269- Morris Dancers, a photo from Oxfordshire, England

Photographer's Note

Morris dance is an English traditional dance dating back to the late Middle Ages ; It used to be practised during processions and other celebrations, especially for the month of May.
“Morris” is a deformation from “Moorish”, probably meaning “exotic” dance.
The dancers wear colourful clothes, bell pads on their legs, flowers on their hats, and use sticks , swords and handkerchiefs in their performances.

We were on a school trip one May-Day morning. We arrived in Oxford early and were enjoying the view on Christ Church Meadow (pictured), when we saw this group coming towards us.
That’s when I first heard about “Morris Dancers”’. These had been celebrating “WALPURGIS”, dancing all night on top of Merton college tower, just opposite Christ Church Meadow.

“WALPURGIS” is a Nordic tradition celebrated in the night between April 30th and May 1st, for the end of Winter and the arrival of spring.

Sorry about the washed out sky in the main post, but I was facing the sun ! However, I thought it was a better picture of the dancers than the photo in WS : A view of the dancers with the sun in my back, hence the blue sky.
In this link is a beautiful picture of Merton tower, college and field.
In this link , a Google view showing the top of Merton tower; Quite a stage for a dancing night !

snunney, holmertz, Fis2, papagolf21, jhm, jean113, photographer_sg, COSTANTINO, pajaran, rychem, mcmtanyel, ChrisJ, PaulVDV, worldcitizen, cornejo, ikeharel, alvaraalto, adramad, Cricri, clic ha contrassegnato questa nota come utile

Critiques | Translate

jemaflor (147224) 2019-04-29 23:37

Salut Marie-Louise,
De belles tenues et un pas décidé pour ces danseurs, c'est bien cadré et bien géré avec le bon rendu de ce contre jour, on attend une vue des danseurs en pleine danse

snunney (130967) 2019-04-30 0:10

Hello Marie-Louise,
The colours of the costumes more than make up for the milky sky and sit nicely against the green meadow. The light is well managed with good colours and sharpness.

Tue (92470) 2019-04-30 0:29

Hello Marie Louise,
A great shot of these four men in their traditional costumes on their way to the dance. A beautiful green landscape was the perfect background on that bright and sunny day.
Lars

lousat (139332) 2019-04-30 0:45

Salut ML,je me souvien de ces danceurs dans un vieux film amglais des annees 60,des notes interessantes comme d'habitude et 2 magnifiques photo,j'aime l'ambience printannier avec les fleurs sur les arbres dans le WS,bien fait. Belle journee' et merci,Luciano

holmertz (102774) 2019-04-30 0:49

Hello Marie Louise,
They are not yet actually dancing, but their interesting clothes and the nice surroundings make them worth a picture anyway. The colours are very nice and the sky is not so bad. I like how they men are so well placed inside the frame, and how nicely you cropped the photo.
Best regards,
Gert

Fis2 (170861) 2019-04-30 0:52

Witajcie MarieLouise!
Very interesting clothes, the view is impressive.
Good framing, colors and sharpness.
Well done.
Good morning.
Krzysztof

Nicou (193806) 2019-04-30 1:56

Hello

quel défilé de ces homme quei vont danser le Moyen âge superbe et ces costumes la grille en fond un porte une coupe en argent et le premier par la gauche avec son casque fleuri superbe look et vue.
Bravo et amitié
nicou

papagolf21 (152607) 2019-04-30 2:14

Bonjour, chère Marie-Louise,
Garder le folklore, c'est conserver la science des traditions, des usages et de l'art populaires.
Très bon sujet, très apprécié.
Amitiés.
Philippe

gervaso (28177) 2019-04-30 5:01

Hola, Marie-Louise!

Las ropas características para el baile se ven muy interesantes y bonitas, y las captaste con excelente iluminación, lo que les da un brillo especial, dejando la composición mucho más atractiva, a pesar de la fuerte luz! Excelente trabajo!

