Dance Teams

Formed in 1971 and from near Coventry, Earlsdon Morris Men perform traditional North West clog dances. The North West Morris style originated during the industrial revolution, particularly in the cotton mill towns of Lancashire in the north west of England. The ordinary working men of the time danced in their everyday clothes - knee britches and heavy iron shod clogs. To add colour to their drab costumes, bright sashes were worn and flowers were woven into garlands and placed around the traditional bowler hat

Earlsdon Morris Men

Originally formed in the autumn of 1953 by a number of Leeds University Morris Men and others who wished to form a non-university side, White Rose men met initially in the Burley Road scout headquarters and were helped by Ron Smedley, the EFDSS Yorkshire Area Organiser. Co-operation continued with the Leeds University Men resulting in the joint hosting of the 53rd Morris Ring Meeting in Leeds in 1956 although it was to be 1959 before White Rose were admitted as a member side into the Morris Ring. In 1971, the club moved its base to Huddersfield and organised the 215th Ring Meeting in the town in 1986.

White Rose Morris Men

It was 2007, two North West dancers from Yorkshire couldn't get to the North West as often as they would like and decided to form a North West team nearer home, namely Dodworth, near Barnsley. The team takes its name from the coal seam that runs beneath the area where they practise.

Hexham Morris are two separate but very closely associated teams of Morris Dancers based in the historic town of Hexham in Northumberland. The Morrismen dance in the Cotswold tradition, while The Hexhamshire Lasses are a women's team who dance North-West style morris.

Hexham Morris

Ripon City Morris Dancers were formed in 1982. Their style of dancing is from the North West of England. This style is traditionally from Lancashire and the adjoining areas of Cheshire, Yorkshire and the Lake District. North-West Morris is essentially an urban, processional dance and aspects of its origins are still visible in the clogs and cotton slings. The kit is more flamboyant with much brighter colours and more adornments such as flowers, beads and sashes. They chose a kit based on the patriotic colours of red white and blue with added gold braid to match Ripon City civic colours. They also chose to use fresh flowers in their hats, one of only a handful of teams to do so. The hats therefore have to be made up each time they perform and reflect the seasons of the year.

Ripon City Morris

 The Kingsmen are an English traditional dance team founded in 1949 by Prof Bill Cassie of King's College Durham (hence the name), since 1963 a university in its own right, the University of Newcastle upon Tyne (hence the other bit of the name).The English traditions involved here are not that effete southern hanky-waving known as "Morris dancing" but honest hard-working traditions from the northern industrial heartland, represented in the Kingsmen performances by the Rapper sword dance (from the coal-mining communities of Northumberland and Durham), the Grenoside Longsword dance (Yorkshire) and the Royton northwest dance (Lancashire).Originally a student team, we maintain strong links with the University, although the team has a good mixture of students, non-students and some ageing life members (some are even over 30!).

Newcastle Kingsmen

Inclognito Clog Dancers perform traditional and innovative step dances, mainly English, but with a few American and French Canadian gems.

Gaorsach Rapper and Step had their inaugural practice in November 2002. Their formation is almost legendary.... No, no really it is. For those of you who have been living on another planet (as that is clearly the only reason that you wouldn't have heard the story. Either that or you aren't buying us enough beer) it goes something like this..... Picture the scene - a cold, dark, bleak winter afternoon in deepest Aberdeen in 2002. There's snow on the ground, the wind is howling, and a relocated Pengwynrapper and Blackadderrapper seek shelter in an abandoned building..... (it was a shopping centre actually, but why spoil a good story?). Their eyes met over a display of fluffy bobbles, they got chatting, and having agreed that there was nothing else to do on the long dark Aberdeen nights, Gaorsach Rapper and Step were born..... 2010 will be their second visit to the warmer climes of West Yorkshire in May!

Gaorsach Rapper and Step

The Witchmen dance Morris from the Darkside where pagan ritual dance meets street entertainment. Traditional border morris dances originated in the Welsh border counties, they have mutated that style to create dances which are exciting, entertaining and relevant to 21^st century audiences. They preserve the morris tradition and entertain audiences.

The Witchmen

The ladies morris dance team, Betty Lupton's Ladle Laikers, was formed in 1977 - the year of the Queen's silver jubilee. The kit of the dancers reflects the national colours; red tights, white smocks and blue dresses with black shoes and bell pads. The team took its name from a local character from Harrogate, North Yorkshire, who was responsible for ladling out the medicinal spa waters to the visitors to the town during the 19th century. She was based at the pump room, now a museum, where you can still sample the waters and see a model of Betty Lupton.

Betty Lupton's Ladle Laikers

Sciorr are a six piece Irish dancing group from Sheffield. Separately they have been doing Irish dancing since they were five or six, but they have been dancing together as a group since 2003. They have appeared at many festivals around the UK including Sidmouth, Warwick and Cheltenham, as well as performing at international festivals in Poland and Hungary.

Sciorr