A group of morris dancers in Hampshire have swapped their traditional black face paint for blue, following concerns over racism. Last June, cross-county group the Joint Morris Organisations put out a statement to ask dancing groups to stop the use of full-face black makeup in response to the Black Lives Matter movement in the wake of the death of George Floyd.
John Ellis, 70, who dances with the Hook Eagle Morris Men has been with the group since its inception as a church group in , and describes the move as "by far and away the biggest if not really the only change we've experienced".
He added that other troupes around the UK has changed their face paint to different colours, with some opting for green, while a group in Kent now uses black and yellow stripes. Modern Morris dancing, while retaining some of the early trademarks such as bells, hankies and sticks, has changed hugely in the few hundred years it has existed.
By the late 19th century most Morris in the South of England had died out completely with only a handful of dancers continuing it.
Since the 20th century Morris has undergone several revivals and now represents a broad church of both style and opinion. Amongst this are Cotswold perhaps the most famous who wear white and often coloured sashes , Lancashire Clog, Long Sword, Rapper from the mining communities of the North East , East Anglian Molly and Border, from the Welsh border region.
Of these only Molly and Border have groups that regularly blacken their faces. From my experience Morris is not a re-enactment of an ancient ritual but both looks to the past, and embraces new ideas and provides an outlet for artistic expression. Given the innocent intentions of many of those who do black their face, it would be easy to perceive any attack on the practice as political correctness and an attack on tradition. But I think it is important that we stop and think about the repercussions of wearing black face paint.
We do not at present live within a world that is free from racist oppression. Be it racially motivated violence or the institutionalised discrimination that still exists against black people in virtually all aspects of British society, race is like it or not still on the agenda. When looking at a picture such as this the first connection most people outside the folk community will make is that of race. Forgotten your password?
Want an ad-free experience? View offers. The call to stop the use of black makeup on the face was issued by cross-county group the Joint Morris Organisations in June in response to the Black Lives matter movement. In a statement, it said its traditions do not operate in a vacuum. Mr Ellis said other Morris troupes had adapted their face paints to different colours too, with some going green and a group in Kent opting for yellow and black stripes.
He said the tradition of covering faces with soot derived from poor farm workers in the s who would use it to disguise themselves so they could beg - which was illegal at the time. That historical tradition "died out", he said, but was revived in the s by Border Morris dancers - a dance type which originated in villages along the border of England and Wales. He said there were only three people in the audience on Saturday morning, including a photographer and cafe owner, but felt this was "pretty good" given the performance took place shortly after BST.
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