Resources:
Morris Contemporary

Morris Contemporary Dance

This resource aims to introduce a creative, contemporary approach to using morris within the secondary dance curriculum. It is for teachers and students teaching and learning dance at key stages 3, 4 and 5 (11 plus years of age).

It was produced and developed by the English Folk Dance and Song Society, in partnership with Pavilion Dance / Dance South West, and is based on Spring Force, our exciting youth dance project,fusing morris with contemporary dance, which took place 2010.

This resource comprises freely downloadable: written notes, film clips and audio files – these are available from the tabs at the top each panel of this resource. Read on for further information.

Written notes (available from the document tab at the top of this panel)

Morris Contemporary Dance resource by Benjamin Dunks and Laurel Swift: a comprehensive set of written notes providing two 6--week units of work, with detailed explanation of the components that make up morris dances, background information on morris and suggestions on how the material could be used as a creative project within a contemporary dance context.

Film clips

As part of our Morris Contemporary Dance resource we have produced a range of short films. These are designed to be used alongside the written notes and audio files to give you a clear idea of how the steps and figures are performed, as well as ideas for creative activities. They have been specially filmed to show the various elements of morris that were used in the creation of Spring Force including morris stepping, arm movements, sticking and figures etc. They are shot from different angles to make them as easy to follow and user-friendly as possible.

The films are divided into seven sections.  Each section is available by clicking on the image ribbon below this window.  The sections are:

1. Warm Ups 

2. Morris Steps

3. Figures

4. Sticking

5. Creative Tasks

6. Extended Morris Material

7. Interviews with Creative Team and Dancers

The page for each section has all the relevant films attached to it, and the films can be played online or downloaded as either an .mp4 or .ogv audio file. You will probably need to right click the appropriate download links and then select "Save as...".

Audio files

To accompany our written notes, we have created a series of freely downloadable audio files.  They provide various versions of morris tunes specially arranged and recorded, by folk musician Robert Harbron, for using to accompany the dance exercises and short completed dances.

There are a set of audio files for each specific dance, and are available by clicking on the relevant image on the ribbon below this window.  The tunes are:

1. Bobbing Joe

2. Swaggering Bonny

3. Black Joak

4. Idbury Hill

5. Bonnets of Blue

6. Glorishears

There is a page for each tune, and the audio files attached can be played online or downloaded as either an .mp3 or .ogg audio file. You will probably need to right click the appropriate download links and then select "Save as...".