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MORRIS DANCERS RACE ROW
‘Blacked up’ Morris dancers flee in terror after they were threatened and accused of being racist for painting their faces in Birmingham city centre
Witnesses claim the group were 'targeted by a minority' of onlookers
A GROUP of Morris Dancers were forced to abandon a city centre performance after they were threatened and accused of being racist for painting their faces black.
Witnesses claim the group, from Alvechurch, were heckled and threatened by a minority of onlookers during performances on Corporation Street and New Street near the Bullring, Birmingham.
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The dancers were one of more than a dozen morris groups who were in the city centre on Saturday to celebrate Plough Monday - the traditional start of the agricultural year.
Witnesses claim the Alvechurch group arrived at 11am and had performed without incident in pubs, to groups of local and visiting football fans and to the majority of shoppers.
A source close to the group said: “The atmosphere had been great with the vast majority of people, but I was absolutely amazed by the vitriolic abuse they started to receive.
“The issues began when they started dancing near to the Bull outside the Bullring and later near to Marks and Spencer. They were roundly abused and threatened with violence.
“One lady was particularly angry and a group of young men started to become very abusive and confrontational, accusing them of being racists, which of course they are not.
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“They started jumping in between the dancers and knocking off their hats. The dancers tried to explain why their faces were painted black, but they would not listen.
“They tried in vain to explain but things took such a turn for the worse that the performances had to be abandoned.”
The Alvechurch group featured in the Birmingham Mail last week after more than 100 villagers watched their annual New Year’s Day performance.
The dance group, dressed in black and with black painted faces, gave a traditional rendition of a mummers play where they slayed a dragon to crowds outside the Crown Inn pub.
The historical dancers, who formed a group in 1989, perform centuries-old dances including the White Ladies Aston, the Dilwyn, The Evesham Stick Dance and the Bromsberrow Heath.
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Morris dancers have performed with black face make-up since the origins of the dancing tradition in the 16th century.
Known as ‘Border Morris’ the tradition sees performers wearing a full-face of black paint in order to disguise themselves.
One theory is that it started when impoverished 16th century farm workers had to conceal their faces to avoid being recognised while begging during winter, as asking for money was illegal.
Shrewsbury Folk Festival bosses announced last year that it will no longer book acts who wear full black face paint.
Equality group Fairness, Respect, Equality Shropshire (Fresh) said the ban showed sensitivity “to a changed social climate”.
But Morris dancers say there were “no racial connotations” and they had “never wanted to upset people”.
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