Guernsey Morris dancers jingle their way along island's west coast
ITV Channel's Matthew Leach gets to know the Morris dancers spreading joy in Guernsey.
A group of Morris dancers have shared plenty of joy and merriment in Guernsey this weekend after they toured the island's west coast yesterday (28 September). Belles and Broomsticks, a group who have been performing in Guernsey for 40 years, regularly perform across the island and in the UK. On Saturday, they were joined by Leicester-based Black Annis, on their tour which took in Portelet Harbour, Guernsey Pearl, The Driftwood Inn, The Longfrie Inn, Saumarez Park between 10:30am and 5pm.
The dancers performed dances specific to each group while telling stories along the way.
Jan Grayson, one of the Black Annis performers told ITV News what brought her and her group to Guernsey. She said: "So the history of this is that last year Lynn and I were both dancers with Black Annis and came to Guernsey to walk the coast path. And we walked the coast path here and on Herm and on Sark and while we were here we met up with Belles and Broomsticks."
Morris dancing dates back to the 14th century with different regions across the British Isles having their own style, clothing and musical instruments to accompany the dances themselves. John Gillson, an avid member of Belles and Broomsticks, explained why the group where bells as part of their dancing attire. Jon told ITV News: "The bells jingle. And I don't know that we can say much more!"The more bells you can get, the more jingle you can get and they help with the timing [of the dances]." Belles and Broomsticks hold Morris dancing sessions at St Martin's Community Centre on Monday evenings from 7:30pm to 9:30pm in a bid to encourage more islanders to take it up.
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