We are a dance group based in Bishopston, Bristol, UK. Our dances are lively and energetic, designed to entertain and attract today's audiences, but with their roots in traditional English Morris dancing. We dance regularly in the Bristol area, but also perform at venues around the country and further afield.
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Why Morris dance?
(new kit from 2010)
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Next Taster Session Fri 27-Jan-2012 and Fri 3-Feb-2012•
Where do Pigsty Morris perform?•
Programme•
Would Pigsty dance at an event I'm organising?•
So what is Morris dancing?
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Contact details•
Links to related sites
Morris dancing gives you a great opportunity to enjoy yourself while keeping fit, meeting other people, touring the country and getting involved in community events, festivals, street entertainment, television - you name it, Morris dancers have been there! Lots of people are natural dancers, but modern life may offer relatively few accessible dance opportunities - Morris is one. There are very few pastimes that combine a really good social life with a rewarding and challenging activity - the chance to travel and the option of getting involved in local events in your home area. Besides, if everyone knew about the free beer and the cut-price festival tickets...
2005(old kit)
We welcome new dancers, of both sexes, and with any amount of (including no) experience. The best time of year to join is during the Autumn or Winter, when we prepare for the following Summer. We practice on most Fridays from September to the end of April. Dancing lasts for a couple of hours before we retire to the pub. Give it a go this year!
Next taster sessions:
Fri 27-Jan-2012
and Fri 03-Feb-2012
at 8pm to 9:30pm. Cost £2:50 For more infomation: Contact Janet on 0117 9243953 or janet@pigstymorris.org.uk
Where:
Kelvin Players Hall, 'Pigsty Hill', Bishopston, Bristol BS7 8NY Map
Corner of Gloucester Road and Wesley Road, entrance in Wesley road,
Ring bell marked 'Hall Activities'(oddly enough not the bell marked 'Morris room')
Come along and have a go!!!
Most of the events we perform at are in the Summer months (see our
Programme for 2011 below). There's no such thing as a typical dance event. Every year, we dance at all or most of the following. People choose the ones they like and you can do as many or as few as you want:Local pubs - generally a relaxing Friday evening at a pub near Bristol - we know a lot of landlords and they welcome us every year.
Festivals - these can be big events, where we are centre-stage, or smaller, community events where we just dance around the town. They can be anywhere in Britain - or further afield.
Fetes - usually organised by schools or villages - a chance to get to know local groups and enjoy the events they have organised.
Morris weekends - organised by other Morris groups in their area (or by us around Bristol) - an opportunity to see somewhere new, and meet old friends.
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Most dancing takes place in the summer - our programme shows you our dance schedule for 2011.
We're currently taking bookings for 2012. If you would like to book us for an event, see our booking details
below
2002 (old kit)
Jan 2011 Sun 15 Jan Wassail Horfield Allotment Feb 2011 Sat 26 Feb IVFDF Intervarsity Folk Dance Fesival 12:30 Millennium Square and more Mar 2011 Apr 2011 Fri 29 Apr Bristol Folk Festival Colston Hall, Bristol. 14:30-15:30 and 17:00-18:00 May 2011 Mon 02 May Redland Fair, Bristol 15:15 and 16:00 Sat 14 May Private event w/e 20-22 May Winkleigh Morris Weekend. Devon Jun 2011 Mon 06 June The Boars Head, Aust with Winterbourne Down Fri 10 June The Duke of York, St Werburghs Fri 17 June The White Lion, Frenchay Common Tue 21 June Midsummer dance-out with Rag Morris at Druid Arms, Stanton Drew 20:00 Jul 2011 1-3 July Widders Morris weekend in Chepstow. Mon 11 July The Anchor at Oldbury-on-Severn with Stroud Morris 20:00 Wed 27 July Pub dance-out in Tintern with Isca Morris Aug 2011 Sep 2011 23-25 Sep Rag Morris 30th Anniversary Ale incl. dance tour of Bristol on Sat 24th Sep Fri 30 Sep Taster session at Kelvin players Hall Gloucester Rd BS7 8NY 8pm Oct 2011 Sat 01 Oct Dance at Harvest Supper (private function) Fri 07 Oct Taster session at Kelvin players Hall Gloucester Rd BS7 8NY 8pm Sun 16 Oct 3pm Horfield Organic Comunity Orchard Apple Day 2-4pm One Photo Dec 2011 Jan 2012 Sat 14 Jan 2012 Horfield Organic Comunity Orchard Wassail photos link to community-orchard website Sun 15 Jan 2012 Shirehampton Wassail photos- link to thisisbristol Sat 28 Jan 2012 Dance spot at U o Bath ceilidh invite
