10 February 2016 - Westchester

My last post was Feb. 3rd. Today is the 30th of March and that means I have a lot of updating to do.

Neat stuff has happened - Keith Rose has made diagrams for my three Mermaid dances  (Coming Real Soon Now) and for two of the more obscure dances on the NJ Branch's Rerr Terr Ball program - The Rerr Terr Jig - 40 J 3 - (Gregor Trinkaus-Randall) and Driving Through Eutaw - 32 J 3 - (Deborah Leary).

I have also heard from Ellen Ternes, the devisor of Grandma's Mandolin, which  just happens to be on both the Rerr Terr Ball (NJ) and the Kilts and Ghillies' Tea Dance (New Haven). I taught it this past Monday (March 28) to a group of six (6) dancers and had to improvise an ending. My off the cuff "twiddle" worked well enough that I was strongly urged to contact Ellen and make her aware of the change. She liked what I had done and has sent me the link to the partial video (bars 9-32) of her dance.

Which has, by the way, been blocked from the Strathspey site. Apparently it doesn't matter how helpful it is, if it isn't complete it will not be allowed. I am going to start investigating ways to put up video/links on this blog - multimedia should be easy but I am a crank old vessel and new tricks for old dogs…

By the way (2), Grandma's Mandolin is one of my Top 50 Strathspeys (the list of which is alphabetical and has only 56 dances on it). If I had to put a number against it - it would be in the top 10. Really it is that good. I do not have a class musician (sigh). I have no recording of the tune - Minnie Walker by Dave Wiesler (deep sigh). I have to use any good strathspey (wee sigh) and the recording I have been using is In Traditional Mode - lead tune Sarah Elizabeth by Muriel Johnstone. It is a fabulous set that works and is fun (loud cheer).

In an aside - it will be very interesting to hear the published tune when it is played at the balls. Will my choice of music be anything close to the paper tune?

Anyway - back to the class.

We got through 6 dances plus an unofficial 7th.

Dances Taught were:-

Highland Fair - (32 J 2) - Graded Bk
Across the Esk - (32 R 3) - Barbour/Set & Cast Off 1
Grandma's Mandolin - (32 S 3) - StrathsBabes (E. Ternes)
Driving Through Eutaw - (32 J 3) - Leary - unpublished
Balquidder Strathspsey - (32 S 3) - Bk 24
Flowers of Texas - (32 R 3) - Let's All Dance 2 (Torf)

Extra:
Tiptoe and Sway - (32 R 3) - Imperial 3 (Bayly)

**********

Highland Fair:- my rating is "If I Must" and if I can find the loo in time I'll consider the evening a success. This really isn't fair to the dance. There aren't all that many good, beginner friendly, opening jigs. But IMHO this dance is a waste. It doesn't even wake up the mind, well not my mind anyway.

Across the Esk:-  All right! I was wrong! I admit it. Ian Barbour has written a good dance. Not that I ever claimed he hadn't, it is just I have seen only one other dance of his and didn't like the contrived nature of it. This one is OK. It definitely wakes up the brain and it rewards good dancing. Nice to have in your hip pocket when putting together a program. It is on the K&G Tea Dance, which was the effort of a committee of 2 - myself and Sandra Bethray who teaches the Kilts and Ghillies class in Wilton, CT.

Grandma's Mandolin:- Five Stars! I love this one. It read well enough that it went on the program short list before I ever danced it. It made it past that onto the program. Nothing since has changed my mind. The 'mandolin' figure is smooth and sweet! A wee 'sorry' is due to the 2nd corners who dance for only two bars out of the 8.

Take a look – The opening diamond poussette has been omitted because it is 'easy'…

(Aha!  Success!)

Driving Through Eutaw:-  Written as we were driving past Eutaw on the Interstate with Marian Anderson playing Rbt. Burns tunes, in this case Banks and Braes. An unconventional jig because it isn't balanced.

2 to set, 2 to set advancing; 4 to lead down. :: 2 to change places with partner, 4 to lead up, and 2 to cast off.

But nice. And,  ;-)  it usually highlights those dancers who just can't seem to break through all the ingrained muscle memory and do something just a little bit 'off'.

