24 February 2016 – Westchester

Yikes. A very hard night. I have what you could call an 'institutional memory' going back to 1998 with this group. I have a sense of what the class can do - but I am remembering the class as it was, not as it is. And I get myself into trouble.

This post is made up from cryptic notes made on the print out of the Dance List I printed out - the so called 'plan'. But I worked so hard I never actually wrote down who did what with whom. So this is post is going to be brief and very sketchy.

The 'big' dance of the night was John Drewry's Hunter's Moon, 32 J 4 couples.
Nothing special here--- Right! just La Baratte, followed by 8 bars of Bees of Maggieknockater reels.
Several dancers were completely nonplussed by La Baratte (French Canadian for Butter Churn).
I mean completely! We got it eventually, kinda sort of.

I have no advice on how to teach this. because I wouldn't call what I did successful.  I can only say there are two kinds of people in this world – those that love Scottish Country dancing and those that don't. And there are people who can pick up something a little weird and those that can't. I am coming round to accepting that that is just the way it is.

It is a nice dance. All the people who 'get it' love it. And those who don't get it, hate it.

Dances taught:-
Sla'ine's Fancy  -  (32 J 3)  - Let's All Dance Too (Guilbert)
Hunter's Moon  -  (32 J 4)  -  John Drewry
The Rerr Terr Jig  -  (40 J 3)  - Trinkaus-Randall
Light and Airy  - (32 J 3)  - Bk 4
Miss Milligan's Strathspey  -  (32 S 3)  - Leaflets
Pinewoods Reel  -  (32 R 3)  -  JBD

**********

The Rerr Terr Jig

This dance was a raffle prize. Gregor donated a dance that he would devise for the winner. The president of the NJ Branch won and she asked for a dance for our Rerr Terr Ball.

and Hunter's Moon.