Your first practice
Practices usually happen on a weekday evening - Monday to Friday - in a hall or sometimes a pub upstairs. Doors open about ten minutes early. People will be chatting, putting on practice bell-pads, drinking tea.
The Foreman (the person who teaches the dances - we'll get to vocabulary at the end) will introduce you to the side. You'll walk through a dance step by step. Nobody will spring anything on you. By the end of the evening you'll have done a few real dances, badly. Everyone did badly at the start.
What to wear
Comfortable clothes you can move in. Trousers, leggings, joggers - anything that isn't a tight skirt or jeans. Flat shoes. Trainers are perfect. If you've got dance shoes from anything else, those work too. You won't be in costume - that's only for performing.
Do I need to be fit?
No. You'll be moving for ninety minutes with breaks. It is genuinely good exercise, but it isn't a fitness class. Most sides have dancers in their twenties and dancers in their seventies, on the same evening, doing the same dance.
Can I just watch?
Yes. Tell whoever invites you that you'd like to watch the first time. Nobody will mind. Many people come twice to watch and then join in on the third visit. Some come once and dance straight away.
Will I embarrass myself?
You will go the wrong way several times. So will the person next to you who has been doing this for fifteen years. That is genuinely a normal part of practice. Morris dancers are very good at laughing at themselves. You will not be the worst person there - you will be the new one, which is a completely different category.
Is it for men and women?
Both. There are mixed sides (men and women dancing together), women-only sides, and men-only sides. All three traditions are healthy. Look for what suits you on the find a side page - it shows each side's gender policy. There are also "open" sides that welcome dancers of any gender.
How much does it cost?
Practice is usually free or a small contribution (a couple of pounds) toward the hall. Once you join properly you'll typically pay a small annual membership - often £20 to £40 a year - which covers things like insurance, the band, and shared kit. Your costume (called kit) is usually made and lent by the side, or made by you with the side's help.
What happens after practice?
Generally, the pub. Most sides go for a drink afterwards. You don't have to. But it is the easiest way to actually meet people, and you'll be invited every week.
Am I too old?
Almost certainly not. The largest age group in most sides is 40-65. There are eighty-year-olds dancing weekly. There are people who started in their late fifties. There are people who came back to it after twenty years away. Age is, genuinely, not the limit.