Team: Handsome Molly

General Notes
Founded in 1993 in Princeton, NJ, Handsome Molly dances to folk and composed songs from the British Isles and the United States. Molly dancing originated in East Anglia and the English Midlands by the late 18th Century and was a tradition of mid-winter dancing performed by out-of-work farm boys who disguised themselves by dressing in their sisters’ and wives’ clothing and concealing their faces by covering them with burnt cork. The “ploughboys” would tour the area visiting the homes of gentry and do dances that caricatured the gentry’s elegant English country dances and after that demand beer or money from the homeowners, threatening to plough up the yard if they refused. Princeton’s Handsome Molly takes inspiration from these British traditions but has created new repertoire in honor of our American heritage. We love to perform and promise to never actually plough up our host’s property! Well, almost never….

Seasonal Customs
We dance each winter at Trinity Church in Princeton to celebrate Plough Monday and at the Wassailing of the Apple Trees at Terhune Orchards.

Archive Notes