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Hong Kong Morris


The Hong Kong Morris (Chinese: 香港古代英國舞團, Cantonese pronunciation: Heung Gong Gwoo Doi Ying Gwok Mo Tuen, literally Hong Kong Ancient English Dance Platoon) is an English morris dancing team or side founded in Hong Kong in 1974. The side now has two chapters, the Hong Kong Morris in Hong Kong and the Hong Kong (UK) Morris, colloquially known as The Brackets, in the United Kingdom. In its heyday, in the late 1980s and early 1990s, the Hong Kong Morris was one of the largest Cotswold morris sides in the world. The side is committed to the principles of multiculturalism and inclusivity, and has always encouraged a multicultural membership and mixed dancing. The return of the former British colony of Hong Kong to China in 1997 has had no effect on the side's activities, and it continues to flourish as a notable example of the resilience of Western cultural activity in postcolonial Hong Kong.

The Hong Kong Morris was founded by Jim Carter in 1974. Many of its early members were officers of the Royal Hong Kong Police Force. One founding member, Tony Reynolds, was a Quaker who had driven ambulances along the Burma Road during the Second World War. The side met to practice at St John’s Cathedral in Garden Road, Hong Kong Island. In the 1980s the side attracted British expatriates working in Hong Kong, teachers and engineers being particularly well represented. The side’s numbers reached a peak in the mid-1980s, at around 50 dancers and musicians.

Due to the increase in the team's numbers the practice venue was moved in the early 1980s to South Island School. In 1985 the side was featured in the Morris Ring publication The Morris Tradition, as an example of the spread of morris dancing beyond its traditional home in England.


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