Folk Dance and Theatrical Performance in the Eighteenth Century

The history of morris dancing in the eighteenth and nineteenth centuries is sometimes seen as following two paths: a theatrical tradition based on the creations of professional dancers; and a folk tradition embedded in local custom and tradition which owed nothing to professional performance. Evidence from contemporary newspapers of the activities of morris dancers from Bath, sword dancers from Cumbria, and other contemporary accounts reveals that the situation was more complex, with folk dancers appearing in professional performance spaces and consciously playing upon their origins.