May Day is a popular day for Morris dancing, as a start to the morris ‘season’ of performing, rather than practising. Some teams get up and ‘dance up the sun’ at dawn (about 05:31). Then go off to a pub for a hearty breakfast.
But this year it is different. With social distancing, morris teams are turning to Zoom, or other conferencing software, so they can meet up virtually and enjoy the first morris event of the year.
Here are 2 sets of Hammersmith Morris dancing ‘Bampton Sidestep’ on May Day, very distanced from each other, and dancing nowhere near their local pub. They also had to make their own breakfasts.
And further north, Pecsaetan Morris from Sheffield dancing ‘Haste to the Wedding’ at dawn on May Day.
Nationally – and internationally – there has also been a series of Lone Morris Festivals started by Kath Brickell of Anonymous Morris from Poole, Dorset. See the results of the May Day Lone Morris Festival by searching for the hash tag #MayDayLMF. See posts tagged #MayDayLMF on ‘How many Morris Dancers are on Facebook?’. See previous ones at: #LoneMorrisFestival on Sat 21st March 2020 and #LoneMorrisFestival on Sat 25th March 2020.
More info on Hammersmith Morris Men and Pecsaetan Morris
