Summer 2014 –– At long last an update. 

Fall, winter and spring were mostly limited classes within a structure that limited exploration. Ball prep, beginner classes. etc.
So this is what I (and others) did over the summer.

Monday 15 September 2014 - Scotia (NYC) beginners hour

Fish and Chips - (32 J 4) - Bruce Hamilton - Let’s All Dance Too

The Chicago Loop - (32 R 3) - Kent Smith - Chicago Collection

The Mad Hatter -(32 J 3) - Iain Boyd - Happy to Meet

The Kingston Jig - (32 J 3) - Roy Goldring - 24 Graded and Social

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It really was a beginners night, we had three. These days three at one time is a lot. The usual is a drip and drab, singles wandering in at any hour. I used Fish and Chips as a warm up. No footwork, just walking. Got them smiling and introduced the minimum geography - up (toward the music), down/off, men’s side ladies’ side etc.

I then used The Chicago Loop to introduce turns. 2 bar, 4 bar, once round and once and a half and circle 6 (they got circle 4 in Fish  and Chips). They did well even though this is a thinkum dance requiring some mental agility - twice you get turn RH, cast, turn LH. Then the 1C have to deal with cross RH, cast; turn RH 1-1/2. Many intermediate dancers have trouble with this for some reason beyond my ken. 

The Mad Hatter is one of my standard introductions to corners.

The Kingston Jig was my attempt to get the beginners through one more dance. The usual practice in Scotia is first hour and a bit is for the beginners while the second half is for experienced dancers. I did this as the second half opener leading into the next teacher.

Tuesday 26 August 2014 - New Haven Summer Social Dancing

Cactus Flower - (32 J 5) - dancers Jane Lataille - Still Enough to Dance

Basic Knitting - (32 J 3) -  Iachini (San Francisco)

Nethy Bridge - (32 S 2) -  John Drewry -Greenburn 2

The Colonel’s Bed - (32 J 3) - John Drewry - Deeside 1

Yet Another Birthday - (32 S 3) - set Holly Boyd - Montreal Moments

Scotia - (32 R 3) -  John Drewry - Brodie

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Not the best of nights. I had one very tired dancer who, in that state, couldn’t handle oddness.

Cactus Flower is for five dancers, with a newish figure ‘capstans’ and he never managed to remember to start those on time. Then I did a dance from San Francisco’s Solstice party and while simple it is not easy. There is symmetry but you can not be asleep. He left. Oops. My bad.

He is still talking to me and still dancing. Whew.

Nethy Bridge is not one of John’s better dances. The report from the floor was ‘tedious’, and for a class that qualifies as ‘advanced’ the progression within the Right Hands Across was never done with ease. 

The Colonel’s Bed however did get a Golden Ghillie award from the class. This one they want to do again, not because they finally figured it out, but because it was fun. The parallel diagonal reels are a bit odd looking, you don’t dance with your partner all that much, but still it is fun.

Yet Another Birthday by Holly Boyd is a keeper! The music on the accompanying CD is just superb. Dance received a Golden Ghillie from the class the first time I taught it back in May of 2013, and it keeps getting raves.

Another New Haven premier was Scotia by John Drewry,  which also got a Golden Ghillie from the dancers and this the first time I have taught it or the class danced it.  The best part of it all is that the dance is accessible! And Fun! (Did I mention that part?)

Tuesday 19 August 2014 - New Haven Summer Social

A Wee Nothin’ - (32 J 2) - Elaine Brunken

Piper’s Brae - (32 S 4) - Barry Priddey - Jacobite Book

The Banff Hornpipe - (32 H 3) - John Drewry - Bankhead 4

Ann of Scotia - (32 S 3) - Chris & Sue Ronald 

Mary Erskine - (32 H 3) - Roy Goldring

Dancing Dogs - (32 S 2) - Holly Boyd - Here We Go Again

Water of Fleet - (32 J 4) - Roy Goldring

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A Wee Nothin’ is pretty much just that. A baby jig that is almost, but not quite, a throwaway. It is different enough to keep it from being a ‘oh gag me, not again’ dance. Good for warming up the feet and the minds. But not too often please, an advanced class would be quickly bored.

Piper’s Brae :- I love most of the Barry Priddey dances that I have taught and danced. This one is an exception. I got the choke sign on this one. For a good description try ‘tedious’. The petronella progression is a nice figure, he has used it elsewhere, but here it isn’t enough to rescue the dance. Pass this one by.

The Banff Hornpipe by John Drewry. By now it should be obvious that I have been looking through his incredible output and teaching his dances in his honour. Here is another gem, another recipient of the dancer’s Golden Ghillie Award. And no they don’t like everything I teach. But they definitely have refined sensibilities. If they like a dance enough to award a GG I would take their word on it. Not easy though. Not for a ball program unless it has been a regular in the local class(es) for at least 2 years. This is an advanced class and the opening figure took a good bit of practice.

Ann of Scotia, by Sue and Chris Ronald is a gem. Written to the pipe tune Highland Cathedral which was the wedding march Ann was was married to it is a fun, flirtatious dance. I gave it a Teacher’s Choice Award the first time I danced it and my class in New Haven gave it a Golden Ghillie as well.

Mary Erskine by Roy Goldring is a good journeyman dance. It is not special. It will not win an Oscar except as part of a body of work that, in the end, is deserving of recognition.

Holly Boyd is writing some very good dances these days that deserve your attention. Dancing Dogs, however, is not one of her best. Doable, even enjoyable, it isn’t ‘to die for’ beautiful or fun. Solid journeyman work. Slightly different,  it can get the juices flowing and is worth some consideration.

Water of Fleet, Roy Goldring. This is a good one. It received a Dancer’s Choice award, a step below the Golden Ghillie. They liked it, want to keep doing it, but the response was just as little tepid. So NOT a GG recipient. The double double capstan figure is the star of the dance.

Tuesday 12 August 2014 - New Haven Summer Social

Dragonflies - (32 S 5some) - Jane Lataille

Hunter’s Moon - (32 J 4) - John Drewry -Bankhead 4

Sands of Morar - (32 S 3) - Barry Priddey - Bk 45/6

Chevy Chase - (32 R 3) - Barry Priddey - Anniversary Tensome

Eileen Watt’s Strathspey - (32 S 3 set) - Lewis Derrick - Scottish Dancer #1

Gentle Lady - (40 S 3 set) - Sandra Bethray- unpublished

Cranberry Tart - (32 J 3) - Terry Glasspool

Olive’s Strathspey - (32 S 3) - Drewry - Bankhead 2

Dragonflies by Jane Lataille is just stunning. I use the Susie Petrov 5x32S recording from her vinyl album “Hold the Lass ‘till I get Her”. The lead tune is ‘Hamish Henderson’s Refusal” and the set is stunning. This is a great combination. This dance is one of my top 10. So is the music.

