Two fun things happened yesterday. While picking Andrew up from pre-school we happened upon a strange event at the girls school.
There, in the play yard, were a group of dancers (all men) with crazy outfits and flowers around their knees, dancing. There were several accordion players performing music for the dancers, and it all resembled some sort of Austrian folk dance (costumes too.)
One man was dressed up like a woman having fun doing some crazy things, and the children loved it. What was this, Andrew and I thought?
Well, we had stumbled upon something called "Molly Dancing," which is a traditional English event that happens very specifically in East Anglia, the region Cambridge is in. Most Brits probably don't know what it is, but in our little area, this tradition is still practiced.
On "Plough Day" every year, (January 7th) which is traditionally the first day back for farmers after Christmas, these dancers (traditionally) would head from house to house dancing for money. If they weren't paid, they would plough a furrow in your front lawn. This has become now a fun tradition to break up the winter doldrums. (Although I didn't see a plough anywhere!) Anyway, it was a fun diversion for this mom, too.
The other funny thing that happened yesterday is that I was on television! Yes, that's right, I am famous. At least, that's what the children at school think! You see, I was stopped at the market in downtown Cambridge and asked if I knew who the character "Arthur" was. (The children's show.) I simply pointed to the character amidst many others on the reporters hat, and voila! I was put on T.V. I haven't let the glamour and glitz go to my head, however, I am still the same old Mom who made soup again for dinner!
Tuesday, January 8, 2008
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4 comments:
I am so glad the fame has gone to your head! It so fun to hear what you all are doing over there!
We would like to see the Molly Dancers!!! We are reading your blog for our family time tonight! We miss you all... Jackson and Logan say HI to everyone! Karynn
Just thought I'd let you know that it's called Morris dancing.
Wikipedia says:
' A morris dance is a form of English folk dance usually accompanied by music. It is based on rhythmic stepping and the execution of choreographed figures by a group of dancers. Implements such as sticks, swords, and handkerchiefs may also be wielded by the dancers. In a small number of dances for one or two men, steps are performed near and across a pair of clay tobacco pipes laid across each other on the floor.
There are claimed to be English records mentioning the morris dance dating back to 1448, but these are open to dispute. There is no mention of "morris" dancing earlier than the late 15th century, although early records such as Bishops' "Visitation Articles" mention sword dancing, guising and other dancing activities as well as mumming plays. Furthermore, the earliest records invariably mention "Morys" in a court setting, and both men and women are mentioned as dancing, and a little later in the Lord Mayors' Processions in London. It is only later that it begins to be mentioned as something performed in the parishes. There is certainly no evidence whatsoever that it is in any way a pre-Christian ritual, as is often claimed.
While there is still some dispute the origin of the term "morris", the most widely accepted theory is that the term was "moorish dance," "morisques" (in France), "moriskentanz" (in Germany), "moreška" (in Croatia), and "moresco" or "morisca" (in Italy and Spain), which eventually became "morris dance". Dances with similar names and some similar features are mentioned in Renaissance documents in France, Italy, Germany, Croatia, and Spain, throughout, in fact Catholic Europe. This is hardly surprising; by 1492 Ferdinand of Aragon and Isabella of Castille succeeded in driving the Moors out of Spain and unifying the country. In celebration of this a pageant known as a "Moresca" was devised and performed. This can still be seen performed in places such as Ainsa, Aragon. Incorporated into this pageant was the local dance - the Paloteao. This too can still be seen performed in the villages of Aragon. The similarity to what became known as the English "morris" is undoubted. Early court records state that the "Moresque" was performed at court in her honour, including the dance - the "moresque" or "morisce" or "morys" dance.
In the modern day, it is commonly thought of as a uniquely English activity, although there are around 150 morris sides (or teams) in the United States. British expatriates form a larger part of the morris tradition in Australia, Canada, New Zealand, and Hong Kong, and there are isolated groups in other countries, for example that in Utrecht, Netherlands, and Alsace, France. (Ferrette Morris Men)'
'Molly dancing is a form of English Morris dance, traditionally done by out of work ploughboys in midwinter in the 19th century.
Molly dancing was mostly associated with Plough Monday, the first Monday after Epiphany. Tradition has it that it was a way of filling the gap between Christmas and the start of the Spring ploughing season. The ploughboys would tour around the village landowners, offering to dance for money. Those who refused would be penalised in various ways, including having a furrow ploughed across the offender's lawn.
The dancers, wishing to gain employment from those same landowners shortly afterwards, would attempt to conceal their identities by blacking their faces with soot and dressing up in a modified version of their Sunday Best, typically black garments adorned with coloured scarves and other fripperies. It was originally an all-male tradition but with one of the members - the Molly - dressed up as a woman.
Molly dancing died out finally in the 1930s, the last dancers seen dancing in Little Downham near Ely, in 1933. On this occasion the dances performed included a tango, performed by two male dancers, one dressed as a woman.
Molly dancing was recreated by the Cambridge Morris Men in the 1950s, and the Morris dance revival of the 1970s led to the creation of many new sides, which nowadays usually involve both men and women.
In recent years, Molly Dancing has enjoyed a popular revival both in East Anglia and further afield; one of the most well-known teams being the Ouse Washes Molly Dancers. The largest regular assemblage of Molly Dancers is at the Whittlesea Straw Bear Festival, established 1980, which is held in Whittlesey, Cambridgeshire, every January.'
Modern Molly Dancing demonstrates the clearest distinction between "re-enactment of tradition" and "modern interpretation of tradition" of modern morris dancing. Elaine Bradtke wrote a PhD thesis on the inherent post modernism of the Seven Champions - one of the first and best examples of Modern Molly dance. Many other teams have developed Molly inspired by the unhistorical but very effective military formations of Seven Champions (eg Ouse Washes, Gog Magog, Handsome Molly in New Jersey) whilst others have taken it in new directions - equally unhistorical but at their best equally effective in very different ways - eg Norwich Shitwitches (now renamed Kit Witches), Pig Dyke Molly.
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