Cecil Sharp and the Morris Revival

SHARP-2.GIF (24775 bytes) Boxing Day 1899 has particular significance for Morris Dancers, as on this day the Morris first came to the notice of Cecil Sharp. A scholarly, professional musician, he was spending Christmas near Oxford when he saw the Headington Quarry Morris Dancers. This was one of the last traditional sides still active, and they made a deep impression on Sharp. He determined to learn all he could about the Morris, and eventually devoted much of his life to studying and collecting traditional music and dance, travelling widely to watch the few remaining sides, both in the Costwolds and the North east, and contacting former dancers of teams long disbanded.

Although others later added to his work, we owe Cecil Sharp an enormous debt, not only for starting the process of collection, but also for skilfully noting down the various subtleties of style which distinguished the various traditions. Most of what Greensleeves and other clubs perform today is directly based on his dedicated work.

Sharp did not confine himself to collecting, however. By training teams of dancers and putting on displays he led a revival of interest in Morris dancing, and from the classes which Sharp and his English Folk Dance Society began, grew the clubs such as Greensleeves which , together with a few surviving village sides, continue to uphold the traditions and spirit of the Morris. 

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