Hunter’s Moon has a quick time La Baratte, a touch of The Bees of Maggieknockater, a smidgeon of Blooms of Bon Accord, and a not-so-special outro. It is OK, but not an award recipient. My reaction was 'been there, done that".

Sands of Morar by Barry Priddey is a good dance. Good enough to be picked up and published by the Society. It has one of my favorite figures, The Toubillon… and yet… solid, likable but not a favorite. Standard repertoire ready but not in the same class as Duke, Montgomeries’, Mrs Stewart’s, Delvine Side. I keep this one in my ready file, ready for when I need that ‘something’, when what I planned isn’t going to work.

The next dance, Chevy Chase, also by Barry Priddey, did get a Golden Ghillie from the class! 

I have a recording for this dance but is is not of much note. I used the music for a dance called “The Pawling Porch”. It is on the CD by Jim Lindsay, Muriel Johnstone and Keith Smith accompanying Elaine Brunken’s dance book A Moment in Time. 

In a digression - Good dances here, great music too. I don’t usually make commercial plugs but I am going to. Get them! Get both the book, and the CD. This is good stuff!

(I wouldn’t turn down an offer for any of Barry Priddey’s dances either. He turned out a good number of Golden Ghillie dances). 

Eileen Watt’s Strathspey - good dance. I like it. The class liked it. It is in my ready box and on my short lists (for ball programs). I obviously didn’t read the magazine as well I I thought I had ‘cause I missed both dances published there. You don’t know? Well go back and look. Two good dances just hiding away in plain sight.

Gentle Lady was a test dance - maybe not a world premier but close. Currently unpublished.

Cranberry Tart is a Terry Glasspool dance that has made itself a favorite in the Tri-state area. For good reason. 

Olive’s Strathspey was taught in New Haven by Leslie Kearney at one of the In Memoriam classes shortly after John died. It was liked. So I tried it. I did not find it anything special. I probably chose the ‘wrong’ music. It is a nice dance, it is doable by a mixed class as there is nothing especially John Drewryish about the dance. 

Tuesday - 5 August 2014 - Ho-Ho-Kus, NJ

Jubilee Jig - (32 J 3)

Book 49 test dance - (128 M 4)

Cardross House - (32 S 3) - Elaine Brunken - Moments in Time

Quarries’ Jig - (32 J 3 ) - Bk 36/3 (Kent Smith)

The Music Will Tell You - (32 R 4) - Bk 41/6 (Peter Avery)

The Duke of Perth - (32 R 3)

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Summer dance in New Jersey! A new and wonderful thing with some minor glitches that need to be worked out. The evenings were to be team taught. Anybody who wanted could bring a dance and brief it. There is also a teacher candidate class being sponsored by the New Jersey Branch and these classes were opportunities to get some of the candidates the necessary teaching experience  for their units 4&5. It didn’t work as smoothly as we had hoped. Oh well.

This class was the last one of the summer. 

Jubilee Jig - standard opening/warm up dance. Supposedly a no brainer. 

Book 49 Test dance - got fair to good reviews from the dancers.

Cardross House :- The dance is from Elaine Brunken, the music from the accompanying CD by Muriel Johnstone, Keith Smith and Jim Lindsay. WOW! The music alone puts the dance into my top 10. The dance ain’t bad on its own merit. Check it out. A keeper! Golden Ghillie Award from the floor.

Quarries’ Jig - I like this one. Always have. I have never had the balls to teach it to this group but Fred Cotton has no fear! He taught it, taught it well, at so it went - well.

The Music will Tell You - a modern dance from the Society (Bk 41). The reading of it has never inspired me. I was pleasantly surprised but no, it will not go into my to 50 reel list.

The Duke of Perth :- A standard and for good reasons. Personally I have trouble with this one, not because of the dance but because of how poorly the set to and turn corners is so commonly danced.  Corners tend to forget that it is an equal opportunity dance, that they are just as important, no, more important  than the active couple. If corners don’t move in to help the ones, the one’s can not get around and back to the centre.

Monday - 4 August 2014 - Scotia (NYC)

The Red Baron - (32 R 2) - Iain Boyd

Cardross House - (32 S 3) - Elaine Brunken - Moments in Time

Songs Without Words - (32 J 4) - Shun Inagoki

Bittersweet - (32 S 3 set) - Rbt Gregg

Mairi’s Wedding - (40 R 3) - Cosh

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The Red Baron :- Nice intro to an evening. The ‘dogfight’ figure of eight, Snoopy in the lead, the Red Baron chasing is a nice figure.

Cardross House :- It is now in my top 50 all time. Dance is pretty good and the music is sublime. Jim Lindsay actually plays the accordion in a style I like! Very expressive. The Waulkin ‘ of the Fauld (trad); Smailholm Tower (MAJ); Roy’s Wife of Aldivaloch (trad); Below the Aigas Dam (Cunningham). Four fabulous tunes that have that swing! Get the CD!  

Songs Without Words :- I don’t remember where I ran across this dance, but it had been niggling at me for a while. I have been reluctant to teach it because the progression, to me, read as  trouble prone. But, again the music finally drove to attempt it so I tried in in New Haven in late July where I have complete faith in the dancer’s abilities. The is all experienced and almost all advanced dancers. They didn’t give it a Golden Ghillie but they liked the dance, handled it easily ‘made sense’ as they put it. So Scotia was a second trial - a more demanding one as the dancers, while experienced are not all advanced. Again handled with aplomb. Two Thumbs Up.

Monday - 28 July 2014 - Scotia (NYC)

The Flying Spur - (32 J 3) - Drewry - Canadian Book

What more can I say than this: A Golden Ghillie from the every class where I have taught it and my own Teacher’s Choice award. Not the easiest dance to teach - it is a very Drewry Drewry dance. Essentially two dances in one - one dance for 1st couple and a different dance for 2nd and 3rd couples with some moments of intersection between the two. Takes effort to learn but all the effort is well rewarded therefore worth it. The New Haven dancers do not want to lose it and so want it kept current. I am in fact planning to program it on the Kilts and Ghillies Tea dance a second year in a row. Not my usual practice.

Tuesday - 29 July 2014 - New Haven Summer Social

Dragonflies - (32 S 5some) - Jane Lataille

Songs without Words - (32 J 4) - Shun Inagoki

Cardross House - (32 S 3) - Elaine Brunken - Moments in Time

Devil’s Bowling Green - (32 R 3) - Barry Priddey - Anniversary Tensome

Jan Wilson’s Strathspey - (32 S 3) - Drewry - Australian Bk

The Cranberry Tart - (32 J 3) - Glasspool

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Dragonflies :- One of my standard, “gee we only have five dancers but we need to get started” dances. Again a good dance but I have paired with really good music - Susie Petrov and Local Hero’s 5x32S recording that leads off with Hamish Henderson’s Refusal. From the vinyl album Hold the Lass ‘Till I get Her.

