| FURRY DANCE 50's pagan dancing ritual - pagan rituals have changed over years... | ||
|---|---|---|
| Tape Master: | 6001 | |
| Catalog #: | 36982 | |
| Clip Number: | 36982-1 | |
| Orginal Film: | CP 24 | |
| Timecode: | 01:35:54 - 01:38:06 | |
| Location: | Helston, Cornwall | |
| Year Shot: | 1955 (Actual Year) | |
| Audio: | Yes | |
| Color: | Yes | |
| Headings: | ENTERTAINMENT/DANCE: Folk Dance FESTIVALS: Historical FESTIVALS: Seasonal LOCATIONS/EUROPE: UK, England, Cornwall | |
| Description: | FURRY DANCE 50's pagan dancing ritual - pagan rituals have changed over years. Very old traditional "welcoming of spring" festival in Helston, Cornwall, with a dance through the streets of the old town; a tradition thought to be of pagan origin. Helston, Cornwall. MS Town Clock (on entablature of building) reading 12 noon. Tilt down to crowds outside the building and the band coming out. MS Band passing single file between the crowds. MS People looking out of window of a building decorated with several different flags and a fancy sign reading " Furry Dance 1955". High angle LSs/MSs Men in top hats dance with women in long dresses in a narrow aisle through the crowd. They are coming out of a building, passing under an arch of greenery. Various high angle views of the festivities. Band and dancers passing down the crowded high street, people looking on. LS the parade approaches, 2 cops leading the band followed by dancers, down a very narrow sloping street. Crowds lined up alongside the old buildings on either side. MS Band passing. (Narrator informs us that there is no written musical score for this and the music is passed down through the years.) MLS boys and girls all dressed in white dancing along same narrow street. Girls have garlands in hair and boys have Lilies of the Valley pinned on their shirts. MSs same & LS. MLS start of parade again. Band with police escort walking towards. More of the adults dancing. Men in toppers (top hat) women in long gowns. LS the dancers coming through flora-topped archway from old Church. Crowd watching. MCU. Very young children dancing together. Tilt down to show their feet doing the steps. Another MCU little girls dancing. MS Men in their toppers dancing with their partners along lane with flowering tree. CU kid with odd headdress, a cloth cap tied under the chin but with some big metallic thing stuck on each side descending over the cheeks, with curved spikes at the end! | |
WPA FILM LIBRARY