Silvio1953 (221729) 2019-04-30 5:48

Ciao Maria Luigia, bella sfilata di personaggi in costume, ottima nitidezza, splendidi dettagli e magnifici colori, brava, ciao Silvio

Sergiom (117241) 2019-04-30 5:49

Bonjour Marie Louise,

Ou bien ils ont fini de danser ou ils s'apprêtent à le faire, mais ils sont de très beau vêtements traditionnels et ils profitent aussi d'une bien jolie journée dans un bel environnement naturel.

Amicalement

Serge

jhm (211736) 2019-04-30 7:04

Hello Marie-Louise,

A wonderful nice school trip with the dancers nice on one row.
Pleasant panorama image about the area.
Quality is superb.
Fantastic presentation, excellent photographed.
Very well done, TFS.

Best regards,
John.

jean113 (27893) 2019-04-30 7:52

Bonjour MarieLouise, two very good shots of the Morris dancers.I can understand why you selected this one for the main, as all the accessories, the bells, the decorated hats etc., are clear to see.
A very English scene!
They must have been tired out after dancing all night!
Good informative notes.
Kind regards Jean.

carlo62 (81265) 2019-04-30 9:22

Ciao Marie Louise
gli abiti sono sicuramente originali e hanno certamente un loro utilizzato specifico.
Simpatica condivisione, qualcosa di nuovo oltre alle architetture e ai monumenti.
Buon primo maggio anche a te
Carlo

abmdsudi (95869) 2019-04-30 20:02

Hi MarieLouise
Very colourful image capturing these folk doing what they will do best in keeping up the tradition alive! Well spread out, great detail and excellent clarity. Well done
Best regards

photographer_sg (6059) 2019-04-30 23:39

Hello MarieLoise
This is a very fine composition with excellent cropping that has filled the frame with the four dancers. The sky is quite acceptable in my opinion and I really like the way the four dancers dressed mostly in white have caught the reflected light which makes them quite colourful. I liked your WS picture too but think your choice was right.
Thanks for sharing and also for your kind comments on my photographs.
Cheers!
Satya

Royaldevon (85932) 2019-05-01 8:57

Hello MarieLouise,

Morris dancers are so traditional at fetes but, they are not quite so common as they used to be!

This is an unusual photograph, to capture the dancers walking in a line, as if on a mission, rather than taking part in their dances
You did well to get such a clear shot, because they were walking rapidly and the sun was in a difficult place.

It looks as if they were wearing bells on their legs, so it would be easy to know when they were coming!

My warm regards,
Bev :-)

COSTANTINO (116580) 2019-05-08 12:29

Hello dear Marielouise and have a nice time
and a happy new day
I love the tradition and generally the traditional
dances cloths dresses items e,t,c.
according to your useful notes Morris is a deformation
from Moorish probably meaning exotic dance
the beautiful green landscape makes
a perfect contrast with the white
traditional dresses
welldone
regards
Costantino

pajaran (115989) 2019-05-08 13:25

Dobro vece.
Lep pogled i trenutak, interesantan tekst ...
Dobar rad sa lepom fotografijom u radionici, lepo pokazano, dobar kontrast, lepe boje, dobro uhvacen trenutak.
Lepa narodnja nosnja za tradicionalni dan.
Zelim vam lepu i mirnu noc, sve najbolje.
Paja.

Good evening.
A nice view and a moment, interesting text ...
Good work with nice photo in the workshop, beautifully shown, good contrast, nice colors, well-caught moment.
A beautiful folk costume for a traditional day.
I wish you a nice and peaceful night, all the best.

rychem (72187) 2019-05-09 8:11

An excellent photo of the dancers, a very good illustration of the dance tradition, perfect sharpness and details and a very informative note
regards Ryszard

mcmtanyel (68623) 2019-05-11 21:01

Hello MarieLouise,
Interesting fellas, without your explanation, I would think they were playing some local sport. I agree, the sky in the workshop looks much better. You could attempt to fix the sky in this one, too. I am uploading my attempt to the WS.
Regards,
MT

[workshop] [compare] +

mesutilgim (0) 2019-05-14 0:13

Hello Marie Louise,
Something which I didn't know before.
Both photographycally and informative perfect TE entry.
TFS and best regards
MESUT ILGIM

Miguel82 (47110) 2019-05-14 2:45

Hello Marie-Louise, nice to meet you. I'm French native speaker but i'm writing in English on Te. Thanks for your critiques I always reply. Instructive picture presenting what are Morris dancers. They wear a very special clothing, hats and bell pads on their legs. They are going to perform somewhere and are walking on a path. I like the green bg showing the countryside. Amitiés.

