Back to my back log.
And again there are two agendas on the agenda :-))
First the class was testing dances for the upcoming Book and secondly I was testing dances for the Kilts and Ghillies 2018 Tea Dance.
The dances of the day were:
Driving Through Eutaw - (32 J 3) - Leary (Ruby Anniversary)
Dance #105 - (32 S 3) - unknown
Braes of Balquidder - (128 S 4 square) - MacNab
The Spey in Spate - (32 R 3set) - Haynes
Silver Thistle Ball - (32 S 3set) - Fogg&Turner
Florida Crackers - (32 R 3) - Kohn
* ** *** ** * ** *** ** *
Driving Through Eutaw:- A very nice little dance with just enough of a twist that dancers need to put a lid on their muscle memory. I like it but I am also prejudiced in it's favor. Not a new dance to the blog so previous posts have the comments.
Braes of Balquhidder:- It is a dance, and it can be fun after a good bit of work is done. I rather like it but not enough to put it in myTop 50 list. I think that if a group liked it enough they could do it enough to put it in their standard repertoire. Maybe even put it on a ball program if enough dancers from away also knew it.
Not well enough known to make the Kilts and Ghillies Tea Dance short list. But if enough of us started teaching it now it might make the 2019 or 2020 shortlist. Guys???
The Spey in Spate:- This one has promise. It made it to the short list but the competition was fierce and didn't make the cut. Again maybe in a year or too (RSN?).
Silver Thistle Ball:- I like it. We had it on the K&G back in 2007 and we are past due to repeat it. I actually believe (MHO) that it dances easier than it reads. It made it. It is on the 2018 Tea Dance Program.
Florida Crackers:- Different. In my humble opinion that is good. I like petronella Double Triangles, I like variations on corners Pass & Turn. And it is available from Lulu the web publisher in either a print on demand paper version or, if you prefer, as a downloadable epub/pdf version.
Thursday, November 30, 2017
28 November 2017 - New Haven
Right, this one is really out of order as it was this past Tuesday's class and I still have August, September and October classes to catch up on. But the contents of this post are fresh and pushy and…
Coming up Real Soon Now (thank you Jerry Pournelle) the Brooklyn class of the NY branch is holding their annual John Drewry Night - (program) - and several dancers from New Haven intend to go. Therefore - Ball Prep! Well it isn't actually a ball as the dances will all be walked through but some dancers still feel they need to prepare ahead no matter how often or familiar the dances are. So ball prep.
The Dances:
Carols a Plenty - (32 J 3) - Lou Hanson
Glenalmond Gamekeeper - (40 R 3) - Drewry
Anna Holden's Strathspey - (32 S 2) - Drewry
Bees of Maggieknockater - (32 J 4) - Drewry
Ythanside - (32 S 3) - Drewry
The 50th Parallel - (48 R 5) - Zobel & Johnstone
*** + ** + *** ***+**+*** ***+**+***
Carols a Plenty - Lou is a gem. She persuaded Deborah and me to use the swim facilities at Portland while we were taking our TAC unit 2 dance exams - it helped. She wrote a book of dances as a sanity check during her post grad work. This is one of them, and it is a nice welcoming, gentle, non-thinkum dance.
The Glenalmond Gamekeeper:- I remember the day I learned this dance. The visiting teacher was John Drewry. The other dance he taught that evening was The New Opera, and both dances were relatively newly written. He was a horrible teacher, not a very good dancer, and a delightful man. The evening would have gone so much easier if we had known that before hand, or if he had known how to step in and show the new moves and not merely talk them.
There is a trick to most dances - get that and you have the key to the dance. The trick in this dance is the transition from the tandem figure of eight into the circle. Most dancers are late getting around the figure of eight but the dance is forgiving and dancers can just flow into the circle from the center of the set without having to 'get back to place'. In other words: being a little late is a good thing here.
Anna Holden's Strathspey:- I love this one. Need I say more? And I love the story about how it came to be.
Warning- the diagram does not show the 2's cast into top place following the RHA as the 1s cross down.
