Open Morris is one of the three umbrella groups for

morris dance Morris dancing is a form of English folk dance. It is based on rhythmic stepping and the execution of choreographed figures by a group of dancers, usually wearing bell pads on their shins. Implements such as sticks, swords and handkerchiefs may ...

sides in the

United Kingdom The United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland, commonly known as the United Kingdom (UK) or Britain, is a country in Europe, off the north-western coast of the continental mainland. It comprises England, Scotland, Wales and North ...

. It was formed primarily by members of Fenstanton Morris (an early mixed sex dance side operating near Huntingdon) and other dancers located in

East Anglia East Anglia is an area in the East of England, often defined as including the counties of Norfolk, Suffolk and Cambridgeshire. The name derives from the Anglo-Saxon kingdom of the East Angles, a people whose name originated in Anglia, in ...

in the 1979 as a response to the male-only policy of the

Morris Ring The Morris Ring is one of three umbrella groups for Morris dance sides. It was founded in 1934 by 6 sides: Greensleeves, Cambridge, East Surrey, Letchworth, Oxford and Thaxted. Members may meet several times a year, each Ring Meeting being hoste ...

and the female-only policy of the Women's

Morris Federation The Morris Federation is one of the three existing umbrella organisations for morris dancing sides in the United Kingdom. It was officially founded as the Women's Morris Federation in 1975 as a direct response to the long-existing Morris Ring w ...

- although, by 1980, the Morris Federation had already dropped their female-only policy in favour of one that allowed joint sides, where morris sides had male and female members who would dance in all male or all female sets, but still barred mixed sets where men and women would dance together. Open Morris was a response to this as the small number of mixed sides in the 1980s wished to form their own umbrella organisation. Today Open Morris has a large number of member sides and interacts happily with the other umbrella groups as a member of the

Joint Morris Organisation Morris dancing is a form of English folk dance. It is based on rhythmic stepping and the execution of choreographed figures by a group of dancers, usually wearing bell pads on their shins. Implements such as sticks, swords and handkerchiefs may ...

. Members of this grouping have always made a point of promoting morris dance as a living tradition. They are traditionally non-traditional.

References

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External links

Open Morris website

Open Morris page for Fenstanton Morris
Dance in England Clubs and societies in England Morris dance