manual workers at the bottom end of the social hierarchy. They had no other outlet of expression. For a man or woman whose lives tittered on knife’s edge, making fool of oneself for a few minutes would not be seen as degrading but rather as a relief.
Morris dancing was street theater entertainment. It was noisy and animated. “[It] consist[ed] of a set of six people and a musician or two. They dressed in bright colored costumes with bells attached, and danced with waving sticks or handkerchiefs.” (Saunders, D. Knighton Morris. In University of Leicester [Online]. Available: http://www.le.ac.uk/cwls/su/so/kmsoc/kmsocmd.html [November 20, 2000].) Each dance was named after the tune that complemented it. There was a variety of Morris dance styles; each named after where the dance was from. For example, Bledington Morris dance meant the dance style originated from Bledington. In the northwest, dancers wear clogs. That meant that they required a hard surface to dance on. In East Anglia, men dressed as women and danced in boots furnished with stubby flat-headed nails. All these dance forms had one thing in common; they acted as a bond between different social groups within a given community, and provided the performer with an opportunity to gain states, however temporary it may have been. Mostly men danced Morris but women also participated and had their own teams. Morris dancers expected to receive money, food, or alcohol in exchange for their performance. For that reason, choreography was fiercely guarded. The job was seasonal (not much different from today) and they performed when not farming or doing other jobs.
The first known reference to Morris dance in England occurred in 1466 AD as Maruske (Donch, H.L. “Household Accounts at Lnherne.” Journal of the Royal Institution of Cornwall 1 (1953): 27-29.) and from then on Morris dancing possesses a traceable history of performance. The history can be verified through church records of when the Morris teams were hired to perform in their festivities. In addition, urban trade guilds and gentry estates maintained documents showing payment to dance performances. It can also be found mentioned in plays such as Shakespeare’s All’s Well That Ends Well (ll.ii.21). In this instance, he makes it very clear that Morris dance was a commoner dance and that it was performed regularly. He also mentions it in Henry V (ll.iv.18) and says that Morris dance was performed on Whitsun (or Whitsunday, celebrated in the Christian calendar).(Whitcombe, C. Morris Dancing. In Earth Mysteries [Online]. Available: http://witcombe.sbc.edu/earthmysteries/EMmorris.html [October 24, 2001].)
There are multitudes of theories for the origins of this dance form. Some claim that it was a type of fertility ritual practiced by pagans. They, in general, were using sympathetic magic. For example, when they jumped high they might have been asking for well-developed crops. When they performed the dance in its entirety they might have been asking for a bountiful harvest. An additional effect might have been warding off evil by their action of twirling handkerchiefs and ringing bells attached to their clothing.(Walters, C. (1994). What Is Morris Dancing? [Online]. Available: http://www.npac.syr.edu/homepages/njm/morris/morrisinfo.html [October 24, 2001].) A good example of this comes from Mary Neal, a collector in her own right, who had written about the origins of Morris dance in her book, The Esperance Morris Book. “These dances are survivals of some ancient pagan festival connected with the worship of the sun.” In January 22, 1886, D’Arcy Ferris, in a published article reported in Provincial Press, claimed that the origin of this dance could be found in ancient pyrrhic Dance of the Greeks “…which was copied by the Romans and appears to exist in all parts of the world in some form or other even reaching as far as Ceylon.” Other not proven theories suggest that Morris dance had originally been named Morrisco and that it was imported from Spain by the Spaniards to England. (A Universal Etymological Dictionary. London: print for M. Bell, 1721.) In 1740, Francis Peck gave a more accurate time by writing that John of Gount first brought Morris dance into England after returning from Spain in Edward III time. But there has to be more similarity in two dance forms other than their names to make one the origin of the other. In 1859, folklorist J.O. Halliwell wrote, “Presumption is chiefly founded upon the names, Morris and Morisco, and no other proof.” (Chandler, K. (1993). Ribbons, Bells and Squeaking Fiddles. Wiltshire, England: Dotesios.)
But why does a dance form manage to survive when others are lost in space and time? Did Morris dance have a special meaning for people of England, that no matter what, they could not part with it? Did they change it to fit the times, or did it survive because of its ability to adapt to new circumstances? Better yet, could it be that Morris dance roots can be found in so many cultures that no matter who the observer or the dancer is he or she can find enough connection with it to say, “I know what this is. We have something similar in our village too.” Dr. Chris Witcombe from Sweet Briar College wrote, “Attempts to discover the origins of the dances performed have revealed a general connection with other ritual folkdances elsewhere in the world such as santiagos, moriscas, and matachinas of the Mediterranean and Latin America, and the calusari of Romania. The ultimate source of this type of dancing, however, remains hidden.” (Whitcombe, C. Morris Dancing. In Earth Mysteries [Online]. Available: http://witcombe.sbc.edu/earthmysteries/EMmorris.html. [October 24, 2001].) When I saw it perform for the first time I did find that connection. The connection lies in the manner that these types of folk dance are performed. They can be seen from any side and have the same effect. In other words, when the audience gathers to watch the dance they become a part of it. They become participants of the dance, not just observers. They are projected into the circle of dance and at the same time inward. The celebration, at this point, is complete.
I wonder if Carl Jung’s (1875-1961) theory would apply here since there are so many dance forms with much similarity in common, spread across the world, with little opportunity to share or transport. “Dances of comparable form and dancers in similar costumes are found elsewhere in Europe and around the world, and may be thought to be part of the universal urge to influence and honor the unknowable forces which govern our lives.” (Walters, C. (1994). What Is Morris Dancing? [Online]. Available: http://www.npac.syr.edu/homepages/njm/morris/morrisinfo.html [October 24, 2001].) Collective unconscious as he called it, “Jung believed that all humans had experiences with birth, death, power, God, mother and father figures and so on. He believed such universals create archetypes or original ideas or patterns.” (Coon, D. Psychology Exploration and Application. n.p., n.d.) In other words, we can not find the source for Morris dance because it was created separate from similar ritualistic folk dance. It is similar because our collective unconscious chooses the patterns and steps to be followed and not because it was copied or transported. I believe the application of this theory on dance to be original.
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