Gloucestershire Morris men dancing in the Mortimer Gardens, on a fine evening in mid-June, to the tune of an English Country Garden. Help us caption & translate this video! amara.org/v/WNfP/
These traditions are what makes us a unique country, proud to be British.
7 месяцев назад
Keeping English culture alive. Morris dancing has experienced a resurgence in the 10 years since this performance. This troupe has the traditional Morris Men outfits I remember from the 1970s.
I don't know whether it's because us British are naturally self-deprecating that we are so disparaging about Morris Dancing - and so other nationalities follow suit, but if Morris dancers were Spanish or Swiz or from another country, I think they would not be the object of such ridicule. Personally, I love the old British traditions - Morris Dancing, Maypole dancing, Mummers plays, wassailing e.t.c. ........ Long may they live.
Great dancing and music, many thanks for the upload!) I'm very glad to see that traditional dancing lives on where you live. As for all the haters - try to understand that this is traditional dancing, not professional, theatrical or commercial dancing like Riverdance or that Scottish/Spanish/Russian/Georgian flavoured choreography you come to see on stage or at a festival. I assure you as a person who has studied сultural history and learned to dance both under a professional ballet dancer and a cossac oldtimer from a Siberian village - most of professional folk dancing has almost nothing to do with real traditional dancing as done in the village. It only has a flavour added to it, no more than that - most of the moves they perform and the composition of the dance are a creation of professional choreographers, who were a) assuming that the dancer is a PROFESSIONAL b) aiming to make it look fascinating and fancy FOR THE VIEWER. With traditional dancing, be it recreational or ritual, nine times out of ten you would come to DANCE YOURSELF, not to look at other people do it. It is you and your neighbor that are dancing in your free time to have some fun or to perform a ritual - so all the moves are easy to do, something that everyone can pull off. No crazy leg splits in the air, no stage acrobatics - just a combination of steps and jumps, waving your hands and the like. Don't get me wrong, professional dancing has existed for eons, but most dances were recreational, and this one is one of them. In the village most of dancing was not a show, it was just like a modern day disco or prom - boys hitting up on girls, socializing etc. So to truly embrace traditional dancing - just try and dance for yourself! And if you have to be a spectator - don't compare it to Riverdance and don't expect anything fancy or athletic, look out for guys and girls who are smiling and having a good time - they are the most fun to watch) Peace! Best regards from Russia)
+Trømso * I see that you are more than likely an ignoramus who can't be bothered , even to read! Why do you bother dissing ancient traditions in your frankly pathetic way Trømso? BTW I've visited your presumed hometown in the far North of Norway, and I certainly cannot recall having come across anyone with such misguided, homophobic opinions as yourself. I suggest that you change your name to a real one, instead of masquerading as a Norwegian dimwit!
+Trømso * Could you perhaps just tell me why you even bothered watching and commenting on this video in the first place? I only ask because when I see a video on RU-vid I don't like, I give it a thumbs down and leave.
***** And now we're lowering the tone to personal derogatory judgements based on appearances, are we Trømso? You and your "friend" Bert T would appear to have run out of any reasoned and reasonable comment? (Of course, there was never any , as your commentary thus far adequately demonstrates!) You really do give the impression of being a quite intolerable, and an intolerant ignoramus!
That something as seemingly innocent as this could actually make someone hostile is bewildering. Looked this up after I saw it mentioned and QI and now I'm quite glad I learned of it. Thanks for the upload!
+Trømso * I find it charming and interesting yes. However, seeing comments as well informed and polite as yours helps let me know that no matter what happens, the absolute worst people this planet has to offer will still have a voice regardless of how unnecessary they are.
Heard a joke on "Wait Wait Don't Tell Me": Why do Morris dancers wear bells? Answer: So they can annoy blind people as well. To be fair, it's commendable that they keep a tradition alive.
Well done, gents! I love your dedication and enthusiasm. I wonder... if an alien culture were to arrive, they may think this the way we dry our dish towels.
I think the comments that ridicule this dance are due to misunderstanding of the tradition behind it. Its origins are in a very old war dance that was adopted from Daco-Romanians almost two thousand years ago. To see it closer to what it should be search for "Calusul Oltenesc" and its slower form "Calusul Transilvan", both Romanian traditional dances. The "Calusarii" is part of the UNESCO world heritage. Likely it was transferred from Dacia during the Roman occupation.
***** Respect for the Tradition. This is the ancestral historically passport of each community. If somebody is interested to read, enjoy watching and compare ... even the Red Yellow Blue ribbons are similar ... amazing to discover ... terradacicaaeterna.blogspot.be/2012/02/calusarii-or-sacred-dance.html ru-vid.com/video/%D0%B2%D0%B8%D0%B4%D0%B5%D0%BE-sImsZJ7cX0o.html
Even if you don't understand yet the importance of this massive link between the two apparently different cultures it may help a destroyed nation to reborn. VIVAT BRITANNIA
This must have been shot with a very good HD video camera. I have a MacBook Pro with Retina display and this video is a treat for the eye. The red and white costumes really popped against the greenery in the background. It's so crisp I could see the individual leaves, as well as the insects swarming in the air. Wish I could've been there in person, but this was the next best thing. Thanks for posting it.