Songs With Out Words :- The first trial of this dance (on my part). A Success. Dancer’s liked it and, most importantly, it wasn’t the bear trap I thought it might be. Just the one section that takes careful teaching as dancer’s have to fit the parts together where there isn’t time to think.

Cardross House :- taught because I liked the music, had planned to use the music for another dance and just couldn’t do it. I had the music and I had the book and the dance the music was for. And I just had to look at the dance. And it was good. And the dancer’s gave it a Golden Ghillie! And now I am waffling on including the dance on a ball program. Different musicians, a different experience, and I am sold on what I have and considering what the experience at a ball would be. It wouldn’t be the same. And my mind is churning…

The Devil’s Bowling Green :- Another keeper from Barry Priddey. Good for the corners as well as 1st couple. Has DT with an extra twist. I am missing about 5 of his books. Is there anyone out there willing to part with them?

Jan Wilson’s Strathspey :- This one reads like it should be rave but I didn’t get much enthusiasm when it was over. I still think it is good but I obviously need to to try it out again. One possibility is that the music I have for the dance just doesn’t cut it. It is accordion band with a somewhat strident style. 

The Cranberry Tart :- a perennial favorite. 

Tuesday - 22 July 2014 - New Haven Summer Social

A Taste of Cloves - (32 J 3) - set Glasspool

Book 49/5 Dance (test) - (40 R 3) - anon.

Twixt Silver and Gold - (32 S 3) - Goldring

The Bonsai Tree - (32 J 3) - Drewry - Cherry Blossom

The Cat and the Fiddle - (32 J 3) - Drewry - Greenburn 3

Dancing with Swans - (32 S 3) - H. Boyd - Here We Go Again

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A Taste of Cloves :- A Terry Glasspool poem, on the inside cover of one of his books. The consensus is that he writes better dances than poems, and his poems are better than the dances he writes into his poems. It was a fun experiment. Good for a laugh but…

Twixt Silver and Gold :- Another dance that I say is a 10 and the dancers say ‘nice’. From my point of view, outside looking in, the choreography is fabulous. It isn’t. apparently, rewarding enough to the dancers. I think it is worth it, but I haven’t actually danced it. On the list for another trial.

The Bonsai Tree :- Another Drewry, typical Drewry, with patterns seen elsewhere but here the combination just doesn’t seem to excite. Another dance that needs to be retested - but with different music?

The Cat and the Fiddle :- This one brought smiles and applause, mild applause though. A keeper IMHO - the half reel of 3 on the sides into diagonal half reels of four is a sweet combination. Different enough to be rewarding.

Dancing with Swans :- Another Holly Boyd and this one too brought smiles and applause, but not enough enthusiasm to earn a Golden Ghillie. Even so, I will keep this on my ball program short list. It is a sweet dance, just idiosyncratic enough and good enough to be rewarding to the dancers.

Tuesday - 15 July 2014 - New Haven Summer Social

Bow Fiddle Rock 32 J 3 Drewry - Greenburn 3

Out of Africa 32 R 4 Drewry - Greenburn 3

Jim Johnstone’s Str. 32 S 4 Goldring

Andy Imbrie’s Hornpipe 32 H 3 McOwen&McGarrity - unpublished

The Flying Spur 32 J 3 Drewry - Canadian

Bittersweet 32 S 3 set Rbt. Gregg

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Bow Fiddle Rock :- A second outing for this dance, and again it got a positive response. Not only a thumbs up but a Golden Ghillie. They liked it! A lot! And it is simple, very accessible, with just one moment of spice and that’s enough to put it over the top.

Out of Africa :- I was not impressed. It seems like John was definitely running out of ideas around this time. I might put it on a program of just Drewry dances, but I think there are better dances for ball programs that bring far more pleasure and joy to the dancers than this one does. As always this is just my humble opinion. You might not agree. You might find this a spectacular dance. You will have to see for yourself. 

Jim Johnstone’s Strathspey :- I learned this dance from Linda Henderson (of Alamo, CA) at Pinewoods Scottish Session I, 2014). A decent journeyman dance from Roy Goldring. She was mentored by Jim Johnstone, a top accordion player and band leader,  a friend of her father.

Andy Imbrie’s Hornpipe :- A second dance that I learned this from Linda. She learned it from the musician who wrote the tune and the dance, Barbara McOwen, who just happened to be playing  for our class. 

Tuesday - 8 July 2014 - Ho-Ho-Kus (NJ) Summer dance (team teaching)

Driving Through Eutaw 32 J 3 Leary - unpublished

Fair Donald 32 S 3

The Gilly Flower 32 J 3

Flowers of Edinburgh 32 R 3

Winter Wonder 32 R 3 Lataille

Delvine Side 32 S 3

The White Cockade 32 R 3

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Driving Through Eutaw :- Written while on Interstate 20 in Alabama, passing through Eutaw, and listening to Ye Banks and Braes  (8x32 J( off  the CD Robert Burns Dances by Marian Anderson & her band. Nice little dance. 

Fair Donald :- a solid repertoire piece. Good enough to be on many a program.

The Gilly Flower :- a candidate’s choice for the session. Not mine. The figures are interesting but I do not find 6 hands ACROSS rewarding in any way. No matter what I do I find myself treading on somebody’s heels. In a demonstration team maybe, given the probable ability and training. Not only any short list I have.

Winter Wonder :- From the pen of Jane Lataille, but this one pushes the envelope to the straining point. Nice moves but the timing is odd enough to make some of the dancers cringe. Not as easy as it reads.

Tuesday - 1 July 2014 - Ho-Ho-Kus (NJ) Summer dance

College Hornpipe 32 R 3 Bk 20/12

Bk 49 Test Dance #7 32 S 3 set Anon.

Highland Rambler 40 H 3 Goldring

Fireworks 40 R 3 Paris - Inverness Diamond Jubilee

Miss Johnstone of Ardrossan  32 S Goldring - 14 Social Dances for 2000

The Pawling Porch 32 R 2 Elaine Brunken - Moments in Time

Giradet House 32 R 4 Carr - EMO 15th Anniversary

Tuesday - 17 June 2014 - Ho-Ho-Kus (NJ) Summer dance

warm up

Bk 49 (Test) Dance # 5 40 R 3 Anon.

