Reproduced from the Norwich Evening News by kind permission of Archant Norfolk

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Morris dancing in Norwich still alive and kicking
SAM EMANUEL
30 January 2009 12:00


Kemp’s Men performing at Shipdham.
Photo: Paul Hewitt.(Used with permission)

It is an ancient art which is dying out across the country, but people in Norwich
are bucking the trend and keeping the tradition of morris dancing very much
alive.

Although the Morris Ring - one of the guardians of morris in Britain, which
represents more than 200 troupes across the country - has warned that dancers
across the UK are getting older and numbers are dwindling, groups in the city
are flourishing.

The Golden Star Morris group, which is a mixed side based in Mile Cross, said it
has some lively and energetic young members as well as original members who
are still going strong.

And Kemp's Men, which was formed in 1956 and is based in Hall Road, Norwich,
is also thriving and has members aged from 11 to 95, including university
students, teachers and businessmen.

Peter Mayne, the squire of Kemp's Men, said: “We have an 11-year-old and a
14-year-old who are at school in Norwich, a couple of students from UEA, and
other people going through the age range, so we are very much alive and
kicking.

“There is probably more traditional dance going on in Norwich than there has
been for a while. I think people enjoy it because it's good exercise and we make
people feel really welcome. We have 20-odd members and we are hale and
hearty. It is fantastic fun.”

William Bremner, 11, the Kemp's men's youngest morris dancer, said:
“Everyone there is really nice and welcoming, and it's always fun. You get to go
to lots of different places to dance. Some of my friends laugh at me but I don't
mind because there is another boy from my school who goes and at least I'm
having a good time.”


Members of the Kemp’s Men in Norwich, who range in age from nine to 95.
Photo: Sonya Duncan. (Used with permission)

But other troupes around the country are not faring so well, and the Morris Ring
has mounted a winter recruitment drive to try to address the problem
nationally.

Charlie Corcoran, bagman (chairman) of the Morris Ring, said: “There is a
distinct possibility that in 20 years' time there will be nobody left. It worries me
a great deal. Young people are just too embarrassed to take part.”

As the Evening News reported in December, Norris “Win” Winstone, 95, was
awarded an MBE in the Queen's New Year's Honours list for his services to folk
music and to dance in Norfolk.

Mr Winstone, of Lakenham Road, Norwich, who helped set up the Kemp's Men
in 1956, said he was pleased the traditional form of dance was still thriving in
Norwich.

He said: “I don't think there is any danger of it dying out as there are so many
people doing it. We set up Kemp's Men 53 years ago and things have changed
significantly in that time, as there are so many other things to do now, but we
have had four young people join in the last two years so I can't really see what
all the fuss is about. To say it's only done by elderly men who can only jump an
inch off the ground is ridiculous.”

Mr Winstone, a retired teacher, has been passionate about morris dancing since
he was a schoolboy in London. Although he no longer dances, he is still a leading
morris musician and has composed dances using traditional steps and
movements.

THE HISTORY OF MORRIS DANCING

Before the English Civil War, the peasantry took part in morris dances,
especially at Whitsun. In 1600, the Shakespearean actor William Kempe morris
danced from London to Norwich, which is where the Norwich group Kemp's Men
got its name.

Morris dancing was popular until the industrial revolution, but many villages
have revived their own traditions. In the 1960s and 1970s, there was an
explosion of new dance teams, some of them women's or mixed sides. At the
time, there was heated debate over the legitimacy of women dancing the
morris, even though there is evidence as far back as the 16th century of female
morris dancers. There are now male, female and mixed sides.

Copyright © 2009 Archant Regional Used with permission

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