For the 38th year, Marlboro Morris Ale brings more than 250 morris dancers and musicians to dance throughout Brattleboro and Windham County.
On Saturday, May 25, the dancers will perform for area nursing homes and retirement communities at 2 p.m., then will dance in groups of three or four teams from 3 to 3:40 p.m. throughout downtown Brattleboro.
All 250-plus dancers and musicians will arrive by processional and perform on Elliot Street, which will be cordoned off for the presentation, from 5 to 7 p.m.
On Sunday, May 26, individual bus tours of Morris dancers will show up to dance throughout Windham County, at sites in Marlboro, Wilmington, the I-91 welcome center in Guilford, Westminster Station, Putney, Saxtons River, and Townshend.
Teams will gather at 5 and perform until 7 p.m. at the Newfane Courthouse for the grand finale processional. The audience can picnic on the courthouse lawn, admiring the performance on West Street.
Performances are free and open to the public. Donations are greatly appreciated as the dancers pass the hat.
Morris dancing is a form of English folk dance dating from prior to the 1500s, usually accompanied by music from pipe and tabor, or fiddle, or squeezebox. It's based on rhythmic stepping and jumping with the execution of choreographed figures by a group of dancers, called a “side” or “team.”
Dancers might wield implements such as sticks, swords, handkerchiefs, and bells, and will be dressed in costumes, or “kits,” unique to their team.