ABOUT OXBLOOD MOLLY & OUR DANCERS

Who are Oxblood Molly?

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Formed in 2005 in East Suffolk, Oxblood Molly are a Molly Dancing group.

We perform our very own lighter interpretation of the Fenland tradition of Molly Dancing, and are very pleased that so many other sides are able to join us. We are delighted to host the annual Day of Dance in Halesworth each year.

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You can easily spot us from our vibrant red and black colour scheme.

We practice from September to March in Holton on Sunday mornings between 10.30am and 12.30pm - contact us and come and join in the fun.

A Brief History of Molly Dancing

Molly dancing is a form of English Morris dance, traditionally done by out-of-work ploughboys in midwinter in 19th century East Anglia.

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Molly dancing is associated with Plough Monday, the first Monday after Epiphany, during which farmhands would drag a plough round the villages crying “a penny for the plough boys”, and if no penny was forthcoming, cut a furrow across the cheapskate’s front lawn.

The dancers, wishing to gain employment from those same landowners shortly afterwards, would attempt to conceal their identities by blacking their faces with soot and dressing up in a modified version of their Sunday best, typically black garments adorned with coloured scarves and other fripperies. It was originally an all-male tradition but with one of the members—the Molly—dressed up as a woman.

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Molly dancing all but died out after the First World War, but was revived in the nineteen seventies evolving into the popular and artistic dances we see today.

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Molly dancing has a step all of its own, bringing one leg up so that the thigh is horizontal and the calf vertical, with the arm on the opposite side making an “L” shape with clenched fist.

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Oxblood Molly Dancers, Musicians & Members: