Morris Dancing with TDMM

Each year we have a programme of both winter and summer dancing that takes us to many places in Somerset, and even further afield. We practice our dancing on Tuesday evenings during the colder autumn and winter months and then emerge when it warms up after Easter. 

We dance in Border tradition during Christmas, on New Years Day and at Wassails in January. 

Summer dancing

Our season of Cotswold style dancing starts in Vivary Park on Easter Monday when we tour a few local spots with Sweet Coppin.

We'll be performing three traditional styles of dance in 2026 from the villages of Ducklington, Adderbury and Ilmington. We also perform dances from our own Taunton Deane Tradition.

Our summer season includes regular Tuesday outings, a 'Dance-up The Sun' at 4:45am on Mid Summer's morning and any other paid events we take on. We usually have a break in August just after Sidmouth Folk Festival.

Get Involved

We have new members every year trying out Morris Dancing. You can quickly grasp the basics and you'll find it's great for fitness. Our club is very sociable and laid back and dancing out will introduce you to some fine places in the Taunton Deane area.

We invite you to come along on any Tuesday for free and have a look or have a go! If you join our club the membership fee is just £25.00 a year - much less than a gym or fitness class!  Find out more and get involved.

Membership

• All ages, levels and experiences are welcome at TDMM. You require no previous experience to join and every year the whole side learns new dances and re-visits old favourites together.
• You don't have to buy kit such as bells or baldrics. You only need a white shirt and white trousers, which dancers usually source themselves mainly to ensure they fit!
• Annual membership covers insurance and the cost of hiring our practice venue in the winter months. Our summer collections and event fees pay for our kit and charitable donations are made from our winter collections.

Winter Dancing

We practice a few 'Border' dances for some special occasions during Christmas, New Years Day and January Wassails. These dances are colourful and exciting and more easily learnt than "Cotswold' dances.

Each winter we collect money for a chosen charity during our 'Border Day' tour in Taunton and our New Years Day in Bradford on Tone. Last season we raised £235 for St Margarets Hospice.

Our Music

Music is provided by a range of acoustic instruments that have included accordions, fiddles, flutes, concertinas and our current band play melodeons and a pipe & tabor. New musicians are always welcome and many of us have learnt instruments as part of being part of the morris tradition. After dancing we can end up in a pub nearby and sometimes the playing and singing continues!

Our musicians memorise all the music they play and some both play and dance.

 

 

A bit of history

The earliest record of 'morrysh daunsers' was in 1448 in London and the first reference in Somerset was at Glastonbury in 1580, after which it was suppressed by the Puritans. Where it survived (e.g. Midlands and North), various collectors began to record morris dancing 100 years ago and over 250 dances are available to us today. We enjoy this revival of traditional English dancing - so can you. Come and join us!'