The Bees of Maggieknockater:- Another dance I like a lot. But many words are needed. And a lot of energy is spend by dancers trying to understand the reelings. I have heard many different descriptions and most of them require me to remember three or four different patterns for the sequence.
K-I-S-S should be the operating principle. The simplest explanation is usually the best. If you are 1st or 3rd couple you dance the half reels either with your partner or your trail buddy - a good contra/square dance term for the person you keep meeting who is a rock you can rely on.
So, when you are with your trail buddy (not partner) the loop is always to the right. When you join your partner the loop will always be to the left. And you alternate right loop, left loop, right loop, left loop. Trail buddy, partner, trail buddy, partner.
The second piece to the key is *how* you switch between trail buddy and partner and back. If you dance into the center and right up to the other promenading couple you are in trouble - actually fairly serious trouble. You have basically erased all your wiggle room and tightened up your maneuvering space making it difficult to flow smoothly between the half reels. May I say Bad Move?
Now a Mechanical Note: In the reels you will always be coming back into the set from an END and starting your next loop dancing out the nearer SIDE.
Therefore I dance the loop of the half reel in promenade hold until I am in either top or third place and drop hands there (at the end of bar three) and use the fourth bar to curve onto the near side line facing out and it is during that bar that I join promenade hold with the other dancer (trail buddy or partner). Not in the center of the set. Can anybody sing "Antici-pay-ay-tion?"
Ythanside:- A favorite. Definitely a top 50. Maybe even Top 10.
Two keys to the dance. 1st key is (bars 7 - 8) getting 1st couple to not only change places up/down the dance giving RH but to *FACE* partner at the end. This requires a right-ish twirl that flows uninterruptedly into Right shoulder reels of three across the dance. Why dancers want to face out despite the instructions and emphasis given is beyond my ken. But it happens.
Second key - Bars 23-25:- the two half turns on the sides by the corner men and the corner women and the cast by 1st couple. The half turns have to move in toward the center line - a fudge if you will - and that takes control. It is a slow move in two strathspey bars flowing into the circles of three. And the 1st couple tend to push their cast and end up waiting for the corners.
The 50th Parallel:- Look what I found! (Thank you strathspey for posting videos!) I just had to throw this into the mix. And the responses were all positive. One of the dancers left muttering "this should be a program…". So Kilts and Ghillies Tea Dance 2019 short list? Ya sure, you betcha!
-- + -- -- + -- -- + -- -- + -- -- + -- -- + -- -- + --
Two other dances that have caught my eye that were not on this week's class are Deirdre MacCuish Bark's dance The Peat Road (32 R 3) leaflet, and George Will's dance Hunt the Gowk (32 R 4 square set).
Some day, RSN.
Jerry Pournelle - science fiction author and onetime computer magazine journalist. In his column he often talked about software, announced months or years before but still coming out Real Soon Now. His column was fun and why I read the PC centric magazine. I was then and still am an Apple user.
Coming up Real Soon Now (thank you Jerry Pournelle) the Brooklyn class of the NY branch is holding their annual John Drewry Night - (program) - and several dancers from New Haven intend to go. Therefore - Ball Prep! Well it isn't actually a ball as the dances will all be walked through but some dancers still feel they need to prepare ahead no matter how often or familiar the dances are. So ball prep.
The Dances:
Carols a Plenty - (32 J 3) - Lou Hanson
Glenalmond Gamekeeper - (40 R 3) - Drewry
Anna Holden's Strathspey - (32 S 2) - Drewry
Bees of Maggieknockater - (32 J 4) - Drewry
Ythanside - (32 S 3) - Drewry
The 50th Parallel - (48 R 5) - Zobel & Johnstone
*** + ** + *** ***+**+*** ***+**+***
Carols a Plenty - Lou is a gem. She persuaded Deborah and me to use the swim facilities at Portland while we were taking our TAC unit 2 dance exams - it helped. She wrote a book of dances as a sanity check during her post grad work. This is one of them, and it is a nice welcoming, gentle, non-thinkum dance.