Welcome to Ayr 32 J 3

General Stuart’s Reel 32 R 3

Barbara’s Strathspey 32 S 3 Bk 46/1

Reel of Mey 49 J 3

Linnea’s Strathspey 32 S 3

Monday - 28 April 2014 - New Haven Friend’s Meeting House (Drewry Night)

Bow Fiddle Rock 32 J 3 Drewry - Greenburn 3

Miss Florence Adams 32 S 3 Drewry - 38/7

Thomas Glover’s Reel 32 R 3 Drewry - Cherry Blossom Bk

Victorian Strathspey 32 S 3 Drewry - leaflet

The Colonel’s Bed 32 J 3 Drewry - Deeside 1

Out of Africa 32 R 4 Drewry - Greenburn 3

13 + 20 November 2013 - Westchester

!3 November 2013

2nd session of the series and a good one. We manage 8 dances over the evening, warming up with Kent Smith's Chicago Loop and then dancing City of Belfast without a talk through. 

There is not a lot of story around the dances this week so 

This night's dances were:

Chicago Loop  (32 R 3) Kent Smith - Chicago Collection

City of Belfast  (32 S 3 set)  Mulholland - Belfast Jubilee

The Hazel Tree  (32 J 3)  Drewry - Brodie Book

The Docent's Tour  (32 S 3)  T. Wilson - Measures of Pleasure

Jessie's Hornpipe  (32 R 3)  Bk 8/9

Waverley  (48 J 3)  Bk 15/12

All for One  (32 S 3 set)  McMurtry - Dragonfly Book

The Punchbowl  (32 R 3)  Bk 5/5

====================================================

20 November 2013

The basics class was larger: last weeks beginners were back along with a couple who started last year but have been *very* busy this fall. Things are looking up here, 'cause a group without beginners is a dying group. 

And that is my fear for Westchester. When I started teaching this group I could pull anything, and I do mean anything, out of my little box and they would handle it. Even a John Drewry piece of spaghetti choreography. I can't do that now. I now have to be careful what I choose and with teaching Shinkansen, in a bit of a time constraint ,was a mistake.

3rd session of the current series.

Warm up dance:

The Findlays' Jig  (32 J 3)   Goldring - 14 Social Dances 2000

The No Talk Through:

The Hazel Tree  (32 J 3)  Drewry - Brodie Book

Intermediate Class:

The Fountain Strathspey  (32 S 3 set) Rbt. Gregg

Miss Hadden's Reel  (32 J 3)  Bk 23/5

Social hour:

The Silver Tassie  (32 S 3)  Drewry - L1

Blue Bonnets  (32 J 2)  

Shinkansen  (32 R 3)  A. Dix - Reel Friends 3

**********

The Findlays' Jig –  It is basic and different. A hard combination to achieve. And I like cuddle casts if the dancers do more than 'make the motions' and actually acknowledge on another.

The Hazel Tree – I like the Espagnole! It isn't hard - it is simple!. So why all the panic stricken faces? It is only a half double fig. Eight… in a different orientation. Last weeks teaching actually took. They did a beautiful job of it.

The Fountain Strathspey – This one took more time than I anticipated. The opening figure took a lot more teaching than I planned. I need to re-think how and what I say cause what I did worked but not well. When done well a keeper!

Miss Hadden's Reel – An eye opener for me. Inverting a line of three should not be a mind twisting concept. But it was this day. Another "re-think the process" dance. 

The Silver Tassie – Taught to the beginners downstairs, and opening the social dance period. Rondel is not my favourite figure. I do it well but very few others do. It is all about timing.

Blue Bonnets – good music but even that doesn't carry the dance. Good for beginners, otherwise tedious, in the extreme. (IMHO, of course)

Shinkansen – Again I misjudged. The meanwhile figure is the same as in Mrs Hamilton of Wishaw.

1C sets and dances an 6 bar track; 2C sets and dances a 4 bar track; 3C sets and dances a 2 bar track. 

Even five years ago this would not have been a problem for this group. It is now. Sigh. 

6 November 2013 - Westchester

First night of a new series in Westchester.
A new lot of beginners (2), a couple who contra and swing dance. The old lot of beginners haven't been showing up. Not because they have decided to stay away but because life has gotten in their way.
A cataract surgery; premature grand twins; the death of a sister; an aging parent; and so on and so forth.

One thing that became clear after this evening is that the Westchester group is not what it used to be.
The greying of the class has taken firm hold, and politics has made it a bit worse…  I am not going there!

I opened with Romaine Butterfield's dance Cabbages and Kings  which has become one of my standard, any place any where any group, dances. There is enough in it to keep it interesting even for experienced dancers walking it as a warm up.

The next dance, also from down under, was Home and Away, by Barry Skelton. It uses the Best Set in the Hall figure, and possibly predates that dance. What I like is the alternate ending - half Dolphin Reels of 3 on the diagonal. First made popular by the publication of The Dolphin Book, 'dolphin reels' were also used in Barry Priddey's Flight of the Falcon which predates the Dolphin Book. Who may have invented the figure before Barry Priddey I do not know.

I know the class has been taught Best Set in the Hall, and more than once in the last year. The walk through looked really good. So I moved on with out doing extensive walk-throughs. When they danced it they looked like they had never seen it before and would have benefited from a complete reteaching from scratch. In retrospect I don't think it would have been beneficial.

I have been teaching here part of each year since the mid 1990s. This was a wake up for me. I know they had been sliding downhill but I have not seen it this bad before or, actually, acknowledged that it was this bad.. And looking back, they have lost a lot of their good dancers over the last two years. I should not have been surprised.

I continued the precedent set by Sue Ronald which is to teach a 'No Talk Through' dance each week to be danced the next week. It seems to sharpen the mind a bit. This week I taught City of Belfast. The music by Marian Anderson is lovely. So lovely that Chris Ronald used this music for his dance Broadway. The New York Branch instituted a "dance list" a few years ago, and no dance can stay on it more than three years. Broadway is coming off, and it looks like City of Belfast is going on. I see no reason not to keep using this music by Marian Anderson and her band, it is simply, IMHO, too good to lose.

The second hour, or what remains of it after a very social tea 'break', is dedicated to social dancing with the beginning/basic dancers included.

The first dance was Flowers of Edinburgh taught by Deb Leary. I then taught Delvine Side. (It is the music, that great music by the San Francisco Band Fiddlesticks and Ivory). This album is a must have.
Even if you don't care for fiddle bands get this one! I consider this music for Delvine Side to be THE definitive recording. I have never heard a better or more energy filled recording or live performance.

**********
Cabbages and Kings - (32 J 3)  Butterfield - The Harbour City
Home and Away - (32 J 3)  Skelton - The Celtic Book
My Mither's Aye Glow'rin' Owre Me - (32 J 2)  Hugh Foss - Song Tunes
City of Belfast - (32 S 3 set)  Mulholland - Diamond Jubilee Dances - Belfast Branch
Delvine Side - (32 S 3) Bk 2/9

28 October 2013 – New Haven Friends Meeting

This evening was also a very experimental evening.

