Traditional English folk-dance OR too many pints at the pub + stolen tea towels?

Today, Paul and I got up somewhat early and went to the city centre library for their twice annual DVD sale and we got a little treat. There is a festival currently running in Norwich called The Dragon Festival. Most of the activities are for children (puppet shows, craft activities, etc.) but today several groups of local Morris dancers were preforming for the festival.

Morris dancing apparently goes back several century in England. Apparently, it dates back to the late 1400s in England and may have similar roots to folk dancing in other European countries such as France, Italy, and Croatia. The term "Morris" seems to have its roots in "moorish" which is similar to the folk dances in those other countries as well.

I've previously seen the Morris dancers walking around town with their bells jangling around their shins, but haven't been lucky enough to catch a performance. Today I happened to have my camera handy, so here is a little video of The King's Morris, a troupe (side) from King's Lynn:

And here is the Golden Star Morris side from Norwich:

I especially like their uber-cool pipe-smoking accordian player:

I got to know The King's Morris' "beast", the dragon Izeels: