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Ever thought of dancing with Helier Morris?
Ever thought of playing music for Helier Morris?
Why not come and have a go! Beginners' welcome!
kindly contact Colin or Miles for details of where we normally practice
(Their contact details are at the bottom of this page).
The chronology is up to date. The key points are as follows.
Harry Kitchener at the Anne Port Bay Folk Club formed the Helier Morris Men, in 1975 and we first danced out in that same year. We took part in the Battle of Flowers which is a well know event here in the Channel Islands ("the Battle" as its known locally), dancing at intervals up and down the parade.
In 1976 we had our first Ale (for those of you who know little about Morris, an ale is where we get together and dance with other Morris sides, sing songs and generally enjoy ourselves). We invited the Wessex Morris Men, who feature a lot in ours and in a lot of side's history. At Christmas we performed our first Mummers Play (again for those of you that know little about Morris, a Mummers play is just that, a short act usually based around the concept of death and resurrection).
1980 saw us no longer able to practice at Howard Davis Farm, as the barn we used during the winter months was converted into Science labs.
The local Tourism board, started to sponsor our Ales in 1981 and we have been fortunate in that they still continue to do so, which allows us to help visiting sides to make the perilous journey across the water.
May Day in 1982 saw the side dance its first dawn dance and in 1985 we did our first full day of dance. We continue to do a full days dance starting at Mont Orgueil Castle, on the Castle Green.
In 1990, we were accepted in to the Morris Ring, where we "danced" into the ring, in a small town in England called Thaxted.
In the years leading up to our first Wassail in 1997 we started to perform some Welsh Border Dances and it was then that we unleashed ourselves into the Wassail Tradition. It was such a success that in 1998 we did a full days Wassail and like May Day we have continued to do so.
We are proud to say that the year 2000 was also our Silver Jubilee. We the present side would like to thank the founder members.
For over the 25 years we have been dancing in Jersey, the side has travelled to the UK, France and to many of the other Channel Islands.
During the winter months we practice our dancing, with a couple of noticeable exceptions; these being, on late night shopping nights, leading up to Christmas where we dance out on King St in St Helier, for the Joint Christmas Appeal. The other exception is our Wassail, which is usually in the 2nd or 3rd week of January, where we dance Welsh Border dances in apple orchards, to help the cider crop for the summer months. Oh and there is one other event, which is more late summer than winter. We offer our services to dance at the local CAMRA beer festival. Not that we would stay away anyway!
From May 1st through to the end of September we dance out and about in Jersey on Monday nights. Our range of dances includes dances from the towns of Adderbury, Bampton-in-the-Bush, Bledington, Brackley, Bucknell, Fieldtown, Headington, Lichfield, Longborough, North Skelton (sword dances), Sherborne, Winster and not forgetting the Welsh Border dances.
May Day is especially important to all Morris dancers, as we welcome the summer from her sleep through the Winter and to wakeup Mother Earth, so the crops can be plentiful. On May Day each year, we dance in all 12 parishes of Jersey, giving each the beginning to summer it deserves.
Over the late May Bank Holiday Weekend we will be hosting our Own Ale, where we invite several Morris sides from the UK to join us and enjoy a weekend of good dancing, good food and it goes without saying good ale. Last year we invited the Dartington Morris Men & the Gloucestershire Morris Men.
Over the last year we manage to get off the rock, as Jersey's affectionately known, to visit the Wessex Morris Men and help them enjoy there weekend of dance in late September.
If there are any errors or omissions please contact me here at Web Site Editor |
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Squire: Colin Ireson |
Bagman: Miles Spencer |
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These pages were created on 10th October 1999,
and last updated on Saturday 22nd April 2006.