Through my work with the SCD DataBase I ran across two very interesting Hugh Foss dances,
a 16 bar strathspey Somebody, and a two couple jig , wait for this… My Mither's Aye Glow'rin' Owre Me, both from Hugh's book Dances from Song Tunes.

Both were hits with the dancers. Both are going to show up on the Kilts and Ghillies Tea Dance. This year it will be My Mither's… next year, maybe, Somebody.

Without question Hugh Foss qualifies as a genius. How else could a dance, comprised of simple figures [ advance & retire; half rights & lefts; set, cast, cross over, set; 4 bar cast, turn, cast; half fig eight; half rights & lefts ] be so confusing in the dancing. It isn't just the piece count and the memory problem.

The other dance of his, Somebody, is couple facing couple around the room. A different orientation in which to dance a half strathspey poussette. That threw even me. You really need to be aware of the orientation, where the women's positions are. That is the critical diagonal on which the dance is constructed.

The dances I taught were:

Granville Market  (32 J 3)  2nd Graded Book
Somebody  (32 S 2 RtR)  Hugh Foss
My Mither's Aye Glow'rin' Owre Me  (32 J 2)  Hugh Foss
The Flying Spur  (32 J 3)  John Drewry
Lady Jane's Fancy  (32 R 3)  Peter Price
Lassie wi' the lint white locks  (32 S 2) Barry Priddey

**********

Granville Market – a nice simple jig for everyone. Not a throwaway like some 'simple' jigs. Devised by            Elinor Vandegrift one of my favourite people. She was my tutor when I stood my Full Cert. back in 1998. She also devised a very fun dance (the music!) - Monterey Mixer.

Somebody – From Hugh Foss' book Dances to Song Tunes. A Dancer's Choice Award recipient!
                    Recommended! I have seen it on maybe 1 program, Asilomar I believe. So I took a look. I was taken by it. I really like Hugh Foss's dances. They are 'different', and he is one of the giants whose shoulders every modern dance devisor stands on whether they know it or not. So I now choose to program his dances when I can.

The response from the class, beyond the DCA, was "put it on the ball, but not this year. Give us more time to become comfortable with it."

My Mither's Aye Glow'rin' Owre Me –  Another Dancer's Choice Award! Another "ball program"! Another dance from Hugh Foss' book Dances to Song Tunes. Another Keeper! But… keep your head.

The Flying Spur – An early dance by John Drewry, one that has been on ball programs in GB. I have taught it twice to the Westchester, NY class to tepid response. I like it a lot, it is typical Drewry, so why the lukewarm response. I chose to give it another try in a different class.

Oh my not tepid at all. Enthusiastic would be an understatement. Wonderful dance! according to these dancers.

DCA.

Lady Jane's Fancy – A dance from my pen. Good journeyman effort. Nothing special but the music will make or break it. The transition from the reel of 4 across the dance into set to first corner was the sticking point in my mind. Not so. Easy peasy in fact. I can not publish it until I have permission from she for whom it is intended. Real Soon Now (as Jerry Pournelle used to say in his computer column).

Lassie wi' the lint white locks – I done this one before, I still love it. I love the Tournée. And my new way of teaching the Tournée worked again. The dancer who looked stricken when I announced the figure was actually smiling when we finished.

23 September 2013 - New Haven Friends Meeting

Back on Schedule… Yeah Right!

This was a very experimental session. On the near horizon a workshop dedicated to the late Robert Gregg, one of my dancers and a deviser of different but good dances.

H was still working on The Southpaw Reel when he died. The action is all left handed (no surprise given the title). I was scheduled to teach it at the workshop and the description was so very Bob that after 20 minutes of trying to figure out what he meant I headed for the fridge for a beer. 40 minutes later I thought I knew what his intent was but that is never a sure thing until it is danced and thus confirmed.

This class was the perfect opportunity to test my interpretation. It took up most of the first half. I was very lucky too. 4 of the dancers had previously learned it from Bob himself and my interpretation not only worked it was correct. (hooray!)

I like the dance. The problem is bars 9-16. They are a 30 minute project in and of themselves. It is so different in concept and so not standard usage that experienced dancer are thrown for a loop and require serious retraining, as it were.

All in all, except for the wording, this dance is a finished product ready for publication. I have to work this out with the branch and his estate.

The other three dances I taught this evening are also winners and,  dare I say it, more accessible.

The dances were:

Dust Devils  (32 J 4some)  Jane Lataille - Still enough to Dance
The Southpaw Reel  (32 R 3)  Rbt. Gregg - leaflet
Yet Another Birthday  (32 S 3 set)  Holly Boyd - Montréal Moments
Shinkansen  (32 R 3)  Ann Dix - Reel Friends 3

**********

Dust Devils –  If you have a class with small numbers, and this one is,
           this is a dance for you.  From a   book you should have. By a
           dance diviser who is thinking outside the box and who is
            really very good at what she does. Recommended!

The Southpaw Reel – From the pen of a chemist who had a view far
            removed from the norm. I need to find time to rewrite the
            second figure into something understandable. Forty minutes
            struggling to decipher his description is just too much. Forty
            minutes teaching the figure is a guarantee that the dancer
            will never want to see it again. The results are not worth
            that kind of effort. If I can get the description down to 10
            minutes study and the teaching down to a minimal
           10 minutes then the reward is definitely worth the effort.

Yet Another Birthday – It's a beautiful thing indeed. It received a
           Dancer's Choice Award and they were most insistent that I put
           it on the upcoming (March 28, 2014) Kilts and Ghillies Tea
           Dance program. Holly wrote a Keeper. Went right to the top
           of my Top 50 Strathspeys list, neck and neck with Maurice,
           Linnea's Strathspey, and Gypsy Dreams.
           Highly recommended!

Shinkansen – from the pen of the late Ann Dix. It also received a
            Dancer's Choice Award. On it's first trial too. it too will be on
            the Kilts and Ghillies Tea Dance program this spring.
            Accessible, Fun, with a mild fugal formation.
            Recommended!

NY Branch – 19 September - 31 October 2013

Geez Louis, I knew I was a bit tardy in updating the blog but I had no idea it had been two months.

These past months have been a very different experience for me. I have been teaching at the New York Branch (Holy Cross School on 43rd Street). I have the first hour upstairs which is for experienced dancers. The first hour downstairs is the basics class, and the second hour upstairs is a combined social hour. The standard procedure is for each teacher to plan their program and send out an email containing the cribs. This is so dancers can come, if not prepared, at least familiar with the dances.