Indeed, any physical activity, especially during the warmer spring, and summer months, would demand that one maintains a reasonable level of hydration, I might have thought!? Not to mention the necessity of lubrication for the joints.... And the brain too, in order to maximise the coordination, necessary to avoid potentially serious injury, of wielding shafts of wood, whilst dancing! ;-)
+mattibold arc you have dealt with the hater and stuff really well mate, being a young Morris dancer myself (14) I find it utterly brilliant that you have stoop up to the tradition. P.S lassington oak is better 😉
Calusarii or The Sacred Dance The tradition of the Calusari comes from the ancient times of Dacia and even today still keeps it's pagan core. Once upon a time, Calusarii were priests of a solar cult. Lead by a great priest, their dances were much more then an initiation, were an exorcism. The great priest was the one that was asking the god for help while leading the army of the Calusari in their war with the evil spirits that took over the villages. More so, they used to take a vow of silence, the only one being allowed to talk being the leader who at varied times was requesting them to release certain war calls. Xenophon ( Anabasis, VI,I 5-6) describes the ancient Thracian dance of the swords as such: "The Thracians started to dance, weapons in hand, on the sound of panpipes, while jumping in the air waving their daggers. At the end, after one of them overpowered another and all thought that the fallen one was dead: he fell with a great art". The great priest of the solar cult shared his knowledge with only one man who took his place. With the expansion of Christianity, pagan cults slowly dissipated, while the traditions remained rooted in the world of the Romanian villages. In this way, the Calusari remained a dance understood by less and less people. And yet, people still believe that watching the Calusarii dance brings good luck over the entire year. The Calusarii bring with them joy and protection against illness. The tradition says that each group of Calusarii gives life to the ritual dance and takes suffering away. The Calusari are described as groups of odd numbered men, sworn to stay together in celibacy and ritual dancing for a period of nine years. Their secrets are to be never known. They are feared warriors who fight the “iele” (“them,” magical dancing maiden fairies). According to the Romanian historian of religions, Mircea Eliade, the Calusari were known for “their ability to create the impression of flying in the air” which he believed represented both the galloping of a horse and the dancing of the fairies. Indeed, the group’s patron was the “Queen of the Fairies”, who was also known as Irodiada and Arada, and who Eliade connected with the folkloric figure Diana. The origins of the Calusari are unknown, although the first written attestations are from the 17th century. Eliade noted that “Although the oath taken is made in the name of God, the mythic-ritual scenario enacted by the Calusari has nothing in common with Christianity". The Calusarii have to stay together for the sworn period to remain invulnerable and invested with the supernatural powers and if they break away from the group they would fall prey to the iele. But together, they can heal those possessed by evil spirits by performing their dancing and rituals around them. The costumes worn by the Calusari are white, decorated with colorful sticks, hand made hankies, while the hats have beads and colored ribbons. The most important instrument is the flag, a four-five meters long stick on top of which are tied plants as garlic and wormwood, salt and white and red ribbons, sacred colors in the Dacian vision who connect the dance to the ancient rituals of Zamolxe. The dance of the Calusari seems to be one of the oldest and most complex of the folk dances of Romania. The men who wished to enter the group of the Calusari came together outside the village, on the shore of a water, where, in a ritual, sworn to respect the rules of the group, including sexual abstinence. For ten days they live in a sacred time and space. During the entire period they wear a specific costume with bells on the legs, a stick, and sleep under churches to be protected by attacks from the Iele. The ceremony included magical practices and invocations, dances and ritual acts executed by the strictly organized group of men. After the ceremonial dances are finished at the end of the ten days, the men meet in the village, greet each other like after a long absence and life goes back to normal. The dance of the Calusari, in the popular tradition, meets different functions including the magical transfer of the divine fertility through spells during the dance over salt for animals and a bowl with seeds for sowing in the fields. Other benefits were of speeding up the marriage and fertility of the young women who were admitted into the end dance, healing of the sick and the sending away of the Iele (malefic fairies) through the practice of warrior acts and the used of magical plants during the dance. The Calusari dance is considered one of the fastest and most spectacular dances in the world and was included by UNESCO on the list of non material masterpieces of the universal culture.
117 AD Dacian Cohorts deployed in Britannia the most famous one was PRIMÆ ÆLIA DACORVM who actually fight against the Picts by the Hadrian's Wall, Morris Dancers provide solid historical proofs about our Dacian continuity tradition
@@emildinu242 No they don't - your attemps to link Morris dancing to Dacians who would have left Britain at the very latest in about 400 AD is ridiculous.
