First class of the New Year - and a good one 'cause a "Dancers Choice Award was given out.
The dances were:
The Haggis Tree (32 S 2) Drewry
Admiral Beaufort (32 J 3 set-mixer) Price/Boyd
The Dunsmuir Strathpey (32 S 3 set) Drewry
Lapton Reel (32 R 2) Priddey - SDA #69
The Quaker's Daughter (32 S 3 set) Goldring
Reekie Linn (32 J 2) Jean Attwood
**********
The Haggis Tree - This is, as I have said before, one gorgeous dance. What a shame so few people are willing to work on "La Baratte" because the payback, at least for this dancer and his favourite partner, is immeasurably greater than the effort. I call it a One for oner - every time I dance La Baratte I get paid back in full for the one time effort spent learning the formation. A past winner of a Dancer's Choice Award, this dance is on its way to becoming a regular on the KandG ball program - not every year but once every other or every third year and, yes, it really is that good, which makes me wonder why it has been missed by so many generations of teachers all around the world. Back to La Baratte?
Admiral Beaufort: - I don't know if I can truly claim authorship of this dance. I took Ian Boyd's dance The Calm Before the Storm, and dropped the last eight bars, not wanting to teach "set and rotate" to two new dancers their very first night,and replace it with simple turns or something equally silly. I later replaced that figure with a set and link for three dancers in line - that is, in a line of three the left hand dancer dances through the middle to the other end of the line, and the middle and right hand dancers individually cast one place. So if the starting order is 1C 2C 3C we get a new order of 2M 3M 1M and for the ladies 3L 1L 2L. Dance it again and the order becomes 3M 1M 2M / 2L 3L 1L. New Partners all around!
The Dunsmuir Strathspey:- A leaflet by John Drewry, it is another dance that, in my humble opinion, really should be more popular than it is. Granted, it isn't one of his latest and greatest works, but it is an approachable dance with a low learning threshold (petronella in tandem is it) and enjoyable enough to have earned it a DCA on its first 'trial' in August and again this month.
Personally I just love the double lead-through progression which I first saw it in JD's dance Seagreen. I found myself 1st man in third place wondering how I had gotten there and that was a treat to savour as I am not often surprised.
Lapton Reel:- What attracted me to this dance were the interactions. What I questioned was the stop and go nature of the dance. The dancers in Wilton had some trouble seeing the structure but the dancers On the Heights didn't and gave it a DCA on first time trial. It is not a fugue but it has that flavour. The dance is made up of simple, basic everyday elements that everybody should know but the execution is not easy.
The Quaker's Daughter:- No DCA for this one. It is a nice dance to do on occasion but not special enough to do regularly. Wilton liked the first 24 bars but thought the final circle was a mere tack on. I think the assessment would be 'pleasant'.
Reekie Linn:- I liked the dance enough to program it on the 2004 K&G Ball. However the consensus by the dancers is - No Award. I think the differance of opinion lies in the fact that I like fractional turns and figs of 8 and other people seem not to. Oh well!
Showing posts with label John Drewry. Show all posts
Showing posts with label John Drewry. Show all posts
Wednesday, February 9, 2011
Saturday, August 28, 2010
New York City Summer Dance - 26 August 2010
Finally! An almost cool night for dancing and gender equality on the floor and five couples.
The night's dances were:
The Glowerin' Coo (32 J 3) J. Drewry – leaflet
The night's dances were:
The Glowerin' Coo (32 J 3) J. Drewry – leaflet
Glasgow Country Dance (32 M 3) 23/6 (Bob Campbell)
The Pillar Dance (40 J 4 sq) C. Ronald – The Big Apple
Broadway (32 S 3 set) C. Ronald – The Big Apple
Five Penny Ness (32 J 5) J. Attwood - leaflet
Spiffen (32 J 5 sq) Quarries et al
Fisherman's Reel (32 R 5 sq) Petyt & Gamon
Miss Johnstone of Ardrossan (32 R 5) R. Goldring – 14 Social 2000
**********
The Glowerin' Coo - Taught by James Ferguson, I found it a nice pleasant wee dance. It is one of John's earlier choreographies (c.1988).
Glasgow Country Dance - This dance used to be one the dances on Full Certificate teacher's exam. It is a little stinker that is the exception that proves the rule that women always have the difficult parts - the men have it easy. Not here. To dance this one neatly the man has to be darn near perfect.
The Pillar Dance - The Catholic school where the NY Branch dances has a very strange gym. On (in?) the basketball court there are six cast iron pillars supporting the floor above and around which the dancers have to fit their sets. so Chris Ronald wrote a dance with a pillar in the center of the set. Rather site specific, a bit on the simple side, but boy do you have to move - that pillar adds more distance than I anticipated. And its a mixer. Don't get to see many of those in SC dancing.
