Rapper sword knot
About Dark horse morris
We formed in 1995, mostly from dancers in other local sides who wanted to
dance 'Border style' Morris. The town of Maldon lies at the head of
navigation on the River Blackwater, and has a strong association with
the sea. One of the centres of interest in the town is the Hythe Quay,
with its picturesque Thames Barges. Dark Horse Morris have adopted the
characteristic colours of the Thames Barges for their kit - Burgandy,
Brown and Cream (the commonest sail colours) and Black (the normal hull colour).
We have a touch of white in our coats as Maldon is also famous for its
own sea salt, made by the Maldon Crystal Salt company. Our dances are
our own creation, with Maldon's sea and sailing ship connection reflected
in the figures and names of the dances. Hence we have dances such as
'The Capstan' , Wear Ship', 'The Captain's Ruler', 'Reefknot',
'Tacking up River, 'Boxing the Compass'.
...and Rapper
We trace our origin back to a Rapper workshop given by the Suffolk dancer, Pip Sadler, in 1996. Having learnt one dance, we went the route of many Morris sides who 'do a bit of rapper', dancing occasionally with our parent Morris sides. During that time we met up with Thrales Rapper, who encouraged us to take part in a DERT (Dance England Rapper Tournament) meeting. We danced at DERT 2000, succumbed to the Rapper virus, and have not recovered. We competed for the first time at DERT 2001, coming second in our class (out of an entry of two sides!). We are now working hard on improving our dance technique, mastering new knots and making our dances more exciting to watch (and to do!).
Activities
We perform both Border morris and RapperDuring the winter months we practise
Participate
Border morris is ideally suited to extroverts who like a high-energy fling. The basic steps and patterns are easy to learn.
The Dark Horse welcomes men and women of all ages.
Contact us to find out more