Morris Dancer/William Kempe
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Fruit of the Loom
I found very little information about about this image, apart from that it is a woodcut that dates from around 1650. Then, unprompted,several people pointed at it and said, "Ah yes, William Kempe." It does bear a superficial resemblance to the classic image of Kempe on the title page of his book about the endurance dance, and the piece is from roughly the right era, but the identity of the figure in the woodcut has never to my knowledge been confirmed as Kempe. I 'm giving him rather generous benefit of the doubt, with qualifications, by allowing him second billing in the title of the t shirt.
William Kempe was an actor, mainly of comic roles, in Shakespeare’s plays during their first performances in the Elizabethan era. He left the Lord Chamberlain’s Men, the company of which he and Shakespeare were members, in 1599 following a disagreement. A year later in 1600 he completed what was known as his Nine Days Wonder, when he morris danced from London to Norwich in an attempt to garner publicity and revive his career.
Whatever the truth of its' origins, I like the boldness and simplicity of the image, and it is still one of the most effective renderings of an individual morris dancer that I have found. There are many more images of collective dancing, which is unsurprising as its' very essence is that of a group activity. It is slightly baffling that not more images are to be found of morris dancers given their totemic status in English traditions.
William Kempe was an actor, mainly of comic roles, in Shakespeare’s plays during their first performances in the Elizabethan era. He left the Lord Chamberlain’s Men, the company of which he and Shakespeare were members, in 1599 following a disagreement. A year later in 1600 he completed what was known as his Nine Days Wonder, when he morris danced from London to Norwich in an attempt to garner publicity and revive his career.
Whatever the truth of its' origins, I like the boldness and simplicity of the image, and it is still one of the most effective renderings of an individual morris dancer that I have found. There are many more images of collective dancing, which is unsurprising as its' very essence is that of a group activity. It is slightly baffling that not more images are to be found of morris dancers given their totemic status in English traditions.