What is morris dance and who are Ferrette Morris?
Morris is a form of folk dance that can be found around the world, but notably outside the pubs of England on warm summer evenings. It is an energetic dance, with steps, leaps and moves forming patterns on the ground, often danced by a group of six. Ferrette Morris is the 'side' in Basel, Switzerland, who brought this tradition to the region more than 20 years ago. We wear white clothes with decorative waistcoats and black hats with red and yellow flowers. We have small bells on pads around our knees to shake and ring while dancing the steps. Some dances are performed waving handkerchiefs, others clashing sticks.
We practice to dance out at various location during the summer. Naturally, we take in bars and restaurants as enthusiastically as we do our dancing! We like to arrange Three Country Tours, with dance spots in Basel, beer in Germany and meals in France. We have also danced at folk festivals in England and elsewhere.
Our philosophy is that we dance for our own enjoyment! If crowds want to watch it helps the atmosphere, and we like to show what we can do.
The history of Ferrette Morris
The inspiration for establishing the group was an enthusiastic discussion at the Fête de la Musique in Ferrette, a small town with a historic castle 30km west of Basel, late at night on the 21st of June 2002. Our name and our red and yellow colours and crest celibate our origin in Ferrette. We first danced at dawn in the ruins of the castle on the first day of May 2003, a tradition shared by morris sides of dancing at sunrise to mark the beginning of spring. We continued with displays in more public locations during the following summer and beyond.
Earliest history of morris dancing
There were morris dance traditions across Europe in the 15th century. It is called Moriskentantanz in German, morisque in French and there are related dances in Spain. There are small statues of dancers with bells on their legs in the Munich museum, dating from 1480. William Kempe, a Shakespearean actor, Morris danced from London to Norwich, an event chronicled in his Nine Daies Wonder (1600).
The origin of the name is not clear, it may refer to Moors, muslim populations in the Iberian peninsula and north Africa, it could be derived from latin, 'mors, moris', meaning custom and usage.
Morris in England
Ferrette Morris perform dances in the English Cotswold tradition. These dances were collected by Cecil Sharp from the villages to the west of Oxford at the beginning of the twentieth century. There are other styles: Border morris from the Welsh borders, North West morris that developed out of the industrial mills, and Molly from East Anglia.
Please join us!
Over the years we have had times with lots of members, which makes everything more fun and expands the range of events we can do. We also have had times, such as now, when we struggle to get sufficient members to keep our group going. We need some more to join us, men and women. We don't expect you to have danced before, just be enthusiastic to learn the steps and the dances. Some learn quickly, some need more time. That's OK with us.
We practise most Wednesday evenings, in the Panto Cellar, Sperrstrasse 67, 4057 Basel. Most members are English, we also have dancers from Germany, France and elsewhere.
If you're a dancer or would like to learn, you can contact us at dance@ferrette-morris.ch
Musicians can join by contacting music@ferrette-morris.ch
Want to know more?
Maybe you just want to know a bit more. Find out where you can see us. Talk to one of us about what we do. Maybe come along to a practice to watch us or try out a few steps. Sent us a mail! curious@ferrette-morris.ch