The Glenalmond Gamekeeper:- I remember the day I learned this dance. The visiting teacher was John Drewry. The other dance he taught that evening was The New Opera, and both dances were relatively newly written. He was a horrible teacher, not a very good dancer, and a delightful man. The evening would have gone so much easier if we had known that before hand, or if he had known how to step in and show the new moves and not merely talk them.
There is a trick to most dances - get that and you have the key to the dance. The trick in this dance is the transition from the tandem figure of eight into the circle. Most dancers are late getting around the figure of eight but the dance is forgiving and dancers can just flow into the circle from the center of the set without having to 'get back to place'. In other words: being a little late is a good thing here.
Anna Holden's Strathspey:- I love this one. Need I say more? And I love the story about how it came to be.
Warning- the diagram does not show the 2's cast into top place following the RHA as the 1s cross down.
The Bees of Maggieknockater:- Another dance I like a lot. But many words are needed. And a lot of energy is spend by dancers trying to understand the reelings. I have heard many different descriptions and most of them require me to remember three or four different patterns for the sequence.
K-I-S-S should be the operating principle. The simplest explanation is usually the best. If you are 1st or 3rd couple you dance the half reels either with your partner or your trail buddy - a good contra/square dance term for the person you keep meeting who is a rock you can rely on.
So, when you are with your trail buddy (not partner) the loop is always to the right. When you join your partner the loop will always be to the left. And you alternate right loop, left loop, right loop, left loop. Trail buddy, partner, trail buddy, partner.
The second piece to the key is *how* you switch between trail buddy and partner and back. If you dance into the center and right up to the other promenading couple you are in trouble - actually fairly serious trouble. You have basically erased all your wiggle room and tightened up your maneuvering space making it difficult to flow smoothly between the half reels. May I say Bad Move?
Now a Mechanical Note: In the reels you will always be coming back into the set from an END and starting your next loop dancing out the nearer SIDE.
Therefore I dance the loop of the half reel in promenade hold until I am in either top or third place and drop hands there (at the end of bar three) and use the fourth bar to curve onto the near side line facing out and it is during that bar that I join promenade hold with the other dancer (trail buddy or partner). Not in the center of the set. Can anybody sing "Antici-pay-ay-tion?"
Ythanside:- A favorite. Definitely a top 50. Maybe even Top 10.
Two keys to the dance. 1st key is (bars 7 - 8) getting 1st couple to not only change places up/down the dance giving RH but to *FACE* partner at the end. This requires a right-ish twirl that flows uninterruptedly into Right shoulder reels of three across the dance. Why dancers want to face out despite the instructions and emphasis given is beyond my ken. But it happens.
Second key - Bars 23-25:- the two half turns on the sides by the corner men and the corner women and the cast by 1st couple. The half turns have to move in toward the center line - a fudge if you will - and that takes control. It is a slow move in two strathspey bars flowing into the circles of three. And the 1st couple tend to push their cast and end up waiting for the corners.
The 50th Parallel:- Look what I found! (Thank you strathspey for posting videos!) I just had to throw this into the mix. And the responses were all positive. One of the dancers left muttering "this should be a program…". So Kilts and Ghillies Tea Dance 2019 short list? Ya sure, you betcha!
-- + -- -- + -- -- + -- -- + -- -- + -- -- + -- -- + --
Two other dances that have caught my eye that were not on this week's class are Deirdre MacCuish Bark's dance The Peat Road (32 R 3) leaflet, and George Will's dance Hunt the Gowk (32 R 4 square set).
Some day, RSN.
Jerry Pournelle - science fiction author and onetime computer magazine journalist. In his column he often talked about software, announced months or years before but still coming out Real Soon Now. His column was fun and why I read the PC centric magazine. I was then and still am an Apple user.
Saturday, November 18, 2017
8 August 2017 – New Haven
This is the beginning of my summer long Kilts and Ghillies tryout period where my secondary goal is to 'test' dances on real people to get a real response to the questions "is there any social redeeming value to this dance?' and 'is there enough social value to seriously consider it for the K&G Tea Dance?'
