Talk – ‘Merrie England Once More’? The Morris Revival c.1886-1951 – Matt Simons
An Overview of the Morris Revival from Pageant to Public House and back again.
Born out of a widespread fervour for ‘Merrie England’, the morris dance revival was part of a campaign to locate and restore an English tradition of music and dance.
This talk will provide a brief overview of the revival movement from the ‘Shakespearean Bidford Morris’ of the 1880s through to the Festival of Britain in 1951. Along the way, we will encounter antiquarians and composers, social workers and radical vicars, artisan weavers and rural revivalists.
(For the purposes of this talk, morris is limited to the form now commonly known as ‘Cotswold’)
Your host
Dr Matt Simons is a dancer and researcher based in south Lincolnshire. He is a part-time lecturer in Modern British History at De Montfort University, and full-time dancer with numerous sides including Peterborough Morris and Bourne Borderers.
This talk is based on Matt’s doctoral thesis, completed in 2019, entitled ‘Morris Men: Dancing Englishness, c.1905-1951’.
To register
Please complete this online form: Register for the Talk – ‘Merrie England Once More’? The Morris Revival, c.1886-1951; you will receive a confirmation email immediately (check your spam/junk/promotions folder!). We will send you a Zoom link a couple of days before the event. Open to all – you don’t have to be a member of a team in The Morris Federation.
Optional Donations
If you enjoy this event, then it would be wonderful if you could send a donation, small or large, either to Matt’s tip jar or to his nominated charity.
– Help Matt’s ongoing research projects by ‘buying him a coffee’ at https://ko-fi.com/mattsimons
– Donate to Samaritans to help them reach those who are struggling to cope during this difficult time: https://www.samaritans.org/donate-now/
