It’s not blackface, it’s ‘tradition’
A troupe of Morris dancers have refused to stop performing in blackface as it’s a ‘Lancashire tradition’ that dates back more than 100 years. On Sunday, they had their first performance post-lockdown and said it was a “great success”.
The Coconut dangers, also known as the Nutters, performed for the first time since being kicked out of the Morris dancing national body. Despite this, the group is backed by the Lancashire BME Network, a group championing diversity and inclusion, as they “recognise it’s a rich cultural tradition linked to Lancashire”.
The detailed history of the blackface is relatively unknown, but the prevailing theory claims that their origin stems from coal miners who used to dance after emerging from the mines covered in black dust.
However, another theory suggests that mill workers would dance for extra money after painting their faces black because supposedly this meant their bosses couldn’t tell it was them.
Last year the Joint Morris Organisation and the Nutters went their separate ways, with the governing body saying that “full face black or other skin tone make-up is a practice that has the potential to cause deep hurt”.
The organisation, which represents over 800 troupes in the UK, demanded that the Nutters stop painting their faces, to which the dancing troupe refused.
“It has no connection with ethnicity nor any form of racial prejudice,” they said.
Apparently, their first performance on Sunday was well received despite some initial pushback from the town’s market organisers. “The public turned out in their hundreds. The day was a great success,” said Gavin McNulty, Secretary of the group.
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