An American Morris Dancer in England

Like many twenty-somethings, Sam Overbeck has spent his summer travelling. But whereas some may head to South America, Asia, or Europe, Sam has spent summer 2024 touring England’s folk festivals.

Specifically, he’s been watching, practising and performing with as many morris sides as he can.

I’ve met Sam several times this summer. The first time was when he joined us at a Five Rivers Morris dance out in Sheffield in June. Then last week, on his final trip to Sheffield, he came along to a Handsworth Sword Dancers’ practice. Both times he spent approximately ten minutes watching before joining in virtually flawlessly. I’ve also seen him dance with several other Cotswold teams, Earlsdon Morris, and he’s been to three different rapper team practices. Oh, and he won the John Gasson solo jig competition at Sidmouth Folk Festival. If he wasn’t such a nice guy, I’d hate him.

Having never had the opportunity to morris my way around the country in my own carefree-twenties, I thought I’d live vicariously through Sam in the only way I can: by interviewing him for Tradfolk.

Hey Sam! So firstly, where do you come from in the States?

I grew up in a suburb of Boston, Massachusetts, called Arlington. I now live closer to the city, in Somerville.

Presumably you didn’t just randomly decide to come morris dancing in England, so who do you dance with there?

Most consistently, I dance Cotswold Morris with the Pinewoods Morris Men and Ten Hill Morris. Growing up watching my dad dancing with Pinewoods, I joined as soon as they’d allow me, at the age of 10. It was around this time that I also joined the youth teams in Boston, Hopbrook Morris and then Great Meadows Morris and Sword (GMMS). It’s with them I started dancing rapper, and made two trips to DERT (2016 in Manchester and 2018 in Sheffield).

Last year I joined Ten Hill, a team formed in 2017 made up of dancers who have mostly been on GMMS and been around morris growing up. Ten Hill made their England debut at this year’s Sidmouth Folk Festival. I also dance rapper with a side called Kraken Rapper, made up of friends who went through GMMS with me.

Are there a lot of morris dancers in your area? 

As far as the US goes, Boston and a few surrounding areas (Western Massachusetts, southern Vermont, NYC) have quite strong populations of morris dancers, but it’s hard to compare with England’s such high density of morris. However, Boston’s 12 or so teams across cotswold, longsword, rapper, and the youth teams certainly feels like a healthy number 

Do the general public there know what morris is? What do your non-morris friends think of it?

Within my broader Boston folk community, I think non-morris people tend to see it as a sillier and mostly tolerable slice of the broader community, with its quirky traditions. On the other hand, if I try to explain any of this to non-folky people like coworkers, they’re often left very confused, yet amused by the idea of me prancing around wearing bells. Sometimes it can get tiring explaining it to a lot of spectators, but it’s fun to be people’s first instance of seeing morris.

It’s amazing how welcoming all of these teams have been. I can’t imagine they come across wayward American morris dancers all too often. 

Where did the idea for the trip to England originate? Because, if I wasn’t clear at the top of this article, I am incredible jealous of your summer…

It started with Ten Hill’s invitation to Sidmouth, which early on I knew I wanted to prioritise. From there, ideas and recommendations of other folky/morris things just kept growing, and the idea of an entire summer became more and more convincing. Trusting that I could find enough friends to crash with and not spend too much money, I decided I’d make it a three month trip.

Tell us about your itinerary – when did you arrive, where have you been?

I flew over on June 26th, and stayed with friends in London, Sheffield, Manchester, Shrewsbury, and Bristol across the month of July. Some of these stays were partially with the intention of spending time with dance teams that I like, while others were more to just explore some English cities and see friends.

By the end of July the folk festivals had started, which were all so new to me since we don’t have festivals quite like these back home. My festivals included Warwick, Sidmouth, Whitby, Shrewsbury, and Bromyard, filling in the gaps between them with more sofa-surfing. I then went up to Cumbria to stay with Frank Lee and learn as much as I could about making rapper swords, and doing a bit more dancing up there.

You should start a tour company. Who have you danced out with?

Aside from Ten Hill, I’ve performed with Sheffield City, Great Western, Earlsdon, and Hexham Morris. Outside of that, I’ve made it to the practices of eight other teams around the country. It’s amazing how welcoming all of these teams have been, as I can’t imagine they come across wayward American morris dancers all too often. 

