24 April 2012 - Fanwood, NJ

I accepted an offer from Loretta Holz and traveled to Fanwood, a good hour and a half from Norwood.
John Drewry has a lovely phrase for the different kinds of dancers - those who LOVE technique for technique's sake as opposed to those who learn technique because it helps them. the former are "below the navel" dancers and the latter are "Above the navel" dancers. The dancers in Fanwood are definitely above the navel dancers, in fact they would rather not have any technique taught to them at all. I can agree but only to a point. There are times when the use of good technique will get you through a difficult piece of choreography and keep a dance from falling to pieces.

I once again taught dances from the Kilts and Ghillies tea dance program. I don't think anyone at this class  had ever seen some of them. I also pulled a couple of surprises from my card file.

The dances were:
Ann Arbor  (32 J 3)  Bob Gregg
The Captain  (32 R 3) Russ King
Maurice  (32 S 2)  Gary Thomas
The Elusive Muse  (32 J 3)  Tim Wilson
A Dance for Marjorie  (32 S 3)  Peter Price
Chasing the Red Dot  (32 R 5)  Sue McKinnell

Ann, Arbor, The Captain, Maurice, The Elusive Muse, all from the Kilts & Ghillies program were, yet again well received and some of them were, as I was later informed, repeated the next week.
A Dance for Marjorie is a bit of a technique challenge. There are moments where dancers need to have strong steps and good handing.

Chasing the Red Dot, is a terrible name for a good dance with a loverly Celtic Braid pattern created by active 1st and 5th couples. Worth doing again.!

23 April 2012 - Dancing on the Heights (Friends Meeting House)

Again an "upcoming ball workshop" class. Again I taught the more esoteric dances from the program.
Again I found that they were still fresh for me. Many dances are fun once, maybe twice but more that three times in a short span become tedious. Scotland's Gardens is on the edge of it though. I probably will let it lay for a year or so, and Dean Bridge of Edinburgh, while it will not make my Top 25, is growing on me. Tim Wilson is rapidly gaining status in my view. The Docent's Tour is just superb and is soundly applauded by the dancers whenever I teach it.

The dances I taught were:
Maurice - 32 S 2 - by Gary Thomas from Dunsmuir Dances
The Elusive Muse - 32 J 3 - by Tim Wilson from Measures of Pleasure
Scotland's Gardens - 32 R 3 - by Roy Goldring from a leaflet
The Dean Bridge of Edinburgh - 32 S 3 - by Alex Gray from Book 23
Rockside - 96 J 4 square - by Roy Goldring
Christine M. Phillips - 32 J 3 - Book 46
The Docent's Tour - 32 S 3 - by Tim Wilson, ibid
The Kilt Maker - 32 R 4 - by the late Priscilla Burrage from one of the Pinewoods Collections
Gifts - 32 S 3 set - by Irene van Maarseveen

22 April 2012 - Westchester Workshop

Naomi Lasher was most kind to offer her house and dance floor for the occasion. I had a set and that was a very good thing and we made it through a goodly part of the ball program.

The dances were:

Ann Arbor  32 J 3  Bob Gregg - The Real MacGregor 1
The Elusive Muse  32 J 3  - Measures of Pleasure (Tim Wilson)
The Docent's Tour  32 S 3 - Measures of Pleasure (Tim Wilson)
The Captain  32 R 3  - Solstice Party Book (Russ King)
Rockside  96 J 4 sq  - Goldring
Dean Bridge of Edinburgh 32 S 3 - Book 23
Christine M. Phillips  32 J 3 - Book 46
Maurice  32 S 2 - Dunsmuir Dances (Gary Thomas)