Morris dancers converge on Wairarapa

Sticks and garlands form a dramatic part of the annual Morris dancing convention, which has seen some 60 national and international dancers converge in Wairarapa.
The annual dancing tour party arrived in Masterton this week, with a debut performance at Mount Bruce on Monday kicking off the festivities.
Participants hail from throughout New Zealand and parts of Australia, though while the Wellington dancers are hosting the event at St Matthew's Collegiate School in Masterton, Wairarapa does not host a side of the jangling, colourful dancers because of lack of numbers.
The nearest interest has come from a couple in Herbertsville, in Hawkes Bay, but at least six dancers and one musician are required to make up a Morris dancing team.
Morris dancing is a form of English folk dancing that originated about 400 to 500 years ago when peasants would dance to celebrate the passing of the seasons, harvest time and fertility, Marton dancer David Newman said.
"We use handkerchiefs for scaring away evil spirits and the bells on our legs are quite symbolic as well they scare away evil spirits," he said.
In keeping with the equinox celebrations, the morris dancers visited Stonehenge Aotearoa just outside Carterton yesterday, a favourite place for musicians and choral groups because of the acoustic abilities of the stone circles, astronomer Richard Hall said last year.
Mr Newman started morris dancing about 20 years ago - he said he was "made to" after some dancers found out he played the accordion, though judging by his comments such as "it's an escape from modern life" and it's "very good for the spirit", he's found his niche.
"Musicians are always in short supply so if you find someone, you don't let them go," Wellington morris dancer Debs Potter said.
Next year, the morris convention will dance in Tasmania, for their first overseas tour, and Mr Newman said in doing so, they will inject some culture into the Australian state.
"They are in a cultural drought over there so they've asked us to go over there and relieve the drought," he said. However, for the time being the traditional folk dancers will wile away their time in Wairarapa, with public performances to delight bystanders and those who choose to join in. Their itinerary includes "a day at the races" at Tauherenikau today, stops in Carterton, Greytown and Featherston tomorrow and Masterton's New Zealand Shearing Museum at 10am on Friday.
The event concludes with a performance at the Masterton Farmer's Market at 10.30am on Saturday.