I am not used to this degree of preparation though that really isn't the right word. I used to select 40 or 50 dances at the beginning of a series that I called my WannaDo list. I also had a list of easy warm up dances, a list of old chestnuts and easy (though not always familiar) dances for social hour and a list of 'specials'. At class time I'd look at who was there and pick my dances as I went. It worked well.  That system gave me the ability to quickly adjust to changing circumstances (like newbies walking in the door). This crib method ties me into my plan and flexibility is much harder to achieve. There is an element of "keeping to the plan" that is difficult to break. I find that the time I would be updating the blog is spent going to DanceData and cutting and pasting up the cribs.

Then there was the mailing list which was a shambles. I finally spent the time to add the branch members' addresses into my personal contact book as a separate group. Time that I could have spend profitably elsewhere. Good for me now, but what a pain when I am no longer the teacher and have to pass the list onto the next teacher. It is easy to maintain the group but I haven't maintained the list I was originally sent. Essentially each teacher has to maintain their own list and how do we get them in sync and keep them in sync? I shudder to think of it.

New Jersey does it smarter. They have a Yahoo account and keep the list there where it is easily maintained by the branch secretary. You just have to log in and the list is ready and waiting for you and it is not a mess.


Anyway off my soap box and onto dancing.

19 September 2013 - NY Branch 1st hour (upstairs):

Warm up –
Dust Devils  (32 J 4 dancers)  Jane Lataille

No Talk Through Dance –
Argyll Strathspey  (32 S 3C/4C)  Goldring (Bk 35/3)

Next No Talk Though (teaching) –
Crazy Aunt Wendy  (32 J 4C/4C) C. Ronald (leaflet)

Glastonbury Tor  (32 R 3C/4C)  Duncan Brown (Bk 47/11)
Yet Another Birthday  (32 S 3C set)  Holly Boyd (Montréal Moments)

**********

Dust Devils –
From the Santa Fe class's book Still Enough to Dance containing dances for classes with small numbers. This one is for four dancers in a 'square' set. Simple. Reasonably elegant. More importantly it was well received and, most importantly, dancers finished with smiles on their faces. Recommended.

Crazy Aunt Wendy –
Written at the request of the current chair of the  NY Branch's Jeannie Carmichael Ball and on this year's program. Lots of back story not fit for public discussion - so don't ask. The end result was a good dance. Different too.

 It starts with 1C and 3C on opposite sides - into double down the
 middle (2), up (2) and cast to 4th and 2nd place. Hands across |
 Dolphin reels on the sides | set, half turn cast to the side, set.

 There is now a crib for it on DanceData.

Glastonbury Tor –
A Book 47 dance - nice. I would like to have taken more time in the teaching but CAW was different enough to soak up time. This one is worth doing again. It might become a regular. We will see.

Yet Another Birthday –
Lovely!  This dance is a keeper! I just updated my list of Top 50 Strathspeys to include it. Dance is by Holly Boyd and published in the book Montréal Moments. The accompanying CD is superb, though the music has just a little too much back beat for some dancers who find the rhythm difficult to find. I am looking forward to doing more from this book especially if the other dances are as good as this one. This dance is now on the short short list for the Kilts and Ghillies Tea Dance/Ball (coming in late March).

26 September 2013 – NY Branch

warm up:

The Sorcerer's Apprentice  (32 J 2C)  Iain Boyd (Katherine's Book)

No Talk Through:

Crazy Aunt Wendy  (32 J 4)  Chris Ronald (leaflet)

Next No Talk Through (teaching):

Linnea's Strathspey  (32 S 3) Tim Wilson (Bk 47/2)

Other(s);

Shinkansen  (32 R 3) Ann Dix (Reel Friends 3)

**********

Linnea's Strathspey – 

A top 10! An instant favourite of mine and now a recipient of a Dancer's Choice 

Award. On its way to stardom and a place alongside Montgomeries' Rant, General Stuart's Reel and their like.

Shinkansen – It is nice to see a new relatively simple dances; this one has a nice fugal second figure and it has a poussette! Smiles and clapping at the end and I'd do it again in heart beat. Now on my Kilts and Ghillies Tea Dance short short list.

3 October 2013 - NY Branch

warm up:

Back to Basics  (32 R 3)  B. Skelton

No Talk Through:

Linnea's Strathspey  (32 S 3 ) Tim Wilson

No Talk Through (teaching):

Thirteen Fourteen (1314)  (64S+64R 4 square)  J. Drewry

**********

Back to Basics –

Just as it says, a very basic dance :

RHA LHA  |  cross, cast; turn RH  |  adv/ret; BtoB  |  6 hands round.

The first dance of the evening is a warm up - and I like it to be walked and that means I have to pick my music very carefully. If it is too swingy and energetic nobody walks - they all dance. Not good when still cold.

Thirteen Fourteen –

This took up the balance of the hour. 

It went well. It was danced and no blood on the floor after. I was pleased.

No special teaching points other than teach it carefully and do not assume that the dancer's remember.

**********

10 October 2013 - NY Branch

warm up:

Mrs. Stewart's Jig  (32 J 3)  Bk 35/1

No Talk Through:

Thirteen Fourteen  (64S+64R 4C square) Drewry

Next No Talk Through (teaching):

Starlight  (32 R 3)  Ed Abdill (Bk

Other(s):

The Fountain Strathspey  (32 S 3 set) Robert Gregg

*********

Thirteen Fourteen –

Yikes!! I needed to tun my back and not look!

Several dancers got in who hadn't been here the previous week for the teaching - with

predictable results.

Chris Ronald chose to do it again next week during the second hour. It is on the JC Ball Sunday brunch and it needs exposure.

Starlight –

I like this one more and more as I keep doing it. Definite keeper. Do not have a good recording so the fall back music is Mara Shea and Dave Wiesler's arrangement for Sleepwalking. Oh yes!

The Fountain Strathspey –

I have both of the late Robert Gregg's dance books. (He danced in New Haven and in my class) But this dance hadn't caught my attention.  We held a memorial dance/workshop in his honor on October 5th and it got my attention then. The parallel cast in Set and Link for 3 show up here in a different context.

He has 1C dancing up and casting into 2nd place while 2C dances up and casts into 3rd place while 3C dances up and cast into top place - all couples casting independently (in parallel).

Lovely! A Keeper! Short Listed!

**********

24 October 2013 – NY Branch

Warm up:

New River Reel  (32 R 3) Fuell & Lindsay

No Talk Through:

Starlight  (32 R 3)  Abdill (Bk 44/1)

Next No Talk Through (Teaching):

The Fireside Reel  (32 R 3) 18C

Other(s):

Maurice  (32 S 2) Gary Thomas (Dunsmuir Dances)

**********

New River Reel –

Nice enough, has good figures and good flow but unless the music is stupendous it isn't anything special. And *Yes* I would teach it again, maybe not a first choice, but it is a dance that dancer's will enjoy.