I didn’t know just how vast a festival like Sidmouth or Shrewsbury would be.

You’d be surprised. How much did you know about the English morris and folk scene before this year?

Not as much as I thought I did! Having been to DERT, I had a decent picture of the rapper world, although I didn’t know how often practices were actually held inside pubs, which is great.

As for summer festivals, people back home talk about Sidmouth, but to be honest I hadn’t heard of any of the others, and had no idea there are enough to basically fill the summer. I didn’t know just how vast a festival like Sidmouth or Shrewsbury would be, and that even when you’re there you still miss most of what’s going on. I knew people in only a few English morris sides before this summer, likely only if they had come over to dance in the Boston area. Being here has made my familiarity with this folk world (and its familiarity with me) expand so much and so quickly, it’s hard to believe it’s only been a few months. 

What’s been the biggest difference you’ve found between the English and American morris scenes?

Probably the way it’s perceived by the general public, and its connection to local histories and traditions. 

On the odd occasion that I found myself with non-folkies this summer, it was funny to observe the reputation that morris dancing sometimes has in England, whereas back home it’s nearly always met with confusion and curiosity. When dancing out, it’s often assumed that everyone who stops to watch has no idea what morris is, and is seeing it for the first time. A few times a year, there are events where the locals have come expecting to see morris dancing, despite having no regular involvement in it themselves. These moments are lovely, and appear to be much less frequent than in England, where some centuries-old traditions thrive in their local area. 

What’s been your favourite moment of your summer?

It’s so hard to say. It feels like every week brought a series of completely new experiences that I couldn’t have imagined the week before. One day that stands out is the Sunday of Sidmouth, when I managed to win the solo jig competition, while other members of Ten Hill won the doubles. Seven hours later, we danced at the Bulverton late night ceilidh spot, an atmosphere with more energy than anything I’ve ever performed at. 

I waited until the last minute to put my bells on because my legs were shaking so much.

Tell us more about the jig competition.

I still can’t quite believe it really happened, and I don’t remember too much of what immediately followed. Since I’ve been watching the jig comp videos from afar for years, I knew I wanted to dance in it but had no idea how I would stack up. In the months leading up to Sidmouth I actually waited too long to sign up and was on the waiting list before Tracey Rose generously expanded the competition to give me a space, and I couldn’t be more thankful.

As the competition started, seeing how many people were in the dance tent absolutely filled me with terror. I waited until the last minute to put my bells on because my legs were shaking so much! But usually as soon as I start dancing, those sorts of stresses go away, and this was no exception. Accompanied by the amazing Richard Arrowsmith, the dance felt great, and I finished feeling I had done my best. By some miracle, I was soon drinking Prosecco out of a trophy engraved with names I’ve looked up to for years.

My only regret is that I was too nervous throughout the competition to pay close attention to many of the other jigs, but I was amazed at the overall standard of what I managed to see.

Which festival have you enjoyed the most?

I truly could not possibly decide.

Any musical acts you’ve seen that you’ve particularly liked?

So hard to choose, but I’m really glad I got to see as much of Steam Chicken as I did. I’ve also been a big fan of Tarren, so hearing and hanging out with them at a few festivals has been lovely. Another great moment was completely letting loose at the Spiers and Boden concert at Bromyard, which was very freeing after trying to memorise Earlsdon’s dances all day. 

Hardest dance to learn?

Although I never got to dance out with them, Northgate Rapper’s Ghost dance had me hanging on for dear life, with its slip jigs and almost entirely unfamiliar figures. 

Best outfit?

Even though it was probably the biggest hassle to put on, I think the Earlsdon kit was my favourite to wear.

What’s been your favourite beer?

Don’t tell anyone, but I tend to lean more towards cider. That being said, I do enjoy the XXX by Three Tuns.

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A post shared by Three Tuns Brewery | Award-winning Real Ales (@threetunsbrewery)

Cider is allowed. And to sum your trip up?

It’s just been amazing how welcoming everyone has been, whether it’s offering up spare bedrooms, inviting me to a practice, or just making sure I’m not lost at a festival.

A few people thought the choice to hop on a plane for the summer with two backpacks was crazy, perhaps rightly so, but the extent to which old friends and new have made me feel at home all over the country has affirmed that choice, and I’m incredibly grateful.