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We Are Florida's First Morris Dance Team !
Greenwood Morris is a team of Morris dancers based in Gainesville, Florida.
Over 300 morris dance teams exist worldwide - 150 of which are in North America - but at present Greenwood Morris is the only team of Morris dancers in Florida.
We started in 1997 at the City of Gainesville's 11th annual Hoggetowne Medieval Faire. Soon afterwards we named ourselves Greenwood Morris because the theme of the Faire was "Robin Hood" and also because our team founders are Robin Hood fans.
Greenwood Morris has continued to evolve since our beginnings in 1997. Below are some team photos taken over the years.
Greenwood Morris performs both Cotswold Morris and Border Morris. Most of our Cotswold dances are from the traditions of Bampton, Adderbury, Brackley, and most recently Bledington and Fieldtown. Occasionally we perform the Abbots Bromley Horn Dance and the Ampleforth Sword Dance. We have three different kits (uniforms); the first one has green crossed baldricks for our regular performances, the second one has green tabards for the Hoggetowne Medieval Faire, and the third is green and gold rag vests for the border dance performances.
We perform about six times per year (see schedule), usually at our city's local art and other festivals. We also put up a public Maypole (see photos) at the Hoggetowne Medieval Faire each February (yes, February), because, as we like to say, February IS springtime here in sunny Florida.
Trivia: our logo of a deer leaping over a millwheel (a "mill-hopper") is symbolically inspired by the name of a large local sinkhole called the "Devil's Millhopper", which we visit each May in order to descend and dance at the bottom. Check our videos to see a clip of us dancing in the sinkhole!