We are a dance group based in Bishopston in Bristol in the 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?
2005
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Taster Session 18 Sep 2009•
Where do Pigsty Morris perform?•
Programme•
Would Pigsty dance at an event I'm organising?•
So what is Morris dancing?•
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
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 practise 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!
For more infomation: Contact Liz on 0117 9427926 or liz@pigstymorris.org.ukFriday 18 Sep 2009 at 8pm. Cost £5 (£3 concession)
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 2009 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 2009.
We're currently taking bookings for 2009. If you would like to book us for an event, see our booking details
below
2002
Jan 2009 Thur 1st Jan Ring O Bells Pub, Priston, Bath (BA2 9EE) Priston Jubilee Morrismen + 1 photo Thanks Liz Sat 17th Jan Wassail Horfield Allotment Orchard- N Bristol Feb 2009 Sat 21 Feb Private Ceilidh -Bristol 4 photos Thanks James Mar 2009 Fri 20th March. Team outing to see Film 'Morris -a life with bells on' in Melksham film clip Apr 2009 Sun 5 Apr Private booking: display and taster session, Stoke Bishop, Bristol 8pm- Sat 18 April - Cardiff Ladies day of dance 5 photos Thanks Terry Sun 19th April - private booking: Staple Hill - Display and taster session, 8pm Thur 23 April George and Dragon at Felton, evening May 2009 Fri 1st May - dance at dawn Brandon Hill Bristol, 04:30!! and dance at local schools 3 dawn photos! Thanks Sue Mon 4th May - Avon New Cut bicentenary Celebration Bristol 12:40 Mon 4th May - Redland Fair 3pm + 3:45pm YouTube Grenadiers Vandals of Hammerwich Saturday Night Thanks Ian Sat 16th May - Pigsty Morris Day of Dance . Bristol Centre + Docks: 10:30-11:30am Cascade steps/Colston Hall YouTube Glory of the West- Exeter Widders-Chepstow thanks Ian 12:00-1:00pm Nova Scotia Pub YouTube Pigsty (Fieldtown Trunkles) (Lollipop Man) (Bluebells) Thanks Ian 2:00-2:30pm Pump House Pub YouTube Pigsty (Three Jolly Sheepskins) and Widders thanks Ian 3:30-4:30pm Millennium Square YouTube Pigsty (Saturday Night) Thanks Ian Fri 22nd May- The Cornubia Pub Temple Street Central Bristol 8pm Jun 2009 Mon 1st June- The Coddrington Arms, Yate 8pm with 'Winterbourne Down Border Morris' Fri 5th June- The Ostrich, Bristol Docks 8pm Sat 6th June - Weymouth - Wessex folk festival Sun 21st June- The Druids Arms, Stanton Drew, lunchtime with 'Rag Morris'. Jul 2009 weekend 3-5 July - Chepstow morris dance festival (camping?) Fri 10th July- The Anchor Inn, Oldbury on Severn, 8pm Fri 17th July - The Farm Pub, St Werburghs Bristol. Sat 18th Jul- Fete. Red Maids School Aug 2009 Sep 2009 Sat 5th Sept - Burnham on Sea folk festival Fri 18th Sep - Taster Session at Kelvin Players Hall Bishopston Bristol 8pm £5 (£3 conc.) Sat 19th Sep - 'Glory of the West' Day of Dance, Topsham Devon. Oct 2009
Photos from 2008 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 3 photos from Day of Dance in Bath with Priston Jubilee Morris 3 Photos from Two Rivers folk festival in Chepstow Photos from 2006 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 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 formal dinners, danced in schools and old folks' homes, been photographed for an advertising brochure, appeared in plays, danced on the steps of St Paul's Cathedral and (as best we could in the circumstances) in the North Sea off Norfolk, just to name a selection! Please
e-mail us to see if we are available for your event, or phone 0117 9427926 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
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 from all walks of life take part in and enjoy Morris dancing. ps Most famous Morris dancer Joeseph Needham (1900-1995) Author 24 vols of Science and Civilisation in China. Also Maoist nudist...
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 942 7926.
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, Bristol Morris Men and Winterbourn DownFor general Morris information, see the
Morris Federation, the Morris Ring and Open MorrisAnd for something completely different, try
Kelvin Players - the theatre group whose hallwe've practised in for all these years...
or even Swedish folk dance Swedish folk dance/music