CDSS is excited announce that after nearly 20 years out of print, Roy Dommett's Morris Notes, edited by Dr. Anthony Barrand, are now available in the CDSS Online Library!
These notes represent a lifetime of work documenting, researching, and teaching morris dance in its many forms, and have been seminal in the founding and instruction of morris teams across the country and creation of resources like Lionel Bacon's Handbook of Morris Dance.
The five volumes cover Cotswold (or Wychwood) Morris, North-West Morris, Garland Dances, Sword Dances, and "Other Morris" (including Border, Molly, and Clog)
As Dr. Barrand says in the introduction, "It is not easy to work one's way through the mass of historical musical, and choreographic details which are packed into Roy's notes. The dancer or teacher who tries earnestly to become familiar with the contents of these volumes will be rewarded with a taste of the way Roy has been able to strike a productive bargain between the Morris as a living phenomenon with a valuable place in contemporary life and it's historical and traditional existence."
And Roy Dommett (an actual rocket scientist) himself reminds us that "Morris Dancing is not Rocket Science. It requires no skills to watch, a minimum of skills to participate such that almost anyone could dance in it, but an almost encyclopedic knowledge to fully appreciate it in its varying historical context, because it is an event, interacting with its audience."
The notes have been cared for by Anthony Barrand, who obtained permission from Roy's son Michael to republish the notes online. He was helped by Tom Toleno, who scanned all five volumes, and Dr. Paul Eric Smith, who organized them into the web format currently available.
