Morris Dance Side Leaders

All morris dancers know their roles in a side, or team or morris dancers, when they are going to be dancing. However, there are some people who are responsible for handling an individual side. These are the morris dance side leaders. There are five different types of leaders, and all of them have their own important roles to use.

The first of the roles is that of the squire. The squire is the leader of the entire side and runs the work that all of the morris dancers perform. The dancers will always report to the squire. The squire also leads and calls movements for the dances that everyone will be performing. All public statements for the side will be made by the squire as well.

In most cases the squire will have a person that will help with instructions. That person is the foreman. The foreman works to teach the morris dancers the dances that will be performed. This includes training for the dancers. The standards that are going to be used for the morris dancers will be set by the foreman as well. In other words, although the foreman is the second in command that person will be responsible for educating the people who will be performing the actual dance.

The bagman is the third role to see here. The bagman works to keep the funds that the morris dancing side has. The funds are referred to as the bag. Usually the bagman will be responsible for booking dance appearances. Treasurer duties are also going to be performed by the bagman in most cases.

The fourth of the roles is the ragman. This person works to take care of the costumes, or kits, that the people in the side will be wearing during performances. In many cases the person will work to construct the costumes and get the equipment that is needed for making the costumes.

The last of the roles on the side is the fool. There can be multiple fools on the side, but in most cases only one fool is used. The role of the fool is that the person will communicate with the audience that the side will be performing for. This can be done both verbally and nonverbally. In some cases the fool will be dancing separately from the rest of the side but it is best for the fool to do this only if the person is capable on not interfering with the actual dance that the side will be performing.

Those are the five morris dance side leaders that are common in a typical morris dancing side. The morris dancers will all work together to follow the orders that these leaders will have for everyone. It not only helps to create a sense of order among the entire side but it also helps to make the side feel like it is more together as a team.