Broadway - I regret to say I did not dance this one, I was searching for music for Five Penny Ness, the dance which I was going to teach. My impression is that the Broadway is both straight forward and deceptive. What I like most though is the fact that Chris is always having fun with his dancing.
Five Penny Ness - So answer me this. Why is it that when we find a great dance from a choreographer we stop looking? Jean Attwood wrote The Falls of Rogie, a favourite dance in the tri-state area, but no one ever seems to program any of her other dances.
Spiffin' - I consider this one to be a little stinker. Not that there is anything inherently difficult about it but, for some reason, most people in my set, and most of us were teachers too, found it difficult to transition from the opening birl into the left (I repeat - left) shoulder parallel reels of three.
The Fisherman's Reel - I can only remember dancing this once before (courtesy of Brian Haeckler in New Haven). Much smoother this time around.
Miss Johnstone of Ardrossan - A very nice dance from Roy Goldring. He has brought two innovations to Scottish dancing that I approve of. He wrote several 88 bar reels for square sets - which means I never have to do the Round Reel of Eight ever again. Thank you Roy, thank you! And he has popularized 5C dances that are 1C start, not 1s and 3s, and are danced once and to the bottom.
**********
The Glowerin' Coo - Taught by James Ferguson, I found it a nice pleasant wee dance. It is one of John's earlier choreographies (c.1988).
Glasgow Country Dance - This dance used to be one the dances on Full Certificate teacher's exam. It is a little stinker that is the exception that proves the rule that women always have the difficult parts - the men have it easy. Not here. To dance this one neatly the man has to be darn near perfect.
The Pillar Dance - The Catholic school where the NY Branch dances has a very strange gym. On (in?) the basketball court there are six cast iron pillars supporting the floor above and around which the dancers have to fit their sets. so Chris Ronald wrote a dance with a pillar in the center of the set. Rather site specific, a bit on the simple side, but boy do you have to move - that pillar adds more distance than I anticipated. And its a mixer. Don't get to see many of those in SC dancing.
Broadway - I regret to say I did not dance this one, I was searching for music for Five Penny Ness, the dance which I was going to teach. My impression is that the Broadway is both straight forward and deceptive. What I like most though is the fact that Chris is always having fun with his dancing.
Five Penny Ness - So answer me this. Why is it that when we find a great dance from a choreographer we stop looking? Jean Attwood wrote The Falls of Rogie, a favourite dance in the tri-state area, but no one ever seems to program any of her other dances.
Spiffin' - I consider this one to be a little stinker. Not that there is anything inherently difficult about it but, for some reason, most people in my set, and most of us were teachers too, found it difficult to transition from the opening birl into the left (I repeat - left) shoulder parallel reels of three.
The Fisherman's Reel - I can only remember dancing this once before (courtesy of Brian Haeckler in New Haven). Much smoother this time around.
Miss Johnstone of Ardrossan - A very nice dance from Roy Goldring. He has brought two innovations to Scottish dancing that I approve of. He wrote several 88 bar reels for square sets - which means I never have to do the Round Reel of Eight ever again. Thank you Roy, thank you! And he has popularized 5C dances that are 1C start, not 1s and 3s, and are danced once and to the bottom.
Wednesday, August 18, 2010
New Haven Summer Social - 17 August 2010
Brian Haeckler teaching.
It is late summer and numbers are dwindling for the final days of relative freedom are upon us. We eked out a full set last night, and were down to six by the second half.
Last night's dances were:
Hazelbank (32 J 3) John Drewry
Celebration Strathspey (32 S 3) Bk 43
Broadford Bay (32 R 3) Skye Collection/L 32
Corian Strathspey (32 S 3set) Bk 43
Collie Law (32 J 2) R. Goldring
**********
Hazelbank - The short form: Good dance. It has an Espagnole which, for all the fancy name and fol-de-rol, is truly a very simple and, in my humble opinion, lovely and under rated formation of progression. (Only not as a first dance please). I used to have a mind like a steel trap, but with graying hair comes greater confusion. Sigh. One has to wonder why this dance is so infrequently done, 'cause I would have heard of it if it was popular. (Brian, I would definitely short list it for ball program.)
Celebration Strathspey - Yawn. Solid dance but "yawn". Perhaps with live music?
Broadford Bay - Not easy. Young, or well warmed but not tired legs a necessity, as is a working brain. I think the difficulty level is actually a positive, not a negative, as you need at least one interesting dinkum thinkum of a dance on a ball program. So is it a ball dance? I say yes.