Starlight –

Well done. Phew.

The Fireside Reel - 

Not to be confused with The Peat Fire Flame by John Drewry though they share the same name tune.

The dance instructions are adequate though not perfect. There is, unfortunately, an area open to interpretation.

I was taught this dance way back in the stone age thus:

1M cast off behind 2M, turn 2L RH 2L ending in top place end of bar 4 (1M end in 2L's place)

1L beginning on bar 5 cast off behind 1M (in 2Ls place) and turn 2M LH 2M end at top, 1L in 2M's place.

There are some problem's here. First of all 2 people can not occupy the same space at the same time, 

Either 1L begins her cast early (when and with what foot?) or 2L has to take extra time to dance finish her turn and get into place late. This thinking breaks the rules. I did it because I was taught to do it and didn't think twice - but I was a learning dancer then. 

A few years ago a teacher informed me that this was wrong. That, in fact, 1M, 2L and 1L are each dancing for four bars, in overlapping phrases, during this 8 bar phrase.

1M dances bars 1-4; 2L dances bars 3-6; and 1L dances bars 5-8.

I took a look at the original (which I had previously thought I had read carefully and only seeing what I expected to see) and sure enough Ken was right. I had been dancing and teaching it incorrectly. 

So this night I started to teach it this way:

1M cast off behind 2M, turn 2L RH slowly.

2L starts her turn with 1M then dances up to top place on bars 5-6 while 1L is casting off behind 1M (in 2L's place) and turns 2M LH on bars 7-8.

At which point another teacher (chair of the NY teacher's committee) runs over and whispers in my ear that I have it wrong (again? still? what?)  That 1L doesn't cast behind anybody, that in her cast she dances into the set above her partner to then turn 2M LH.

OK> he's committee chair and I am not going to either argue or have a discussion then and there. I taught it that way and next week we danced it that way. I have issues with that interpretation, and it is an interpretation and a very gray area.

The instructions read:

"First lady cast off behind second lady (who dances up to the top) crosses over and turns second man with left hands, finishing on the men's side below second man, who is now at the top."

In my opinion this moment of the dance is seriously over-thought and over-interpreted.

1M cast around 2M (In 2M's place). Standard move. No problem.

I know 2L is dancing up the center,…

I know 1M has ended his turn with 2L in 2L's place…

But…  How "cast off behind second lady" can 'imply' that 1L casts of a half place and dances in above her partner I do NOT get. It is not a standard move. It makes for a very awkward movement. It is a serious violation of the KISS rule. It is probably a mistake.

My interpretation – she casts off behind 2L's place (i.e. behind her partner) and dances in below him to then turn 2M with the left hand. That is also a standard move. And it would mirror what 1M danced on bars 1-4. I do not buy that her move is any harder than his move is.

Would that the editor Jack McConachie had said it so. He assumed and we have a bit of a mess.

31 October 2013 – NY Branch

warm-up:

Granville Market  (32 J 3)  E. Vandegrift (2nd Graded Bk)

No Talk Through:

Fireside Reel  (32 R 3) 18C

Other(s):

General Stuart's Reel  (32 R 3)  Bk 10/3

Best Set in the Hall  (32 J 3)  H. Greenwood - Bk 46/7

Montgomeries' Rant  (32 R 3) Bk 10/1

**********

Granville Market –

While it isn't anything special it a good dance. It is in the Second Graded Book. It isn't intended to be unique, special or difficult. It works.

But… you knew a but was coming didn't you?

But I don't like the recording. It is so bass heavy (especially that cut) so oppressive that I either use an spectrum equalizer to reduce the bass and make the melody more prominent or I use a different recording all together. 

Fireside Reel –

Oh well done! The ladies even danced that horrible casting figure well… and that took some doing.

General Stuart's Reel –

On the JC Ball program. It was a request from one of the struggling newly promoted basic dancers. Who was not there as she had a very bad fall and broke her ankle. 

What I stressed was the Setting to corner partner and the 1s needing to be cheek to cheek with each other in the center. THEN it looks like something. Else it looks like nothing special. I got an improvement there. The reels? Oh well, not in tonight's spotlight. Some other time.

Best Set in the Hall –

Great Dance, mildly counter intuitive, mildly disorienting but FUN!

I made one comment to the class based on what Miss Millagan wrote in my version of Won't You Join the Dance?

She said that anywhere a 4 bar RH turn is called for a two hand pas de basque turn is acceptable.

And on a crowded ballroom floor with scrunched up sets that is a very valuable option to have.

Montgomeries' Rant –

In the spotlight: the NH setting to 2L 3M 3L 2M - What I can not abide is the 'set to the right and whip around' thing that I have had the misfortune to experience from some very experienced dancers and, god forgive them, teachers.  Each person gets two full bars. There is enough time to change your 'facing' on the jeté of the left bas de basque. Yes there is! And I'll leave it there.

Ciao, til later

27 August 2013 - New Haven Friends Meeting

The dances:

The Sorcerer's Apprentice  (32 J 2)  I. Boyd - Katherine's Book
Crom Allt  (32 R 3)  Goldring - 24 Graded & Social
Blairmormond  (32 S 2) Drewry
It's All Right  (32 J 3) Graded Bk 2
Delvine Side  (32 S 3) Bk 2/9
Solway Reel  (48 R 3) Carlisle & Border Anniversay Book

**********

The Sorcerer's Apprentice – A nice simple beginning jig suitable
                                           for a newcomer, which we had this evening.

Crom Allt – A nice little reel, this one is also suitable for newcomers
                   if you think they can handle mirror reels of three on own sides. I thought she could handle them and she did. This dance is also a simple introduction to corners.

Blairmormond – A Drewry dance that doesn't get done much in this area.
                           The Brooklyn, NY., class has a John Drewry evening every December, but this one I do not remember ever being done there. Unfortunate because this a one of John's pleasanter, more accessible dances.

What is nice is the reel of four across the dance. It is not the normal "line of four " starting position but the side by side positioning that creates that subtle difference in timing and phrasing that I so enjoy.

If looking at the "Pilling" diagrams beware - they show the reel ending in a line of four. That is NOT so if you follow the written directions which place couple in offset positions. The following set, Turn partner BH into circle of four half round is sweet and I especially like the set, dance 3/4 double figure eight to progress. So did the dancers. Keeper and likely to show up on a Kilts & Ghillies Tea dance real soon now.

It's All Right – Another good basic dance for basic dancers
                    and a nice relief from John Drewry spaghetti constructions.

