Editor: Doug Bradshaw

Published: Summer 2007

Number: 50

Download: Newsletter Summer 2007 (1Mb)

Editorial

The letter in this issue from Martyn Harvey set me thinking. “Is the look more important than the performance?” One of the most impressive performances of the Morris when I started out was by Mr. Jorrocks. I seem to recall only one or maybe two events where I caught them in performance. But the vision of Cotswold dances performed by what was by then a minimalist side was stunning. The dance was high energy and hypnotic to watch; the kit if I recall was all white with no baldricks or rosettes to be seen.

Move forward now to the present day. The Border/Molly axis of the dance world has in many cases moved to ever more elaborate use of costume and make up to dramatise the performance. Is this a plus or a minus? On the plus side I suppose the elaborate face painting defuses the Guardian readers horror of white folk blacking up. But on the minus side I personally find the elaboration of costume and makeup deflect attention from the dance. But maybe that’s the point!

All I can say for sure is that my own opinion of a dance is based on the energy and accuracy of the footwork and the way the dancers interact with each other and with their audience. All too often today I find that the high expectation created by costume and make up often falls rapidly when the actual dance begins.