Corian Strathspey - From the pen of the late Maurice Whitby (in whose honor Gary Thomas wrote the 32 S 2 dance Maurice). The first time I taught this dance the reception was at best luke warm - as it was last night. What was notable during the repeat we did, to the "encore" music (of Ian MacPhail), was that not only did our dancing improve so did our perception of the dance. For this dance the 'right' music is of critical importance.
It is late summer and numbers are dwindling for the final days of relative freedom are upon us. We eked out a full set last night, and were down to six by the second half.
Last night's dances were:
Hazelbank (32 J 3) John Drewry
Celebration Strathspey (32 S 3) Bk 43
Broadford Bay (32 R 3) Skye Collection/L 32
Corian Strathspey (32 S 3set) Bk 43
Collie Law (32 J 2) R. Goldring
**********
Hazelbank - The short form: Good dance. It has an Espagnole which, for all the fancy name and fol-de-rol, is truly a very simple and, in my humble opinion, lovely and under rated formation of progression. (Only not as a first dance please). I used to have a mind like a steel trap, but with graying hair comes greater confusion. Sigh. One has to wonder why this dance is so infrequently done, 'cause I would have heard of it if it was popular. (Brian, I would definitely short list it for ball program.)
Celebration Strathspey - Yawn. Solid dance but "yawn". Perhaps with live music?
Broadford Bay - Not easy. Young, or well warmed but not tired legs a necessity, as is a working brain. I think the difficulty level is actually a positive, not a negative, as you need at least one interesting dinkum thinkum of a dance on a ball program. So is it a ball dance? I say yes.
Corian Strathspey - From the pen of the late Maurice Whitby (in whose honor Gary Thomas wrote the 32 S 2 dance Maurice). The first time I taught this dance the reception was at best luke warm - as it was last night. What was notable during the repeat we did, to the "encore" music (of Ian MacPhail), was that not only did our dancing improve so did our perception of the dance. For this dance the 'right' music is of critical importance.
Wednesday, July 28, 2010
New Haven Summer Social - 27 July 2010
As is almost always the case, especially after having six couples for the last two weeks, when I plan six-couple dances, and I prepared three of them, I only get five and a half couples. One more person, please, just one more...
Tonight's dances were:
Hana Strathspey (32 S 3) Alex Gray
The Sea Caves (32 R 5) Green - Southern Stars
The Glenora Ferry (40 J 3) Terry Glasspool
Ythanside (32 S 3) John Drewry
A Winter's Walk (32 J 3) Pam Stephens
The Black Craig of Dee (32 R 3) Hugh Foss
**********
Hana Strathspey - I have the Tokyo 25th Anniversary CD with the music for this dance and the dance directions are in the liner notes. The music doesn't do it for me (what ever 'it' is), but the dancers liked it. The dance itself is a very basic dance - not a bad thing because there are basic dances and then there are boring basic dances which, according to the mob, this one isn't.
The dance is by Alex Grey, present chairman of the Royal Scottish Country Dance Society, who taught it at the New York Branch's Pawling Weekend this past May. It introduces his figure "The Helix" which is sweet.
I give it a 72 - but I am a tough grader.
The Sea Caves - By Jeff Green, whom I have never heard of before, but I hope to hear more of him in the future, 'cause this is a fun dance. It is from his Southern Stars Book.
What I find neat is the rather different progression - in a 5C set the usual is: 1s and 3s start together and after one round of the dance 1C is in 3rd place and 3C is at the bottom. So, starting at the top, each couple dances twice-and-to-the-bottom, just like all the 8x32 3C dances we have been doing since our first day of dancing.
Here 1C dance it once and end at the bottom while 3C end in top place and repeats from there. Different.
And for the active dancers in the reel of four - 8 bars is just enough time to dance half way round the set and I do mean just.
If I don't sound enthusiastic enough it is because I have been up since 5:30 this AM and I don't do mornings well at all. The dance made it onto my A list. OK?
The Glenora Ferry - by Terry Glasspool - by TERRY GLASSPOOL - ANOTHER good Terry Glasspool dance. Have you got it yet? Do I need to say more? Great dance. The circulating Allemande, where 1C (in 2nd place) start out and up while 2C 3C start out and down, is a thing of beauty.
Ythanside - a pastorale - another dance of surpassing beauty. Kudos to Leslie Kearney for introducing me to this dance. I had read it over but not recognized it for what it is. The high point is the last figure (circles) and the key to the circles is the last 4 bars of the previous figure:
Lines of 3 set a second time, then while 1C cast to own sides the 2 corner men, and the 2 corner ladies, turn BH half round in 2 bars. SLOWLY! and merge smoothly into the circles of three on the sides, then the circles of three must begin to speed up and merge into the circle of 6 which needs to keep accelerating to get everyone far enough round to make to own sides. Sweet! The previous 20 bars of dance is just a set-up for these last 12 bars.
