SADDLEWORTH Women’s Morris and Clog may only be two years young but they are already taking the dancing world by storm.
The side was formed in January 2024 and has flourished to boast more than 30 members, headed by Squire and Forewoman Laura Kemp-Smyth.
Their dancing has already taken them around Saddleworth and Manchester and now has even crossed overseas to Barcelona.
And this summer will be the icing on the cake as SWMC will ‘dance in’ to officially join the prestigious Morris Ring.
Laura revealed: “We’ll be at Rushcart again helping to celebrate Saddleworth Morris Men’s 50th cart, but it will also be extra special for SWMC because we have been accepted as members of The Morris Ring, the most historic of the national bodies representing Morris dance.
“We will be ‘dancing in’ at Rushcart as in order to become members of The Morris Ring, you have to perform a dance at a Ring meeting. It will be an emotional time for sure!
“We’ve got some other events further afield, such as Wickham Folk Festival and Bromyard Folk Festival to look forward to as well.”
They launched their season this year in March at Manchester Folk Festival, where they showcased their new dance ‘Noon Sun’ and gave debuts to five new dancers.
Coming up on Saturday, May 23 is their ‘Saddleworth May Garland Day’ which is a day of dance between 10.30am and 4pm in Uppermill.
They will be joined by Morris sides and intend to create and display a floral May garland, which will be carried between dancing spots.
Laura explained: “The month of May has historically always been significant in the Morris calendar, and garlands are often featured in traditions up and down the country.
“Flowers are in abundance at this time of year, and they are a beautiful way to welcome back the summer.
“There is evidence that garlands were created in and around Saddleworth at Wakes Week, so we decided it would be a lovely tradition to reintroduce (albeit during May).
“Another reason why this event is going to be special is because, if all goes to plan, we are hoping to debut our new dance kit, which is going to be absolutely gorgeous.”
The side will also continue to work with Global Grooves, who they teamed up with in 2025 for their ‘The Worker Becomes Queen’ project.
Global Grooves, a carnival arts organisation based in Mossley, was commissioned to create a performance piece for La Merce festival in Barcelona last September.
It involved international artist collaboration to create two large scale puppets to take part in the parade, and Global Grooves were keen to involve dance which reflected the diverse heritage of the communities in Manchester.
This led them to inviting SWMC and the Indian Association’s Dancing Diyas to collaborate on a new dance piece fusing their two traditions together.
Laura reflected: “It was a fantastic opportunity for us to find out more about this beautiful dance form, and in the newly choreographed piece we managed to showcase our own dance styles before coming together to share and perform steps together, all centred around the newly created Queen Bee puppet.
“We worked on the dance for months, and after all our hard work it was amazing to be able to showcase it on a world stage at La Merce festival, and represent Manchester and the North West Morris tradition.
“Obviously after all that hard work, we were keen to perform the piece again, and we were delighted to be able to do so at Oldham Illuminate at the end of February.
“We will also be performing the piece at Manchester Day in July later this year, which is set to be bigger and better than ever.”
See more about ‘The Worker Becomes Queen’ project here: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Ddw06Eu2Krc
- Saddleworth Women’s Morris And Clog side meet at Denshaw Village Hall. Find out more on their Facebook page or email saddleworthwomensmorrisclog@gmail.com
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