PaulVDV (62978) 2019-05-14 11:36

Salut Marie-Louise,
Un peu étrange de voir des hommes avec un chapeau avec des fleurs :)
Mais ça va avec leurs autres vêtements et certainement aved la beauté des fleurs sauvages que nous trouvons dans les pâturages au fond.
Il est également spécial que les Maures soient mentionnés pour donner un nom aux danses.
Amitiés, Paul

jmdias (115252) 2019-05-14 13:04

marielouise

nice view of these guys walking and dressed with typical clothes for this folkloric event. the image once again has movement and life. TFS.

take care

jorge

worldcitizen (16104) 2019-05-15 11:52

Hello Marie-Louise,
Sometimes we can't avoid the white sky, and in this instance it doesn't take away from the photo in my opinion. The traditional clothes are the interesting part of this view. It's unique to see men wearing bells on their knees, too. :-)

cornejo (61504) 2019-05-17 5:12

Bonjour MarieLouise, bonne image de cette scène de la vie quotidienne avec les danseurs, très bien capturée dans cette image intéressante, avec une bonne netteté, lumière, couleur et qualité. Un excellent travail parfaitement accompli, mes félicitations mon ami. Merci d'avoir partagé.

Bon après-midi et bonne fin de semaine.
Tout le meilleur du sud de l'Espagne.
Angel.

ikeharel (113427) 2019-05-18 4:18

Bonjour MarieLouise,
Nicely collected the four dancers in one row, stride over the trail and with the field in the background.
One guy was watching you... had an inquisitive glance towards you...
Bon weekend,
Ike

alvaraalto (42804) 2019-05-21 9:58

Bonjour Marie Louise,
A beautiful photo of this group of traditional dancers.
Without your explanation, I would have thought that this was a group of cricketers walking to a more special festive competition.
I think the main photo best reflects the atmosphere of a beautiful May day. The pale air fits in well with that.
Excellent presentation
Have a nice day. Groet Rob

adramad (73006) 2019-05-24 10:13

Hola MarieLouise.
Muy bonita composicion con esta fila de danzantes con sus coloridos y alegres trajes tipicos, un precioso fondo con los campos y arboleda.
Una buena foto con hermosos colores naturales.
Que disfrutes del fin de semana.
Saludos muy cordiales.
Luis.

Cricri (176) 2019-05-26 23:54

Bonjour Marie Louise
Super bon cadrage des 4 danseurs dans leurs tenues traditionnelles pour le festival
deux belles versions en WS
Bonne journée
cricri

mkamionka (74535) 2019-07-10 1:33

Bonjour Marie Louise,
I live 7 years in England now but for the first time I hear about this dance...
but what attracted my attention was the processing of the workshop photo.
This is so important because the white sky is quite often happening in Britain and so many photos I had to disqualify from sharing here.
I must say I have to read your explanation few times and see if I can actually follow it but I am so glad you have shared that information.
This could be so very useful!!
Thank you so much,
M

fabianoleite (13575) 2019-07-17 7:07

Nice picture of the four dancers, with their typical costumes, nice grass on the background and this Abbey-Road-style line of the four men. Well captured.

clic (76) 2020-02-10 13:07

Bonjour Marie Louise Vu l'alignement de ces saltimbanques au repos, il m'est permis d'y faire allusion à l'une de nos danses folkloriques québécoises appelée 'danse en ligne'!! Au rythme de la musique et se tenant par les épaules les participants forment une chaîne humaine progressant autour de la pièce!
Jolis costumes et note élaborée. Le contre-jour excelle par les fins détails ombragés. Amitiés