Saw ye my wee thing - (32 J 2) - a warm up
Dance No. 65 -- tryout for Book 52
Topsy Turvy - (32 S 3 set) - Glasspool
The Griffin - (32 R 3) - McMurtry
Land of the Rising Sun - (32 S 3 set) - Joubert
A Reel for Maria - (40 R 3) - McRanor
From Paper to Pearl - (32 S 3) - Collin
** * ** * ** + ** * ** * **
Topsy Turvy:- Very nice! Not the usual wonderful confection by Terry Glasspool. Simple, elegant, accessible. Definitely worth shortlisting. (Made the cut and is on the program for 2018)!
The Griffin:- Also very nice. Different. Timing the reels is a bit of a challenge for some. Not as hard as I remember it being. Definitely short listed.
Land of the Rising Sun:- This one got a thumbs up from the class and a thumbs down from me. Cute idea but not to my taste.
A Reel for Maria:- Nice little dance. Simple. Good for a breather. Ellen McRanaor used to teach the Kilts and Ghillies class so there was a little favoritism. (see The Suncoast Collection). Made it to the shortlist and onto the program!
From Paper to Pearl:- They liked it. It made the cut and onto the short list. It didn't make the program though. On the 2019 shortlist.
Saw ye my wee thing - (32 J 2) - a warm up
Dance No. 65 -- tryout for Book 52
Topsy Turvy - (32 S 3 set) - Glasspool
The Griffin - (32 R 3) - McMurtry
Land of the Rising Sun - (32 S 3 set) - Joubert
A Reel for Maria - (40 R 3) - McRanor
From Paper to Pearl - (32 S 3) - Collin
** * ** * ** + ** * ** * **
Topsy Turvy:- Very nice! Not the usual wonderful confection by Terry Glasspool. Simple, elegant, accessible. Definitely worth shortlisting. (Made the cut and is on the program for 2018)!
The Griffin:- Also very nice. Different. Timing the reels is a bit of a challenge for some. Not as hard as I remember it being. Definitely short listed.
Land of the Rising Sun:- This one got a thumbs up from the class and a thumbs down from me. Cute idea but not to my taste.
A Reel for Maria:- Nice little dance. Simple. Good for a breather. Ellen McRanaor used to teach the Kilts and Ghillies class so there was a little favoritism. (see The Suncoast Collection). Made it to the shortlist and onto the program!
From Paper to Pearl:- They liked it. It made the cut and onto the short list. It didn't make the program though. On the 2019 shortlist.
12 June 2017 -- Scotia
Aldebaran - (32 J 3) - Gregg
Rakes of Auld Reekie - (32 S 2) - Priddey
Winter Wonder - (32 R 3) - Lataille
The Elusive Muse - (32 J 3) - Wilson
Miss Jane Muirhead of Dunsmuir - (32 S 3) - Winter
Tidewater Reel - (32 R 4) - Gregg
Six dances - all good, if not excellent, ones. All a teacher's choice. Recommended one and all.
Rakes of Auld Reekie - (32 S 2) - Priddey
Winter Wonder - (32 R 3) - Lataille
The Elusive Muse - (32 J 3) - Wilson
Miss Jane Muirhead of Dunsmuir - (32 S 3) - Winter
Tidewater Reel - (32 R 4) - Gregg
Six dances - all good, if not excellent, ones. All a teacher's choice. Recommended one and all.
5 June 2017 -- Scotia
I am well behind and out of order. You will therefore get pretty much a straight listing of the dances Deborah and I taught with no, or very little, commentary.
Waltzing to Iowa - (32 W circle) - Schneider
Mary Erskine - (32 R 3) - Goldring
Bedrule - (32 S 3) - bk 33/7
Flowers of Edinburgh - (32 R 3) - 1/6
The Happy Meeting - (32 J 2) - 29/9
The Rose of the North - (32 S 3) - Goldring
The Meeting of the Waters - (48 R 3) - Boyd
Surprising Hannah - (32 S 3 set) - Collin
Shinkansen - (32 R 3) - Dix
Burn of Sorrow - (32 S 2) - Priddey
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