Delvine Side – Oh the music. Nice dance, great music. I never get tired of the music.

 Solway Reel – Nice dance. Easily accessible. The name tune is disappointing but I use a set of good hearty energetic pipe tunes. Which lifts the dance and keeps it from becoming tedious. Keeper.

Thursday, 12 September 2013 - NY Branch

Last Thursday was the first class of the new season at the NY Branch and I brought a real project to the first hour experienced class - the quintessential and dreaded Tournée. My approach was very different from any I have experienced.

Rewind a couple of years and transport yourself to TAC summer school in Portland, Oregon and into the dorm room of the Units 4 & 5 tutor and the late evening drinking and discussion session.

"How do you dance the Tournée," I was I asked.

I showed him. My partner and I danced as 2nd couple and using both hands (i.e. still in promenade hold) I firmly led the lady in front of me, released bottom (left) hands and pivoted - and there we were, partner facing the men's side, me facing the lady's side, ready for the gate turns. Beautiful.

"Wrong!" he said. "The manual says that on bar 4 1st and 2nd couples turn into position." I tried it, I didn't "get" it.

Fast forward to last week and me sitting at my desk reading, and rereading, the pertinent passage in the manual (bars 2-4) and noticing that it does indeed say "men turn partners in front of them into position…" and that NO mention of hands is made. And then, in an AHHA moment, I got it!

I can't tell you how many different rules I have been given, how many different methods teachers have foisted on me and all the other dancers while trying to make the dreaded Tournée clear and understandable and, by witness of the dancers expressions, doing the exact opposite.

And what I now realize is that the Tournée is actually quite simple, very elegant and only two simple rules need to be taught.

So here goes - my attempt to say in words what is best shown.

Bars one to three - as written: couples end in a line of four, center of dance, 2C above, 1C below, men in the middle and shoulder to shoulder, women on the ends, 2C facing the men's side, 1C the facing ladies' side (i.e. the result of an anti-clockwise rotation.)

-L2
-M2
 M1-
 L1-

The "Goal" to be achieved at the end of bar 4 is to have ladies in the middle of the line and facing the men's side, the men to be on the ends of the line and facing the ladies' side. To get there, per the manual, the men turn the ladies in front of them.

   For 1C:  Since M1 is facing the ladies side L1 must dance toward her own side (forward) and UP as 1M dances toward his side and down, and that makes it a LEFT hand turn half round.

   For 2C: Since M2 is facing the men's side L2 must dance forward, towards the men's side, and DOWN as he dances toward the ladies' side and up. And that makes their turn a LEFT hand half turn as well.

I repeat -the turns for both couples are left hand turns.

"Problem" I hear you shout. And yes there is a problem. The ending positions after the turns will be:

-M2
 L2-
-L1
 M1-

1C have achieved "the goal" (see above). They are in the correct positions and are facing the correct sides. 2C are in the correct positions but facing the WRONG way. Ooops.

Is there a Solution? And is it Simple?

Yes there is a solution and it is simple and it is Rule 2 below.

RULE 1:
On bar 4 BOTH couples turn with LHs half round to change places with partner.

RULE 2:
2C, and ONLY 2C,  have to change the direction they are facing. To do so they tuck in (by way of a polite turn) at the end of their half turn. That is BOTH 2M and 2L turn inward toward partner to make that change. That leaves them here:

 M2-
-L2
-L1
 M1-

The men are on the ends of the line and facing the ladies' side, the ladies are in the middle of the line and facing the men's side. And that is The Goal, achieved.

Oh yes, just one more thing. 2C must, obviously, change to near hands (Right hands for both) for the gate turns.

Which leads me to wonder how many rules can we give dancers before confusion sets in? How many rules can a dancer process and comply with? I have come across The Rule of Three which says that a child can not hold onto more than three rules at a time. Give them more and you can forget compliance. I am beginning to think that it is similar for dancers. If the formation being taught requires more than three rules the dancers will be confused and overwhelmed.

Anyway, the dances taught on 12 September 2013 were:

The Findlay's Jig  (32 J 3) Goldring - 14 Social Dances 2000
Argyll Strathspey  (32 S 3) Goldring - Bk 35/3
Bill Clement MBE  (32 J 3) Wilkinson - Bk 47/1

**********

The Findlays's Jig – a nice simple dance with just enough
                                 difference to make it doable more than once. Since it was for warming up I asked that it be walked not danced. My concern was to get the muscles warm and good aerobic walking is one of the best ways to achieve that. Stretching should happen after the muscles are warm, at  the end of the evening. Please note, some dancers are constitutionally unable to simply walk when good dance music is played. Sigh.

Argyll Strathspey – I misjudged. Badly misjudged. I planned
                             on doing four dances in my hour and a bit. I only just managed three. Most of my time was spent here teaching this dance thoroughly - perhaps to a fault. I just had to. Firstly I can't stand sloppy, muddle through dancing (which if we are honest with ourselves is what most dancers do) and secondly because this dance will be done again, on the 19th as the No Talk Through dance of the night.

Take Half-Turn-and-Twirl. I do not ask a lady to dance so I can look at the back of her head and that is what all too many women give me. Which is exactly what most teachers ask for because that is what  John Drewry named it - half turn and twirl. But if you read the description that not what he wanted. And in Argyll Strathspey Roy Goldring don't ask for this move by name, thank you very much. Instead the move is described, written out. But dancer's mostly dance by muscle memory and once they have 'learned' something do not really listen to what the teacher asks for. Knowing this I taught the figure from scratch and, 20some minutes later, I could finally give them a passing grade.

Then the circle. And the "teacher hands" coming up a full bar early and some dancers actually stepping into the center to begin there and not on the side lines. All that needed correction as did the proper ending of a standard circle which then needed morphing to put first and third couple in proper position for the R&L up-and-down the center. Another 10something minutes used.

The Rights and Lefts - not bad, but the steps needed work. Some steps longer the others much shorter and again the handing needed work.

All this remedial work because two dancers were newly graduated up from the basics class and needed the work on hands and feet and handing and posture and how to begin and end circles etc., etc.. As did many of the intermediate dancers. Why? Because we need to keep them coming and that means promotions for politics and finances and not for merit. It is unfortunate but that is the world we live in and a different conversation.

Then, after dancing the first 3 figures once through, the teaching of the Tournée. Another 15-20 minutes. It went well. They listened. In practice they danced it beautifully. And when we danced it for real, eight times through, on the whole, they still did it right! No breakdowns! Occasional errors but successful recoveries! Yes! 'cause that meant they understood it.

Bill Clement MBE – First time through for this dance.
                              I know how to teach it now so next time it will go more smoothly. Bottom line- it's a nice dance dance but I need a few more run throughs before I can determine if it is worth multiple repeats.