Marshall Miles Interviews John Dexter: The Morris Dancers Return June 9th

The Morris Dancers make their annual stop in the Tri-State Region! Dancers, usually wearing bell pads on their shins and often wielding implements such as sticks, swords, and handkerchiefs. The tradition comes from England, though similar dances can be found in France, Spain, Italy, and Romania.

team was founded by John Dexter in the fall of 1979. John and 3 other Binghamton Morris Men (Steve Rushefsky, Peter Darvin and Michael Gorin) all moved back to NYC at the same time and invited Jim Stevenson, Jack Finn and Terry Pierce to join, and Jessica Murrow to play the pipe and tabor. Shortly after, Eric Mintz (dubbed Eric the Weird) and Dave Sullivan came along with Gordy Curtis joining a litle later (The order may be incorrect here). By the time we traveled to England in 1985, we were a steady 12-14 Men strong. Eventually, Jamie Blachly, son of Alex Blachly (one of our dancers) and Graham Pierce, son of Terry Pierce, joined the side.

We continue to dance the Sherborne as our tradition with a few other dances thrown in from time to time. From 2004-05, we acquired a new group of 5 young men joining the long-time team members. This is a very good thing! We practice on Mondays from 8-10PM, meeting at the pub at 7 PM. If you can already dance the Morris, or if you want to give it a go, you are most welcome. Contact John Dexter, 212-874-4037; dexvla@aol.com