In the fall of 1975, members of two different recently formed Morris dancing teams, who all happened to be living in Brattleboro and Marlboro at the time, decided that they would band together to perform a sword dance and mummers play (a traditional English folk play) at the winter solstice.
They established a separate entity, the Green Mountain Mummers, which had its initial outing during a snow storm on Dec. 20, 1975.
Fast-forward 41 years and the group is still performing, albeit with only one of the original members. On Halloween weekend - another significant point in the solar calendar halfway between the equinox and the solstice - the Green Mountain Mummers will present its symbolic death-and-resurrection “street theater” rain or shine in seven locations in Windham County.
The group of 12 men is the oldest continuing sword dance and mumming troupe in the United States. Although many younger members have joined the group over the last several years, it still operates in the manner of the traditional English Morris and sword dancers from which the dances were originally collected: they meet to practice and perform only once a year.
A favorite every year at election season is the group's mummers play which has been characterized as a “live political cartoon,” drawing on current events and providing social commentary through humor.
The Green Mountain Mummers sword dance was collected in northern England, but has developed its own Vermont character over the years the group has been performing. The six dancers are connected by holding long inflexible metal swords and, without breaking the ring, they weave and turn intricate figures.
Each figure ends with the making of a “lock” of the swords in a progressively more complicated manner. The final lock of eight swords is the fateful one which traps an “innocent bystander” in the middle and causes his “death.” After the antics of a questionable doctor fail to revive the victim, the Fool saves the day with a magic ritual.
Visiting customs have long been an important part of the human existence. Caroling at mid-winter, Morris dancing in the spring, and mumming are all related by this common thread of the need to reach out to one's neighbors at significant times of the year.
The audience for such performances is just as important as the performers and can participate in the ritual both during the mummers play and afterwards when the dancers “pass the hat.” It is the exchange that brings luck and the promise of spring's return.
The Green Mountain Mummers' full schedule for Halloween weekend in Windham County, Vermont, is as follows:
Saturday, Oct. 31
• Samuel Elliot Apts., Elliot Street, Brattleboro, 11 a.m.
• Pliny Park, Main Street, Brattleboro, 11:45 a.m.
• Brattleboro Common, Park Place, 1 p.m.
• Marlboro College Dining Hall, Marlboro, 2 p.m.
Sunday, Nov. 1
• Williamsville, Town Center, 11 a.m.
• Dummerston Center, Common, noon.
• Tavern Green, Main Street, Putney, 1 p.m.
For more information or directions to any of the performances, call 802-254-9019.