Morris dancing got a modern makeover after the war (Picture: Getty Images/Kirsten Robertson)
By day, Ant McKay was once the stereotypical image of an English businessman.
In 1991, he’d founded a telecoms business in the commuter town of Hemel Hempstead and the venture kept him extremely busy. Ant was CEO, worked long hours and, as a result, felt very stressed out.
That was until he found an unlikely antidote to his burn-out: swapping his suit and tie for the bright bells and face-paint of Morris dancing.
‘I had an incredibly stressful job and managed a lot of people,’ Ant, 61, tells Metro. ‘But every Tuesday night, come hell or high water, I’d tell myself “it’s Morris dancing night, you’re not staying late at work.” It was, and still is, the best stress reliever. If you’re worrying about anything in life or work, it’s all forgotten when you start dancing.’
One of England’s oldest traditions, dating back to 1448, its name is thought to have been inspired by the French word morisque – meaning a dance. While the pastime has featured in plays, paintings and poems throughout history, it’s also been a feature at Glastonbury, the 2012 Olympics, and more recently, at the 2023 Brit Awards, where Morris dancers shared the stage with indie group Wet Leg.
Today, there are mixed, single-sex and LGBTQ+ groups, based not only in rural England but in towns and cities as well.
Morris dance is believed to have started life as a form of Royal court entertainment (Picture: Getty Images/Linda Steward)
Ant McKay (left) and Mike Stimpson (right) spoke to Metro about their love for all things Morris (Picture: Kirsten Robertson)
Dancers from Datchet Border Morris, who paint their faces half red and half black, celebrate May Day on Windsor Bridge on 1 May 2023 (Picture: Mark Kerrison/In Pictures via Getty Images)
Ant explains that his introduction to Morris dancing began at the Herts County Show in 2002. A side [the technical term for a Morris dancing group] had performed in torrential rain but, despite the mud beneath their feet, Ant could see they were having ‘so much fun’, he was determined to get involved.
Fast forward 20 years and he’s now bandmaster at Wicket Brood – a ‘side’ based in Bricket Wood, Hertfordshire. Members may look intimidating with their purple, black and green outfits and large sticks, but they’re all smiles beneath the unusual costumes. There’s a ten-year-old and a 70-year-old among the group.
Ant adds: ‘The people who founded Wicket Brood wanted a side who didn’t take themselves too seriously. We don’t worry about precision or being perfect, because we know we aren’t. We get all sorts of reactions when we perform, but it generally brings happiness. I think people like to see traditions being kept up even if they’d never do themselves.’
Now retired, Ant spoke to Metro from Church Square in the pretty market town of Tring in Buckinghamshire, where Morris dancing sides from across England had gathered to mark 30 years of the Wicket Brood side. It’s a birthday …read more
Source:: Metro