Not only is it on my A list, it is in fact on my Top 50 Strathspey list, and is actually one of my top 10 strathspeys of all time. (And the music makes the dance so do use the right music).
A Winter's Walk - by Pam Stephens from Between the Rivers. I like what Pam is doing. This is a fun dance and definitely on my A list of Top 50 Jigs. And Between the Rivers is one of my two favourite dance books - the other being Dunsmuir Dances from the Dunsmuir class in the San Francisco area. These books have more winners than any other 5 books of dances I have seen.
The Black Craig of Dee - One of my favourites. Love that music. Like the dance.
Dance by Hugh Foss, music by Peter White. One of the top items on my "in-my-lifetime" wish list: that the Peter White/Hugh Foss albums be remastered and issued on CD.
The Foss dances are good, if not great, and certainly of historical importance, while the music Peter White wrote/arranged and plays approaches the sublime because theirs was a collaboration and the fit of music and dance is near perfect.
Tonight's dances were:
Hana Strathspey (32 S 3) Alex Gray
The Sea Caves (32 R 5) Green - Southern Stars
The Glenora Ferry (40 J 3) Terry Glasspool
Ythanside (32 S 3) John Drewry
A Winter's Walk (32 J 3) Pam Stephens
The Black Craig of Dee (32 R 3) Hugh Foss
**********
Hana Strathspey - I have the Tokyo 25th Anniversary CD with the music for this dance and the dance directions are in the liner notes. The music doesn't do it for me (what ever 'it' is), but the dancers liked it. The dance itself is a very basic dance - not a bad thing because there are basic dances and then there are boring basic dances which, according to the mob, this one isn't.
The dance is by Alex Grey, present chairman of the Royal Scottish Country Dance Society, who taught it at the New York Branch's Pawling Weekend this past May. It introduces his figure "The Helix" which is sweet.
I give it a 72 - but I am a tough grader.
The Sea Caves - By Jeff Green, whom I have never heard of before, but I hope to hear more of him in the future, 'cause this is a fun dance. It is from his Southern Stars Book.
What I find neat is the rather different progression - in a 5C set the usual is: 1s and 3s start together and after one round of the dance 1C is in 3rd place and 3C is at the bottom. So, starting at the top, each couple dances twice-and-to-the-bottom, just like all the 8x32 3C dances we have been doing since our first day of dancing.
Here 1C dance it once and end at the bottom while 3C end in top place and repeats from there. Different.
And for the active dancers in the reel of four - 8 bars is just enough time to dance half way round the set and I do mean just.
If I don't sound enthusiastic enough it is because I have been up since 5:30 this AM and I don't do mornings well at all. The dance made it onto my A list. OK?
The Glenora Ferry - by Terry Glasspool - by TERRY GLASSPOOL - ANOTHER good Terry Glasspool dance. Have you got it yet? Do I need to say more? Great dance. The circulating Allemande, where 1C (in 2nd place) start out and up while 2C 3C start out and down, is a thing of beauty.
Ythanside - a pastorale - another dance of surpassing beauty. Kudos to Leslie Kearney for introducing me to this dance. I had read it over but not recognized it for what it is. The high point is the last figure (circles) and the key to the circles is the last 4 bars of the previous figure:
Lines of 3 set a second time, then while 1C cast to own sides the 2 corner men, and the 2 corner ladies, turn BH half round in 2 bars. SLOWLY! and merge smoothly into the circles of three on the sides, then the circles of three must begin to speed up and merge into the circle of 6 which needs to keep accelerating to get everyone far enough round to make to own sides. Sweet! The previous 20 bars of dance is just a set-up for these last 12 bars.
Not only is it on my A list, it is in fact on my Top 50 Strathspey list, and is actually one of my top 10 strathspeys of all time. (And the music makes the dance so do use the right music).
A Winter's Walk - by Pam Stephens from Between the Rivers. I like what Pam is doing. This is a fun dance and definitely on my A list of Top 50 Jigs. And Between the Rivers is one of my two favourite dance books - the other being Dunsmuir Dances from the Dunsmuir class in the San Francisco area. These books have more winners than any other 5 books of dances I have seen.
The Black Craig of Dee - One of my favourites. Love that music. Like the dance.
Dance by Hugh Foss, music by Peter White. One of the top items on my "in-my-lifetime" wish list: that the Peter White/Hugh Foss albums be remastered and issued on CD.
The Foss dances are good, if not great, and certainly of historical importance, while the music Peter White wrote/arranged and plays approaches the sublime because theirs was a collaboration and the fit of music and dance is near perfect.
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