Balquidder Strathspey:- On the short list because the last hour or so should be dances that are fun and do-able without any teaching needed. And it is on the K&G Tea dance for that the same reason. They can't all be final exam dances. Besides, I like the music.

Flowers of Texas:- A beginner dance for those who do not yet have pas de basque and poussette. Nice and mindless.

Tiptoe and Sway:- This is from John Bayly, the genius who devised Mrs Stuart Linnell. Which may be my all time No.1 reel. No kidding and not easy. This dance, if it were possible, is even less forgiving than MSL.
No wiggle room, not a moment of it. Everyone has to be right all the time. I like dances that are demanding but this one is a bit over the top even for me.

My way of putting it is: This one has little or no redeeming social value.

It needed lot of effort to learn and there wasn't enough payback for the input. So it not a social dance but may be good for a performance.

3 February 2016 - Westchester

This week was again mostly ball prep. with a experiment as well.

Last week I taught a dance brought to my attention by one of my dancers (Swirling Snow - 32 S 3 set) which was well received by the class. I brought it to the attention of the teachers on the NY Branch dance list committee and they liked it enough that they put on the list for 2016-17.

And that brought another dance to my attention, one proposed as a beginner friendly jig, Beach Dancer (32 J 3) by Eddy West. It did not get onto the list mainly because none of us had ever danced it and it had this moment we deemed potentially unfriendly.

I was curious so I taught it and now we know - it is a good dance, liked by the dancers who would willingly dance it again, but it is not for beginners. It just isn't tolerant enough of a late start into the chase, a six bar distance with only four bars of music, and a skip change that doesn't fly.

I had a lot of fun teaching Caberfei. I took a slightly different approach this time. I built up to the half set and travel for three. I started with extension (jeté) of the right leg, hop left into the skip change a perfectly normal move. I then had them extend the left leg and hop on the right into a skip change. Also perfectly normal but not as a starting step. But they showed they could. I then had them wait a bar and start with the left on bar two. Most did it just fine. A few had muscle memory issues they just couldn't over ride. I then had them saying "pas de basque (without the doing) and HOP…"

With a little practice most could hold on bar one and start skip change on bar two. I then added the actual pas de basque to the exercise. It worked better than anything else I have tried.

Dance taught this week:-

A Wee Nothing  – (32 J 2)  – E. Brunken
Beach Dancer  –  (32 J 3)  –  Eddy West
Gramachie  –  (32 S 3)  –  MMM
Caberfei  –  (32 R 3)  –  18C
Reel of the 51st  –  (32 R 3)  –  13/10

Gloria's Wee Jig  –  (32 J 2)  –  McMurtry
Asilomar Romantic  –  (32 S 3)  –  Cuthbertson
Highland Rambler  –  (40 R 3)  –  Goldring

27 January 2016 – Westchester

Third series, class number 1 and a somewhat rocky start.

The other teacher and I were not in contact until just days before the class, I myself had not gotten into the groove so no lesson plan/cribs had gone out to the class which is the procedure in Westchester.

And there was a gotcha of my own doing.

Because no cribs were sent out, a couple of the dancers went onto Strathspey looking for the upcoming ball programs that I would probably be teaching to. And in looking there found a dance that resonated with the blizzard of the weekend. A 32 bar Strathspey called called Swirling Snow, from  the Martello Tower Bk 7 (Kingston, Ontario). They brought it to my attention and, since I did not have a program ready for Wednesday, teaching it seemed like a good idea…     Yeah! Right!

I knew it until I tried to teach it. Just a wee bit of confusion and a fair bit of embarrassment. I had to figure out on the floor how the circulating allemande worked. Once over that hurdle it went well and was liked. I am now looking for a copy of the original because it is always a bad idea to teach a dance from the cribs.

The dances I taught:

Orpington Caledonians  –  (32 R 3)  –  Bk 49
Swirling Snow  –  (32 S 3 set)  – Martello Tower 7
Braes of Balquhidder  –  (32 R 3)  –  18C

Fingal's Fancy  –  (32 J 3)  – Alexander 3
John McAlpin  –  (32 S 3)  –  Foss
Davy Nick Nack  –  (32 S 3)  – Glasgow Assy

**********

Orpington Caledonians:- On the Kilts and Ghillies Tea Dance and the NJ Rerr Terr. And in a major departure from established procedures there has not been a teachers workshop to learn the dances in the recently issued Book 49. I have been teaching this one because I put on the K&G program based on a reading of the text. I got lucky with it because it was voted a Golden Ghillie by the dancers in my New Haven class.

