A rite of spring with the Morris men

FALLS VILLAGE — Even without the accompanying music you would have heard them. The jingling ring of the bells strapped to their shins traveled up and down Main Street. The Morris dancers returned to Falls Village, leaping, twirling and gallivanting in front of Town Hall for an audience in the early evening on Saturday, June 15. 

Dressed in white to represent the freshness and purity of spring’s seasonal rebirth, each of the five troupes added on a distinguishing accent to differentiate their costumes, better known to the dancers as their “kits.” 

For example the Pokingbrook Morris Men from Albany, N.Y. added red, floral-decorated hats while the Newtowne Morris Men from Boston, Mass., preferred blue caps and maroon and blue rosettes made from ribbon.

These male folk dancers, with some female musicians, carry on an English custom started in the Cotswolds — one performance in the Falls Village street was cited as originating from yesteryear in Chipping Camden, a quaintly rural market-town not far from Gloucestershire, which these days is mostly a tourist destination. 

Much of Morris dance remains mysterious; even those who keep its traditions alive and hopping can’t fully explain the particular etymology of the name. 

Still, the medieval roots can be seen in the jigs, from the woodwind music to the dueling dancers whose choreography will  include the smacking and crossing of wooden sticks against each other like staged swordplay. 

Mostly they jump, pirouetting in the air with long white handkerchiefs attached to their hands that catch the wind as the dancers spin. 

During breaks, a cap is passed around to the crowd. This is where that English mix of whimsy and tradition and country coarseness comes in. As one dancer bellowed, asking for donations, “Money is all you think about when you go to bed, and it’s all you think about when you wake up.”