AIBU to say NO! DH wants to start Morris dancing troupe.

[DeeDee2323]

DH wants to start a Morris dancing troupe. I must say that I don't think it is something that will go down particularly well in our part of Fulham (the expression lead balloon comes to mind).

AIBU to say NO! Help please!

@ErrolTheDragon

I've long wished that the English rugby team would respond to the All Blacks haka with a Morris dance.

That I'd love to see. A complete challenge to the All blacks

to keep a straight face

As long as they don't do blackface yabu.

It's having a massive retro burst of popularity in the SE. We have them booked for several summer events.

Sorry, just ro clarify I assumed you meant this type of Morris dancing:

Like crap cheerleading. Not sure what I think about the other type you lot are on about.

@Xiaoxiong

Time for lots of Terry pratchett references about jumping about with bells on waving a hanky in the air and dancing "Mrs widgery's lodger"

Ohhh love a Pratchett reference!

To be fair I reckon it's probably rather good fun and of there are high jinks and cider I'd have no issue with it!

Is this in addition to converting his train shed into a nuclear bunker for the twins?

@BigupPemberleyMassive

As long as they don't do blackface yabu.

As someone else has already said, it's not black face per se. It was adopted by Border Morris dancers (England/Wales borders) to disguise themselves as they went from house to house begging for money during the winter. These are the ones that wear ragged coats. I think most Border Morris sides now use other coloured face paint to avoid misunderstandings.

The Cotswold Morris (white clothes, hankies or sticks, baldricks) don't paint their faces. Not that I've ever seen anyway.

@Birdy474

Sorry, just ro clarify I assumed you meant this type of Morris dancing:

Like crap cheerleading. Not sure what I think about the other type you lot are on about.

That isn't Morris dancing.

Why is it likely to be less popular in Fulgam then other parts of the UK? I'm not from London and don't get this?
DH is from Putney and he absolutely would join a Morris dancing group if there is to be beer.

The thing @Birdy474 linked to is absolutely nothing like Morris dancing. It is indeed like naff 'crap cheerleading', to the wrong sort of music. Some sort of American travesty of an old English custom... cultural misappropriation.

I wasted ages looking up suitable contacts for Border Morris and days/times for you last time OP (the sort that aren't online).

Then you were deleted for being a fake.

@NeverDropYourMooncup

I wasted ages looking up suitable contacts for Border Morris and days/times for you last time OP (the sort that aren't online).

Then you were deleted for being a fake.

Hang on, there’s a Morris Dancing troll?

I’ve heard it all now.

Ah! Another DeeDee World Boom Day thread.

Has your DH gone off trains?

Do you seriously worry that much about what your neighbours think? And why would you in a deciding position over what hobby he xhooses

Have you told the people who dance it that it's not called Morris dancing?

YABU & way behind the times, it's very popular now in our trendier city much to my disgust as I ran away from ooo north to avoid it

What's the problem? If there's no interest it just won't take off and if you're wrong it'll be fun for him.

@hagsrus0

Would they do the stick-and-bucket dance?

We do NOT talk about the stick and bucket dance

@Birdy474 What’s “naff” about Morris dancing that isn’t about Salsa etc? They are all traditional dances and - having been to a few fucking awful salsa classes full of handsy men wanting to show off their “moves” to a captive partner, I’d take Morris dancing over that any day.

@Birdy474

Have you told the people who dance it that it's not called Morris dancing?

Turns out it's 'Fluffy Morris'. Well, you learn something every day!

themorrisring.org/about-morris/girls’-carnival-morris-dancing

One of my ancestors was a well known - at the time - Cotswold Morris dancer. Now all the old ancestral cottages are occupied by the likes of Murdochs, Beckhams, Hurleys, Camerons, Brooks, Alex James, Clarkson and their ilk, the least we can expect from them while they're playing rural is that they preserve the old traditions. I'd pay good money to see the Media Morris with sticks and hankies gambolling around Minster Lovell or Chipping Norton.

[quote dancinfeet]@Fernandina you misunderstand me, this is precisely my point- that Morris dancing is a traditional style with deep rooted history- I was trying to establish whether the OP’s DH knew anything whatsoever about Morris Dance, or if he was planning to do a poor imitation copied from YouTube videos or the like. Kind of like when people try to imitate tap dancing (who have never taken a tap class) and do a random scuffle/bang on the floor- if the OP’s DH is honestly starting up a Morris side then it should be represented as a traditional folk dance and not as a mickey take.[/quote]
Sorry - I didn't misunderstand you, I was agreeing with you, and also mentioning that there is more than one style of Morris. Like I said before, exH was one.

I also have a dc who is a professional ballet dancer (they learn a lot of traditional national dance styles as part of their training), so you are right about the history, traditions and technical skills of folk dance.

The Bacup clog dancers blacken their faces.

We're afraid that sound you hear is not the distant chimes of leg bells - it's the troll siren at Mumsnet Towers. However, it does seem that the conversation has skipped along quite merrily without the OP and so we're happy to leave it to stand if you'd all prefer that?

@hagsrus0 😱😱 Surely not after last time?! 🤣