Sheffield City Morris were formed
in 1975 with the aim of making Morris dancing an entertaining spectacle in an urban environment (…with additional aims of singing, playing music, and going to the pub).
Since its inception the team has danced extensively throughout the British Isles and Europe, performing at major Festivals in Britain and in Eire, France, Germany, Hungary, Portugal, Poland and Spain. In 1993 the team spent three memorable weeks travelling around Ecuador, South America, performing at the first ‘Festival of the Middle of the Earth’.
In more recent years we have performed at the Kilkenny Festival in Eire; at the festivals in Sidmouth, Whitby (we are here again in 2017), Warwick and Shrewsbury; at various weekend get-togethers across England; and around Sheffield and South Yorkshire. The latter includes our annual New Year’s Day performance at midday outside Sheffield Cathedral.
Our dances are Cotswold style, even if not always Cotswold as you will know it! Whilst the team started off doing Bledington dances, our current dances come from either the ‘Medup’ tradition or the Bampton tradition, with a couple of Upton dances thrown in for good measure.
In 1987 a paper was presented to a conference at Sheffield University organised by the Department of Lore & Language, entitled The Origins of Sheffield City Morris Men: Medup, We Did it Our Way. The full text of this paper (click here to view) offers a detailed insight into the formation of Sheffield City Morris and the development of the Medup tradition.
Our History
If you want to know how the team started and who the driving forces were click here.
Today's Activites
Many of the team’s members have been active on the folk scene for many years as singers, musicians and dancers and therefore the team has many facets. To find out more click here.
