Cotswold morris
Cotswold morris, also known as South Midlands morris, comes from Oxfordshire, Gloucestershire, Warwickshire and Northamptonshire – the areas which include the Cotswold hills.
The same tunes and dances might be found in several neighbouring villages, but each tradition has its own steps, arm movements, and symmetrical patterns, usually following a set sequence of steps and figures such as, foot-ups, gyps, rounds, and heys.
Cotswold morris is an energetic, buoyant and athletic form of dance. Steps include slows (steps with jumps performed to a few bars of half-speed music), and the leaping capers mentioned by Shakespeare.
Hammersmith Morris Men
5000 Morris Dancers, Southbank, London, 2010
Photo: Urban 75
