Dance Display - The Octagon Theatre – Yeovil – 10th May 2015
Enigma Morris
Enigma Morris is a brand new Border Morris side from South Petherton in Somerset. They began in September 2014 and are looking forward to dancing out this Summer. New members will be very welcome, dancers and musicians. You can find Enigma Morris on facebook and on their website. Contact lin@enigmamorris.com for more information.
Dr Turberville’s Morris
Dr Turberville`s Morris is from Crewkerne in Somerset and dance mainly Cotswold dances. Their recent claim to fame was appearing in Agatha Raisin and The Quiche of Death on Sky TV. They have been going for 32 Years now and always welcome new members. Practice venue is Ash village Hall and they can be seen at Festivals and pubs throughout the Summer. These events are listed on their website.
Treacle Eater Clog
Treacle Eater Clog was formed in 1983. Their dances have their roots in the industrial north-west of England, where dancers wearing brightly coloured costumes and, often decorated clogs, were (and still are) a feature of carnivals and similar processions.
Many of the dances performed were written by current or former Team members.
Their name comes from the folly in Barwick Park, just south of Yeovil, called Jack the Treacle Eater. Jack is reputed to have been a messenger employed at the house, who ran errands, even as far as London, sustained on black treacle.
Babylon Morris
Morris dancing – an ingredient of the quintessential English summer. Dancers in white, with ribbons and bells, on the village green or outside the pub. Or, maybe, a team of brightly costumed dancers wearing clogs and accompanied by a large and noisy band, leading the carnival procession on a summer’s evening.
However, there is another kind of Morris, that belongs, not to the Summer, but to the dark and cold time of the year, where the dancers are disguised with blackened faces and the dances are simple, powerful and direct.
Babylon are such a team…
Babylon are a Border Morris team, based in Corscombe, a small village south of Yeovil. They perform dances based on those collected in the villages and towns of Herefordshire, Worcestershire and Shropshire. The costume the performers wear is based on traditional ones from the border counties. The black faces were a common, but not universal, sign of a Morris dancer in the three counties, and are thought to be some form of disguise.
Although Babylon Morris dance all through the year, these days they tend to restrict their performances to the winter, as tradition dictates.
You can find more details about them and get in touch via their website.
