6 September 2017 – Westchester

Tonight was the start of the new dance season. The teacher of this first series is Charlotte and I asked her to put together the opening party program. And a nice little party it was too.

The dances:-

Chairman's Whim  -  (32 J 2)  - H. Boyd
Delvine Side  -  (32 S 3)  -  2/9
Welcome to Ayr  -  (32 J 3)  -  47/8
J. B. Milne  -  (32 R 3)  -  Foss
Inchmickery  -  (32 J 5)  -  Goldring
MacDonald of Keppoch  -  (128 M 4sq)  -  49/1

Slytherin House  -  (32 S 3)  -  Ronald
For Your Eyes Only  -  (32 R 3)  -  unknown

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Chairman's Whim:- A jig but done as a hornpipe. A simple ditty by our friend in Montréal Holly Boyd.

Delvine Side:- I love the music for this one. In my opinion the set played by Fiddlesticks and Ivory is THE definitive recording, 

Welcome to Ayr:- It is a tricky little dance, and it is the teacher who, the first time, usually gets bitten by not paying enough attention in the prep. That said it is a nice little dance that requires a little forethought and planning in the dancing.

J. B. Milne:- So much fun! In the greater NY area it is part of the standard repertoire.

Inchmickery:- A good dance but not in my Top 50. If I had to pick a 5C dance I would choose A Reel for Alice, The 50th Parallel, Black Mountain Reel, or any of a number of others first. But the consensus of the teachers in the area was to put in on the NY Branch's dance list. So it gets done a lot.

MacDonald of Keppoch:- This one is a hit, an all round palpable hit. The dance is good, the music is good and when the dancers make the transition they are ecstatic.

Slytherin House:-Another popular (around here) dance by Chris Ronald. The snake pass is not quite the normal one and that tends to throw me because here the move wars with not only my muscle memory but my mental expectations.

For Your Eyes Only:- Sorry no link for this one. It is one of the book 52 test dances and since there was no name attached to it we made one up. It was very well received. We can only hope that it was selected for the new book.