Swirling Snow:- They liked it in spite my incredible fumbling. Now on my short list for my Feb. class in New Haven and, if they like it too, it gets short listed for next year's tea dance. I give it a thumbs up. Nice job Ruth Taylor!

Braes of Balquhidder:- There are two dances with this name you know. One a strathspey, this a reel. And what is different about this dance is the phrasing. You can't parse it neatly. You need to exercise good judgement and common sense. The first 16 bars are restrained and then it takes off and flies! There a pieces that you can not phrase in a normal, what we were taught, fashion. A little more, a little further, with more flight. you need either young legs or to know how to cut corners.

Fingal's Fancy:- A nice light hearted jig. Need a simple dance with Double Triangles? Choose this one.

John McAlpin:- I have a problem with this dance as done in this area. It seems to be the rule, self selected and not taught by any teacher that I know of, that as 1C dance down to 2nd place and turn with LH to face 1st corners  2nd couple step on on bars 7&8.  What??

Once result, which I have seen, is that 1C end up somewhere down between 3rd couple and have no idea where their corners are. Good for a hearty laugh - and some embarrassment. The instructions are very clear - 2C steps up AS 1C lead down -  on bars 5&6!! It opens up the space where 1C must end and prevents the confusion.

Davy Nick Nack:- Great dance. Just one thing of which you must beware - DO NOT EVER dance this in a 7 couple set unless it is a children's class and you are desperately trying burn off their excess energy.

25 January 2016 - NHFM

I taught 7 dances. Some familiar. Some not. Some from upcoming party programs, some not.
The class was light on dancers which severely impacted my choice of program.

The regular New Haven class meets on Tuersdays and, on the weeks when I teach my monthly Monday class, they are now canceling the Tuesday class since too many of the dancers are choosing not to dance 2 nights in row. There is something wrong with this picture.

I started this class because I lived in New Haven, danced and taught there for over 25 years, took over  a different class that met the same night and I was not happy having to choose one over the other. I therefore set up this once a month class so I could stay involved and in touch with my immediate 'family'.

I have some rethinking to do.
1. Not all the Tuesday dancers are able to attend my Monday class.
2. My numbers are light.
3. Everyone who is coming on Monday also danced on Tuesdays.
4. If Tuesday dancing is being canceled because of my Monday class...
5. Young Emma and her mom say Tuesdays is actually better for her
6. If changing my reservation to Tuesday is acceptable with the Friends Meeting then, other than the conflict with the Ho Ho Kus class who also dance on Tuesdays, switching my trip to New Haven to Tuesday seems to make sense.

What I taught:

Gloria's Wee Jig  –  (32 J 2)  –  McMurtry
Domino Five  –  (32 R 5some)  –  Haynes
On the Quarter-Deck  –  (32 H 2)  –  Boyd
A Moment for Marilynn  –  (32 S 2)  –  Glasspool
The Portland Mermaid  –  (32 S 3 set)  –  Price
Miss Eleanor  –  (32 S 3 set)  –  Bk 49
Blairmormond  –  (32 S 2)  –  Drewry

**********

Gloria's Wee Jig:- We have done it before and it still gets smiles and good reviews from the dancers.
                              The set up for the Ladies' Chain is nice and the end little chase is just plain sweet.

Domino Five:- A very simple five person dance from Derek Haynes. Tedious if done on a regular basis.

On the Quarter-Deck:- I have always liked this one. It is one of my top 50. It is simple, accessible, and it helps if you pick good music. And with hornpipes that is easy to do. They are all good, aren't they?

A Moment for Marilynn:- This one is pure dead brilliant and beautiful. A stunner! La Baratte is the only formation that requires practice and more practice. I find that this dance fully rewards all the work required to get it right. Top 50 for sure. It is in the database but without any data. I will correct this oversight shortly.

The Portland Mermaid:- I actually like it. (I know, I know, I wrote it. But just because I wrote it doesn't mean it is any good - but when the dancers are saying they like it there might be some truth to it). The real issue is that I have the dancers doing a couple of slightly unusual patterns and I have been struggling to find the best words to convey the movements. I am getting there - slowly.
Due to be published Real Soon Now.

