The Ancient Men
Morris Dancing tour of Kenya
19 to 26 April 2009
Itinerary of performances
Ancient Men itinerary continued:
Thursday 23 April
1300
Lake Naivasha Country Club,
Naivasha
1815
Kentmere Club, Tigoni: Morris
performance and music session
Sunday 19 April
Friday 24 April
1300
Karen Blixen Coffee Gardens
1300
1600
Nyumbani Children’s Centre
Rolf Schmidt restaurant,
Kitengela
1700
Rusty Nail, Karen
1530
Kitengela Glass
2000
Double Inn, Karen: Morris
performance and music session
Saturday 25 April
Monday 20 and Tues 21 April
Karen Blixen tented camp,
Maasai Mara (safari)
Wednesday 22 April
1900
Lord Erroll, Runda:
joint performance with Hootenanny
not to be missed!
Reservations: Call Juliana 7121308
1300
Hillcrest School food fete,
Langata Road
1900
St George’s Ball,
Muthaiga Club
Sunday 26 April
1300
[open]
The Ancient
Men Morris
Dancers
Tour of Kenya
For more information contact:
John Dawson 0725 335365
Email: johndawson.jd@gmail.com
19 to 26 April 2009
The Ancient Men Morris Dancers
The Ancient Men are a group of travelling Morris
dancers who gather together during the summer to
tour in a chosen area. Our traditional dances come
from the villages of the Cotswold Hills in southern
England, and have an antiquity stretching back
hundreds of years.
Morris Dancing
No one can be sure of how, when and where Morris
dancing originated. It was known in England as far
back as the 15th century and in those times would
have been familiar in villages throughout the country,
danced on special occasions by selected members of
the community. Each village had its own dances and
style of performing them.
By the 19th century Morris dancing had nearly died
out but in 1899 folklore collector Cecil Sharp, inspired
by a chance meeting with a team of Morris dancers in
the village of Headington in Oxfordshire, started to
note down the dances and the tunes that accompany
them. This formed the basis for a revival of interest in
the tradition and probably saved Morris dancing from
extinction. There are now many teams in England and
other parts of the world who regularly perform these
dances.
The Ancient Men can trace their history back to the
early years of the 20th century, making them one of
the oldest revival teams in England. Since their first
tour, in Fairford, Gloucestershire, in 1952, the
Ancient Men have made over 100 tours, not just in
England but in many other parts of the world,
including the United States, Estonia, the Czech
Republic, Japan, Italy, Russia and – in 2008 –
Uganda.
Although the members our group have become
globally scattered over the years – some of the
dancers you see have flown in from the United States
and Tanzania as well as from the United Kingdom –
we still enjoy getting together each year and renewing
old friendships.
Our performance is guaranteed to bring good luck,
fine weather and fertility. Do come and see us if you
can.
Morris Dancing in Africa
Perhaps surprisingly, there is some history of
Morris dancing in Africa. During the last
century, English missionaries and teachers who
knew the dance would often teach it to willing
groups of students. In fact a previous member of
the Ancient Men group, Canon Geoffrey
Twistleton-Wykeham-Fiennes, taught the Morris
to a group of boys in the 1950s in Mapanza, in
present-day Zambia.
He wrote at the time: “I find them apt pupils
who have picked up sword-dancing very readily
and become quite good at Morris. We have
given a number of demonstrations in the Copper
Belt.”
Nor are the Ancient Men strangers to the region.
In 2008 we were invited to Kampala, Uganda, to
perform at the St George’s Society Ball, and took
the opportunity to travel and perform in the
surrounding area. The highlight must have been
an impromptu performance at the equator. That
whetted our appetite, and this year we’re back to
East Africa for more.