Molly Dancers

Well, after some hard weeks I did find some nice English people last night:) They are traditional Morris Dancers and their side (group) is the Gog Magog Molly Dancers. Morris dancers traditionally wear blackface and do formation dances with clogs or step-hop steps. Some use sticks and flags, some percussion bells that they wear in the hands, some swords, and some just the body. It is a very upright dance that reminds me of the happy dance, a lot of stomping and roaring while we move in these precise groupings. We change direction in the air on the half beat! It is very vigorous, and fun, and weird to my sensibilities. While the origins are unclear it is known to be related to trick-or-treating by the peasants, in an old tradition where the social hierarchy gets inverted on certain days of the year. If the upper classes did not pay or feed the peasants for their dancing then they would plow up their gardens! Later it became the working class dance for beer money. The movements are very factory like in some ways. The Cambridge Side, Gog Magog, has decided that the tradition should be living and change with the times, so instead of wearing blackface they paint their faces in bright colors and wear outlandish super bright and wild clothing. They are excited that I am an anthropologist and want me to come and practice and perform and video and the whole bit. We'll see if that's how it develops. In the meantime, I had such a good time with some great English people, and that is really good for my soul... And oh yes, the pub before and after practice:)
To living traditions~