Photos/video from 2010(new kit) 16/Jan wassail at Horfield allotment One Photo (rag jacket kit) 10 Apr Barton Hill Settlement Bristol. First photo in new kit 23 Jul - Anchor at Oldbury 10 mins YouTube: Vandals Lolipop and London Pride (Rag) 17 Oct - Apple Day. Horfield Organic Community Orchard 2-4pm photo Photos/video from 2009(old kit) Note: videos below not recommended on dial-up Ring O Bells Pub, Priston, Bath new years day John M party Team outing to see Film 'Morris -a life with bells on' Cardiff Ladies day of dance 3 dawn photos 1 May! YouTube Redland Fare:Pigsty Grenadiers Vandals of Hammerwich Saturday Night YouTube DoD Glory of the West- Exeter Widders-Chepstow YouTube DoD Pigsty (Fieldtown Trunkles) (Lollipop Man) (Bluebells) YouTube DoD Pigsty (Three Jolly Sheepskins) and Widders YouTube DoD Pigsty (Saturday Night) Horfield Allotment Orchard Apple day Filton College Wise Campus 2pm Photos from 2008(old kit) 3 photos Sat 7 Jun Wessex Folk Festival Weymouth 1 photo Sat 28 Jun 'Ragged and Old' day of dance, Near Stroud 66 Photos. Sat 13 Sep Glory of the West' day of dance, Nr Exeter Photos from 2007(old kit) 3 photos from Day of Dance in Bath with Priston Jubilee Morris 3 Photos from Two Rivers folk festival in Chepstow Photos from 2006(old kit) 8 Photos from Cardiff Ladies' Morris Weekend of Dance 1 Photo from Eastville Park garden opening 1 Photo from Clifton Street Party 1 Photo from charity event on Frenchay common 3 Photos The Fox, Old Down, with Rag Morris and Winterbourne 1 Photo of Weekend of dance with Ironmen and 7 Guilders Photos from 1987-2006(old kit) 20 'yearbook' photos 1987-2006Photos from previous website 6 photos
We are always interested in dancing at any event - however big or small, and wherever it is located. Apart from events like fetes and festivals, we have performed at social and charity events, danced in schools and old folks' homes, danced in Trafalgar Square, Bath Abbey and street parties, just to name a selection! Please
e-mail us to see if we are available for your event, or phone 0117 9243953 if you don't have e-mail access. We like as much notice as you can give us - so contact us now to avoid disappointment!
2005 old kit
Morris dancing is a general term for any of many sorts of traditional English ritual dance. The earliest records of Morris dancing are only a few hundred years old, though some would have you believe that it's definitely pagan. There are many theories regarding its origin - generally tenuous in nature. Whatever the origins of Morris are (and we may never know), the most important thing is that it does not become preserved as a 'museum piece', but lives and continues to evolve. Of the many forms of dance, Pigsty Morris dance Cotswold Morris - which is characterised by vigorous movements, accentuated by the waving of handkerchiefs, the clashing of sticks, and the ringing of bells tied to the legs.
Detail from 'Dixton Harvesters' 1720 Anon, Cheltenham Art Gallery and Museum
Much of the Morris dancing you see in Britain today has developed from the material collected about a century ago, which itself had evolved over centuries before that. The collected material made Morris widely accessible, and it spread from the people and areas where it had traditionally been performed. Without this revival, it is quite possible that English Morris would have died out completely. As regards women dancing (as they do with Pigsty Morris and in many other groups), there is evidence that women danced the Morris during the 1800s (as they may have also done before that time), and they were pivotal in its revival in the early 1900s. The widely held stereotype of the Morris dancer as a middle-aged, beer-swilling man has probably only developed since then, as Morris dancing between 1920 and 1970 was very much a male preserve. Hopefully the stereotype is fading; nowadays, men and women of all ages and backgrounds and from all walks of life take part in and enjoy Morris dancing. ps Most famous Morris dancer was Joseph Needham (1900-1995) Author of 24 vols of 'Science and Civilisation in China'.
If you would like:
• information about Morris dancing in general
• to talk about joining us or contacting a group in your area
• to enquire about booking us for any event
please send us an
e-mail, orphone 0117 9243953.
2003
If you know anyone under 16 who would like to try Morris dancing, contact
Ashley's Rise, also in BristolFor some other Morris groups around Bristol, see
Rag Morris (mixed group-Thursdays), Bristol Morris Men (Men-Thursdays) Winterbourn Down (mixed group-Mondays) and nonesuchmorris (mixed group-Wednesdays) (We at Pigsty Morris are mixed and practice Fridays)To find a Morris side in other parts of the UK, just put in your post code here sidefinder
For general Morris information, see the
And for something completely different, try
Kelvin Players - the theatre group whose hallwe've practiced in for all these years...
or even Swedish folk dance Swedish folk dance/music