Calls for new recruits to join ancient Peak District Morris dancing tradition with free taster sessions

Morris dancing has been part of cultural life in the village of Winster for more than 150 years and over that time members of the group have developed a unique local spin on the artform which they showcase at celebration events in neighbouring towns and villages, folk festivals and even overseas.

Weekly rehearsals will resume on Tuesday, January 23, 8pm in the Burton Institute, and the troupe is opening the doors through to the spring for anyone who wants to come along and have a go – free of charge.

Dance leader Richard Bryant, 70, a retired planner who has been part of the team since moving to Matlock in the 1970s, said: “We don’t want to just practice among ourselves as a private group.

“We realise how much we all enjoy it and we want to spread that, and embrace people who are willing to try something new. That’s always been part of the Morris culture.”

While readers may be familiar with the clattering sticks, tinkling bells and and gleeful woops of Morris dancing, the Winster style offers different ways to get involved.

Richard said: “Its roots in the village go back to the mid 19th century as far as we can trace it, and the village regards the dances as their own. The variety of colours, costumes music and the form of the dances are unlike other Morris groups.

“We often say the dances are long and thin to fit on the main street, but that means to do a full performance we need more dancers than other places – 16 rather than the usual six or eight – plus the characters of the king, queen, witch and jester, and the musicians.”

The group currently has around 30 members altogether, with an even gender split and not all of them Winster residents, but rehearsals and performances usually involve smaller numbers depending on availability.

So potential newcomers need not make a full-time commitment. Instead, they might see it an opportunity to try a fun form of exercise with lots of social benefits too.

Richard said: “I hadn’t done a lot of dancing before I started this, but I was quickly struck by the way that dancing together forms friendships, and the dancing itself just gets people smiling – those who are doing it, and those who are watching.

“Part of the dance is learning how to perform and communicate. It’s absolutely fascinating to see the effect on your audience, and notice what interests, excites or distracts them. The sights and the sounds of it are very powerful. It can completely transform a street scene.”

Enthusiasm for Morris dancing has ebbed and flowed over generations, with a particular peak around the folk revival of the 1960s and ‘70s which swept up Richard and many others in the Winster team.

He said: “Lots of people might never come across it, and seeing it on a small screen or reading about it isn’t quite the same. When you encounter it live somewhere like a community carnival, the ritual celebration of it just grabs you and captures your imagination. That’s what happened to me way back when I was a student.”

For all the enjoyment they get, they also feel a big responsibility to keep the artform thriving, passed on to new generations and exported as an example of English heritage.

Just like the sea shanty craze that swept TikTok a few years ago, there have been recent signs of renewed interest in Morris dancing and the Winster group hope that trend can extend to the Derbyshire Dales.

Richard said: “It hasn’t been fully rediscovered by younger people but there’s still a lot of innovation going on. It’s not stuck in an ice cube. There’s an Acid Morris group in Birmingham, and we’re not quite like that in Winster but we try to be inventive.

"It brings you into contact with a wide variety of people too. We went to France last year, we’ll be in Germany next year and we have links in Italy. They want to share their dances and see ours performed too.”

He added: “Locally, we visited primary schools in Taddington and Litton in the autumn term and we’d like to go to more of the rural schools.

“It tends to be older adults involved but we would love to have dancers of all ages. So long as they can do the dances we want them to be part of it.”

The weekly rehearsals last around 90 minutes and inexperienced dancers will receive lots of support along the way.Richard said: “We vary the practice each week depending on who is available and their level of experience. There are lots of different ways of learning and finding your way into it, and there will always be someone in the group who had a similar experience.

“It does require a certain level of fitness to keep up the steps for two or three minutes, but anyone with less mobility could try the character roles. The king and the queen are mock ceremonial leaders, while the witch and the jester interact with the audience and the dancers.”

He added: “It’s not like a football team where everyone’s needed every week. It’s very flexible but we do like to bring people to the stage where they feel they can dance out in public, and we’ll supply all the bells, neckerchiefs and everything else.”

“We reckon that within two to three months – perhaps ten or 15 practices – anyone could be ready to put on a costume and join us this summer."

For more information, visit winstermorrisdancers.org or call Richard on 01629 55594 or 07434 950854.

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