 Apple
Tree Morris is the San Francisco
North Bay's first and only morris
team. Not
sure you've ever seen us? Check
out this video clip on youtube.
.
Morris is
a festive seasonal dance that
dates back hundreds of years
to the farming communities of
the Cotswold Hills in Southern
England. It's
boisterous, athletic and colorful
and a perfect way to celebrate
the change of seasons.
About Us
Apple Tree Morris of Sebastopol
was founded in 1998 by Kalia
Kliban, Jon Berger and Cora Stewart.
All things musical fall under the
talented eye (and ear) of Jon Berger,
who is willing and able to play
about anything on his melodeon
(not accordion) or fiddle. Recently
MacGillivray Allen has joined him
on the fiddle. We practice most
Thursday nights at the Sebastopol
Youth Annex and have an annual
workshop in the fall for prospective
new members.
Our Kits
Our kits, or costumes,
are made up of garlands, white
shirts and pants, green leafy vests
and bell pads. Each of us has
made our own Apple Tree vest,
of leaves (over 250 of them!)
and apples sewn on to a brown
bark. We also make our bell pads,
which have 20 bells on each leg,
so that we can make as much noise
as possible. The white pants,
in addition to being traditional
morris attire, ensure that we
never sit down on the job.
Our Dances
 We do traditional dances
in the Bampton and Moulton styles
from the Cotswold region of England.
Since this is a living tradition,
some are very old, and some we
have written ourselves. The dances
are done in sets of four, six,
eight or in one case, nine. We
use a variety of props in our
dances, the most common being
the flashing white handkerchiefs
and the sticks, which get clashed
in intricate and knuckle-threatening
patterns.
 In
addition to the Eclipse, which
was concocted on the night of an
eclipse and is danced around our
musicians, Apple Tree originals
include Inconstant William, Maxwell’s
Silver Hammer, Dark Star, Hot Moulton
Core and Froggy’s
Last Jump.
Performances
We have performed
at many local fairs, festivals
and parties and  are available for
hire. We actually won a first place
award for the Novelty Category
in the Sebastopol Apple Blossom
Parade and a group award at the
Occidental Fools Parade. Other
places you may have seen us are:
Summerfield Waldorf May Fair, Marin
Waldorf May Fair, the Pelican Inn,
Summer Solstice at Schoolhouse
Beach, Windsor Shakespeare on the
Green, Cotati Accordion Festival,
Seba stopol Celtic Festival, Oktoberfest
in Guerneville, Sonoma County
Harvest Festival, Solano Stroll,
Dickens Faire and the NBCDS Holiday
Contra Dance.
We often tour with other morris
teams in the spring, stopping at
places like the Sebastopol Flea
Market, the Sebastopol Farmers
Market, Wild Flour Bakery and Korbel
Winery.
May Day
 For over a century, morris
dancers have been dancing at sunrise
on the first day of May. We have
the honor of being among the
last in the world to dance on
May Morning. The wave of morris
dancing begins at sunrise in
New Zealand and sweeps around
the entire planet before culminating
here on the west coast.
The dancing starts at 5:30 A.M.,
goes through sunrise (around 6:20)
and a little bit more and then
you are welcome to join us at a
potluck breakfast nearby. There
is morris dancing to watch and
English country dances that everyone
can do, as well as wonderful music
and singing. We usually teach a
traditional group  morris dance
called the Abram
Circle Dance
for everyone wanting to join in
just after sunrise. Dress warmly,
since it tends to be chilly before
dawn, and you may want a lawn chair
or blanket to sit on. For the last few years we have celebrated May behind the Sebastopol Community Center Youth Annex, on Morris St. in Sebastopol. Please refer to the "Dance Up the Sun" flyer below for directions. We’d
love if you’d join us for
this celebration!
For more information contact Cliff Stevens
at 707. 823.6925
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