This is my monthly class in my old 'hood and I forgot to send out the setup emails and didn't get my numbers. I leave northern NJ around 3:30pm to get into New Haven by 5:30 or so. And it is only 75 miles by highway. I go to the family butcher and buy several weeks worth of meat and the night's supper.
I then have an hour or so at the Meeting House waiting for dancers to show for the 7:30 class.
I only got four this night. And then a munchkin showed up at the door, peering in. Then she came in and sat. And then we invited her in to dance, and she did.
And she was marvelous! Nine years old, an Irish dancer and solidly grounded in formations.
After class, talking to her mother (downstairs with the local Quaker Ladies Quilting and "Terrorist" Society (that is a joke folks) )- I was told that Emma had loved it, that it had started out like Irish but gotten progressively further and further away.
The good news - she is enthused and wanting to come again, the better news is that she might be bringing a friend. And the best news… There is no bad news.
Boy is this going to change things! This (the class at NHFM) is the one actual advanced class in the area and by area I mean among the following groups - Tenafly, NJ; Fanwood, NJ; NY Branch; Scotia (NY, NY); Middletown, CT; Windsor, CT; Wilton, CT and Mystic, CT. The only class that comes close is the New Haven Branch class in New Haven - we share the same pool of dancers. Now my class is going to become a beginner's training ground - not that Emma is a beginner and, if her friend is even half is good, neither is she. New to them, new to me too. I am going to have to make a list of all the formations and make sure I cover them. I need to give these girls the building blocks. I need to train them to be Scottish Country dancers - they are already dancers.
I have a kind-a-sort-of plan in mind. I am going to leave their Irish technique alone. Not a word on footwork. I suspect that they will see how we are dancing and will eventually copy us. Naturally. I certainly don't want to confuse them and cause their Irish style to deteriorate. That would be Not Good. I am hoping that these girls will be dance monsters and be able to keep different dance styles separate as I am able to.
The dances I taught were:
Dragonflies - (32 S 5some) - Jane Lataille
The Four Winds - (32 R 4some) - Terry Glasspool
Fish and Chips - (32 J 4) - Bruce Hamilton
Lover's Lane - (32 J 3 set) - Jane Lataille
The Domino Five - (32 R 5some) - Derek Haynes
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Dragonflies :- One of my top 10. The music too. (Hamish Henderson's Refusal - Susie Petrov and Local Hero from the vinyl LP Hold the Lass tip I get Her).
The Four Winds :- Another of Terry's unpublished leaflets I have from a workshop crib. I wish he would publish these. They are all works of genius. This is the one Emma watched, from the hallway and then from a chair in the room. After which we asked her to join us.
Fish and Chips :- a nice little intro to SC dancing. I used the music for It Should Be Fun by Muriel Johnstone and Jim Lindsay from their CD Reel On for Roy Goldring's book of Graded and Social Dances 3. The youngster got it. Very Irish-like apparently - I would say 'ceilidh' like. Hmmm, think there might be some similarities there?
Lovers' Lane :- Also basic. Introduces all of the following - Figures of Eight on the sides (mirror); Figure of Eight across (around the couple above); and Right Hands Across; and Rights and Lefts.
Again, no problem for the young lady. But I was definitely pushing the envelope. And chose to go even further with…
The Domino Five :- 5 dancers, in a square with a center 'pip'. Three Hands across top then bottom; Reels of Three, right shoulder on the center axis, left shoulder on the cross axis. Four changes to progress. Again, she got it with just a slight hesitation from time to time. She had clearly reached her limit, this was a lot of new stuff in a very short period and not very Irish.
Invitations to come back and bring friends and to attend the weekly New Haven class were extended.
Thank you Lord.
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