@@Wotsitorlabart England 🏴 was rulled by Dacian descendants till 1033 AD my friend, they inherited not only genetically and culturally but their warriors spirit as well
The original was probably brought to Britannia by Dacian auxiliaries from the Roman army guarding Hadrian's wall . And the "calusari dancers" ( "cal" means horse ) , equivalent of your morris dancers are not at all depreciated today , on the contrary . ru-vid.com/video/%D0%B2%D0%B8%D0%B4%D0%B5%D0%BE-Tb3WxG3zCkM.html
Dear Molly, I'm unsure what you are hoping to achieve by dismissing this ancient tradition with a singular misspelled, ill-informed, and homophobically- connotated word? Please elucidate!
Whoever filmed this was IMHO a little to obsessed with the musicians as opposed to the dancers. I mean, there's some guy wearing a horse head, and we only get a brief glimpse of him at about 6:30 and again around 7:30. I mean, come on, the fool is half the spectical of morris dancing! Or maybe that's just me... I have to agree about the quality though! Very crisp, nice colors!
The original dance: ru-vid.com/video/%D0%B2%D0%B8%D0%B4%D0%B5%D0%BE-sImsZJ7cX0o.html Was probably brought in the migrational periods or during the roman period from dacians/thracians in the Balkan and into the isles.
" How disgusting that the British will reject their own customs that arose organically over the course of centuries, but will then suck down, like worthless 2$ whores, the manufactured culture that Jewish controlled Hollywood shoves down their diseased throats " Aaron Kasparov (2976) comment one year ago ! ( below ) sorry Mat. it was comments such as above posted one year ago that prompted my post , cynical sarcastic comment I agree , ( eating pork and having a beer and criticism of cheap architecture as opposed to traditional British architecture ) shows a British character .
@@madasamattarch Earliest reference to morris dancing is from the Burgundian court of 1427-28. No references to the Romanian dance earlier than the 17th century. No historical between the two at all.
I was very surprised the first time I watched Morris Men, because they are quite reminiscent of the Portuguese "Pauliteiros". Here's an example or two: ru-vid.com/video/%D0%B2%D0%B8%D0%B4%D0%B5%D0%BE-czo2bkDKOhk.html , ru-vid.com/video/%D0%B2%D0%B8%D0%B4%D0%B5%D0%BE-DoQuYePHF0c.html .
How is anyway is this similar to the haka? From slapping your chest and knees and poking out your tongue to terrify the opposition to dancing with bells and flowers to an English country garden???
you line up and dance to another group , although the British dance is not as aggressive as Haka usually seen by many , there is still some aggression and tribal influence displayed .
to project such sexual innuendo onto such a traditional British event and entertainment is a mere projection of repression and to undermine Britain's individual , historical and unique social gathering is narrow minded and subversive ! Foreigners have such a blinkered outlook , perhaps it's not a badger cull we need on here .
@Forscythe80, do you believe your comment is at alll useful/productive/or even abides by The You Tube Community Guidelines? If not, then may I suggest that you remove it, or let The You Tube moderators decide. Thank you for your consideration.
@@madasamattarch You've never heard of Eddie Izzard have you. :) It's a joke. Lighten up. Even Blackadder makes light of morris dancing. Offended by the f-word? Or a joke about morris dancing? Why? Be offended by people who refuse to wear masks to prevent potential spread of covid-19 despite being in covid-afflicted regions of the world. Be offended by people who literally beat gay folk to death. Be offended those who still participate in human trafficking and slavery. If you are offended by what I said then you need to seriously rethink your priorities in life.
+Wendy Sunlover as good as it is to see people of little intelligence think that they need to share their useless opinions with people who really could not care less about what you have to say. But hey, at least you're several seconds closer to death now that you've taken the time to write your comment.
You are, I assume, from the USA, Ms. Sunlover, since your cultural, your geographical and your homophobic awareness, all leave something to be desired?
It's great that you are granted permission to leave an inane, homophobic, and a geographically incorrect statement, concerning this video, don't you think, "Better Than You'"?
+Trømso * Now all we have to deal with is the homosexual suggestions and local idiot accusations et al . here for starters : 1)www.novareinna.com/festive/yule.html 2) en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Wassail and more norse and germanic connections on the internet , ( we refer to norse meaning scandanavian by the way ) The dress is traditional and will be symbolic , I am no expert on the attire but the fox and a badger is clear but the badger may be a modern image with the aid of bleach , work that out yourself it may aid your powers of observation . I wonder what kind of Norwegian you are , or say you are . "ves heil",
+Trømso * buying a closet at weekend ! show details of walk , 10 miles campsite thats what i want , or wild camp but no bears , fought them before and its no joke , !
Your HAKA will be then a Romanian dance.I didn't know this is a tradional dance in England too but the facts are that the oldest canons about Morris dance are from about 1400 AD. Now in Romania this dance has roots from milleniums. And if you put togheter that in the Roman colonisation over Britain the Roman Empire used Dacorum Legions ( they were people from Dacia which is modern days Romania ) you have an explanation for this dance being in your traditions. I can see that the dancers even use our National Flag's colors. To convince yourself about the similarities of these types of dance search on RU-vid for Calusul or Calusari.
