last update 10-Apr-2018
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We are a dance group based in Bishopston, Bristol, 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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| * New dancers | |||||||||
| * Where do Pigsty Morris perform? | |||||||||
| * Programme | |||||||||
| * Would Pigsty dance at an event I'm organising? | |||||||||
| * So what is Morris dancing? | |||||||||
| Upton stick dance 2015 | |||||||||
| * Contact details | |||||||||
| * Links to related sites | |||||||||
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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... | |||||||||
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If you enjoy ceilidhs, barndances or other forms of dance, then Morris dancing could be for you. We practice almost all Fridays from September to the end of April starting ~7:30 pm. Dancing lasts for a couple of hours before we retire to the pub (Sportsman Annex 5mins walk away). We welcome new dancers, of both sexes, and with any amount of (including no) experience. Best wear loose clothing and trainers. For more information:Contact Liz on 0117 9427926 or admin@pigstymorris.org.uk (or lizempson5@gmail.com)Location: Kelvin Players Hall 
Kelvin Players Hall, 'Pigsty Hill', Bishopston, Bristol BS7 8NY MapCorner of Gloucester Road and Wesley Road, entrance in Wesley road, numerous buses to 'Hatherley Road' stop from south or 'Nevil Road' stop from north. Bikes can be left inside. Ring bell marked 'Hall Activities' (oddly enough not the bell marked 'Morris room') | ||||||||
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Most of the events we perform at are in the Summer months (see our Programme for 2018 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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Click here if you'd like to return to top of page, otherwise carry on reading... | |||||||||
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Most dancing takes place in the summer - our programme shows you our dance schedule for 2018. We're currently taking bookings for 2018. If you would like to book us for an event, see our booking details below | |||||||||
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Jan 2018 Sat 13 Jan 2018 Horfield allotments wassail Feb 2018
Mar 2018
Apr 2018
Wed 08 Apr 2018 private function TH 7:30pm
Mon 23 Apr 2018 Old Green Tree pub in Bath 7:30pm
May 2018
Sat 12 May 2018 Horfield Community Garden afternoon
Jun 2018
Weekend 22-24 June 2018 Teignmouth folk festival
Jul 2018
Aug 2018
Sep 2018
Oct 2018
Nov 2018
Dec 2018
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| Bookings | |||||||||
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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 social and charity events, danced in schools and old folks' homes, danced in Trafalgar Square, Bath Abbey and street parties, just to name a selection! Please contact us at admin@pigstymorris.org.uk (or lizempson5@gmail.com) to see if we are available for your event, or phone Liz on 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! |
Stanton Drew 2013 | ||||||||
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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 backgrounds and from all walks of life take part in and enjoy Morris dancing. ps Most famous Morris dancer was Joseph Needham (1900-1995) Author of 24 vols of 'Science and Civilisation in China'. | |||||||||
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If you would like: * information about Morris dancing in general contact admin@pigstymorris.org.uk, (or lizempson5@gmail.com) |
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For children and adults to try Morris dancing, contact Great Caper Morris , also in Bristol For some other Morris groups around Bristol, see Rag Morris (mixed group-Thursdays), Bristol Morris Men (Men-Thursdays) Winterbourn Down (mixed group-Mondays) and nonesuchmorris (mixed group-Wednesdays) (We at Pigsty Morris are mixed and practice Fridays) To find a Morris side in other parts of the UK (Denmark and Netherlands), just put in your post code here sidefinder For general Morris information, see the Morris Federation, the Morris Ring and Open Morris And for something completely different, try Kelvin Players - the theatre group whose hall or even Swedish folk dance Swedish folk dance/music | |||||||||
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Image Archive Photos/video 2016/2017(baldrick kit) Sat 21 Jan 2017 Bedminster wassail. Photo Sat 16 Jan 2016 Horfield Organic Comunity Orchard Wassail photos link to community-orchard website | |||||||||
(Boars Head Aust 2014)
Jun 2013 Stone circle Stanton Drew
2014 Keep Sunday special
by Steve and Helen Jones 2015
2013