The Mudcat Café TM
Thread #70210   Message #3161965
Posted By: Kent Davis
28-May-11 - 10:30 PM
Thread Name: Morris Dancing at Vandalia
Subject: RE: Morris Dancing at Vandalia
How did Morris Dancing get to West Virginia? Guest,Russ said two years ago that Frank and Jane George would know. Good call!

According to Dr. Keith Garbutt http://www.as.wvu.edu/~kgarbutt/MorrisandMummers/ , Morris Dancing has been done in West Virginia continuously since at least 1987, when he began teaching it. He first taught it in Spencer, WV.

However, he said that Frank and Jane George (and others) had been doing it even earlier. Apparently they introduced it around 1976, having learned it in Berea, KY.

This is what I could glean from a brief talk with Dr. Garbutt, who was most polite and helpful. I would have loved to have talked with him more, but he was quite busy. If there are any errors in the above, they are mine, not Dr. Garbutt's.

Dr. Garbutt, for those of you have been to Vandalia, is the gentleman with the English accent who tells the audience about the dances.

Kent