Proof of Morris Dancing in Ari's World

What is Morris Dancing? Well, thankfully, many others have answered that, but to me, Morris is the following:

- A form of traditional English country dance
- Powerful, athletic, and challenging
- Probably at least as old as the English Renaissance, documentably
- Done whilst waving handkerchiefs, clashing sticks, or occasionally carrying nothing at all
- Not a quiet dance (bells on legs ringing, live musicians, clashing sticks, and shouting being all rather noisy things)
- Not a social dance -- Morris is a ritual form of dance, done for the spectacle of it all, the dance of the exhibitionist.

That's me, on the right, in the white shirt, orange sash, and black pants of Faultline Morris of Hayward (founded by my dear friends Bill Batty and Emily Gladstone). I am one of the founding members of this still growing team. The woman with the fiddle is Ruth, who is connected with both Seabright Morris as well as Red Tail Morris, and is one amazing musician.

Next, me aloft, coming down out of a power move called "splitters", because it is a vertical leap during which you attempt as much height and maximum splits-angle at the same time. Faultline Morris primarily dances the dances of the Sherbourne morris tradition,which are those morris dances that descended from the dances done by the morris team in Sherbourne, England (southeast of Birmingham, England). This tradition includes both dances that we know were danced long ago, as well as newer dances written in the same tradition which utilize the steps and moves that come from other Sherbourne dances. After all, someone has to come up with an idea for a new dance and get people dancing it sometime...