28 August 2018 – New H<- -aven

The last of the Guinea Pig sessions!

I taught

Cutty Sark  –  (32 J 3) –  Bk 40
The Lea Rig  –  (32 S 2)  –  Bk 21
Beach Dancer  –  (32 J 3)  – Eddy West
One Set Short of a Hundred  –  (32 S 3 set)  – Paris Book
Rory O'More  –  (32 J 2)  –  Bk 1
Jaywalking  –  (40 J 3)  – Tyler
Trip to Timber Ridge  –  (32 R 3)  – Bk 52 (Henderson)

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Cutty Sark:-  A simple no thinkum warmup dance. Nice to know about

The Lea Rig:- Once an old favourite and we burned it out and stopped doing it.
But We have a at least one new generation of dancers who haven't seen it before. Resurrection time? Ya, you bettcha. And the response from those dancers was such that it is one the K&G dance.

Beach Dancer:- Contra dancing has a term for dances that requires a bit extra in energy, or thought, or anticipation, or moving smartly. These dances are called Zesty contras.

This dance has a 4 bar sequence that earns itself that term.  The track needs to be completed in 4 bars - most dancers would automatically time it in 6. _Edinburgh, we have a problem._  Well sort of…

The real  problem though is the next 4 bars. From a zesty pace to a very sedate 4 bar RH turn.  :-)  Oh my do the dancers have to work on their brakes.

Made the cut and it is on the Tea Dance program.  (BTW - Eddy West was a New Zealander).

One Set Short of a Hundred:-  No spectacular formations. No tricky phrasing, no surprises - and yet it earned a place on my Top Fifty List. I just haven't yet gotten around to putting it there. From the Paris Book which is quickly gaining my attention.  Definite Thumbs up for the dance and a thumbs up for the book.

Rory O'More:- Need a different dance with a poussette? Look in Book 1- there are many. Rory O'More is one of them and is ok, so is Meg Merrilees (24 R 2) which is on the upcoming K&G Tea Dance. I would not recommend a steady diet of any one of them though.

Jaywalking:- Interesting (even in a Chinese sense). Uses Best Set in the Hall figure (for lack of consensus on a better name) into half reel of four. Worth a look. I liked it. but can your class handle it?  A picture is worth a thousand words, so…

diagram courtesy of SCDDB and Keith Rose

Trip to Timber Ridge:- This one is neat! Highly Recommended. Two, maybe even three, thumbs up. Another Bk 52 gem. Fast moving and exciting. Fun, fun, fun until daddy takes my ghillies away. And the music helps make it. 

We all have our usual list of program enders. Reel of the Royal Scots, Reel of the 51st Division, Etc. etc. (what are yours?)  Trip to Timber Ridge just made it onto my list and will, in fact, be closing the 2019 Kilts and Ghillies Tea Dance. It has that 'thing'.