The merry jingling of bells and the resounding clashing of sticks will waft through the summer air as the American Travelling Morrice brings its 33rd annual Morris dancing tour to the area for the first time. The dancers will perform in several area towns during the week of August 17-23.

The dancing is vigorous, colorful and great fun to watch.
“There is nothing quite like the Morris dancers,” said New York City resident James Walker, organizer of this year's tour. “The music of fiddles and melodeons, the sound of the bells on the dancers' legs and the bright colors flashing in the sun create an unusual spectacle which catches people by surprise. Suddenly there appears this incredibly energetic and exciting situation right in the middle of the day! It is worth it to come out and watch.”
The Travelling Morrice consists of Morris men from all over the country, including more than a few dancers of international fame in the field.

The tour begins Sunday, Aug. 17 with performances at Muscoot Farm, in the Village Pawling and at the Akins Library, also in Pawling; Monday in Croton-on-Hudson; Tuesday in the Bedford area; Thursday in New York City; Friday in lower Westchester County and Saturday in the Hudson River towns Peekskill, Ossining, Tarrytown, and Pocantico Hills.
All performances are open to the public and free of charge. However, the dancers are quick to point out the time-honored Morris custom of passing the hat, enabling the spectators to participate in the tradition and, as they put it, “partake in the Morris luck.”

While the origins of the Morris dance tradition are lost in history, the centuries-old custom first noted in 1458 apparently evolved as a ritual designed to shake off the dark and gloom of winter and celebrate the coming of spring, bringing luck and fertility to participants and audiences alike.

Most of the dances are performed by six men at a time, with either sticks or handkerchiefs in hand. The dancers are recognized by their distinctive outfits or “kits,” consisting traditionally of white trousers and shirts set off by multi-colored ribbons, bells and gaily decorated hats.
Accompanying each Morris team is at least one musician who performs lively English folk melodies on accordion, concertina, fiddle, or pipe and tabor (drum), as well as a mascot or “Fool” who frisks about good-naturedly taunting and baiting the dancers.

American Travelling Morrice 2008 Show Schedule

Sunday, Aug. 17
11:15 a.m. Somers – Muscoot Farm
12:45 a.m. Pawling – Village Center
2:45 p.m. Pawling – Akins Library
4:30 p.m. Pawling – Town Crier Café

Monday, Aug. 18
3 p.m. Croton – Old Danish Home
4:15 p.m. Croton – Blue Pig Ice Cream Stand

Tuesday, Aug. 19
10:30 a.m. Bedford Hills - Clock shop at RR station
11:30 a.m. Bedford – Village Green
2 p.m. Somers – Opengate Learning Disabled Community
4:30 p.m. Katonah – Library

Thursday, Aug. 21 – New York City
11 a.m. Grand Central Terminal
12:15 p.m. Battery Park
3:30 p.m. Trinity Church
5 p.m. Cooper Square
8 p.m. Roosevelt Hotel

Friday, Aug. 22
11 a.m. Yorktown Heights – Hilltop Hanover Farm
1:45 p.m. Pleasantville – RR station, Wheeler Street
3:45 p.m. Pleasantville – 100 Sunnyside Ave.
5:15 p.m. Croton – Justin Thyme Bar/restaurant

Saturday, Aug. 23
10 a.m. Tarrytown – Warner Library
11 a.m. Tarrytown – Pierson Park
2 p.m. Pocantico Hills – tone Barns Center
3:15 p.m. Ossining – The Market Place
4:30 p.m. Peekskill – Waterfront Park