Miss Eleanor:- YES! Another 3 couple bourrell! Finally! Two thumbs up. So far that is a total 4 good dances from the new book. That's so good I can't complain. I have tried four and all four were good dances. I mean, how many of us still teach any of the dances from Book 28?

Blairmormond:- A John Drewry dance. How bad could it be? That was rhetorical, obviously. It has the flow. Thumbs up. Just don't take the diagram or the cribs too seriously even though they are absolutely correct.

The class is advanced. They know what they are doing and they know what works. They did not dance the reel of four as it was written because it worked better slightly modified.
As written:

 "at the end, the men turn each other with the  left hand once round to finish back to back in the middle facing own partners.

The dancers found this awkward. The men found it easier to end offset while the ladies looped into place to face partner. This did not affect the set to and turn partner into circle four. At some point we become too rule bound for good dancing. It isn't a science it is an art. There has to be a place for common sense. The change made did not change the dance in any substantive way and in my opinion it flowed better. But in your class it is your call.

14 December 2015 - Scotia

A short post today - we didn't do anything extraordinary but there are two mini-rants.

The dances taught were:

Autumn Leaves  –  (32 J 3)  –  Jane Lataille

Strathglass House  –  (32 S 3)  –  Bk 13

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

Slow Simmer  –  (32 J 3)  –  Pam Stephens

Ann of Scotia  –  (32 S 3)  –  Ronald

Hamilton Rant  –  (48 R 3)  –  Bk 22

Delvine Side  –  (32 S 3)  –  Bk 2

**********

Autumn Leaves:- a nice simple baby jig. Nothing special in terms of formations or figures. But what it does have are opportunities for covering. Which begs the question "what is covering?" 

I often hear covering being taught as a learned skill in and of itself much like foot changes, handing and so on. I do not agree. It is a result - not something you "do".

It is what happens when everyone is dancing the same thing in the same way at the same time.

What most teachers are trying to say, or think they are saying, is "check where the other dancers are to find out if you are in sync with them - and adjust your dancing accordingly."

Slow Simmer:- from the book StrathsBabes by Pam Stephens and Ellen Ternes. It starts with (In New World vernacular) Double Crossover Mirror Reels - And if you want to bring it to a full boil, as Pam says, have every couple cross to the opposite side when they are at the top. Fun! A bit different. Thumbs up!

Hamilton Rant:- What I have been hearing for years, from several sources is that this is the only dance in which Set to and Turn Corners/Partner has a 'flip' written into each turn.

I have taken that statement at face value and since I know that dance well I have never specifically checked the original for that. When I did go back, I read what I was expecting to see not what was actually on the page. Bad me.

It turns out that the flip/twirl is NOT written in. It says this:

First couple set to and turn first corners, to finish facing each other in diagonal line          * between * first corners."

 The emphasis is mine. The word 'between' forces us to make the two hand turns Full Round. We then have to figure out what dancers have to do to end facing their partner because Bob Campbell doesn't say.

I see two options:
1)  a standard release hands early and "slide" into place with backs to corner and facing partner or
2)  hold on to hands a little longer than in option 1 and use your corner's right hand to aid you in  "flipping" to face your partner.

Important point - to flip or not to flip is the choice of 1st couple, not the corner. Corners have only one job - to lend support! Corners to not get to force anyone to do something they are not able or ready to do!

7 December 2015 – Scotia

The prep is mostly over! Yay! And in my delight I taxed the mental prowess of my dancers. No complaints but a gentle comment from a fellow teacher a few days later.

Deborah was working on pas de basque and Set to Corner-Partner (Hello-Goodbye).
I found a John Drewry dance with that in it and it didn't seem overly difficult (yeah right!) and Drewry Night was over and why not?

Dances taught were:

Sla'ine's Fancy  –  (32 J 3)  – Let's All Dance 2
un-named dance  –  (32 R 3)  – Leary
Da Rain Dancin'  –  (32 R 3)  –  Wallace

Driving Through Eutaw  –  (32 J 3)  – Leary
Drumduan Cottage  –  (32 S 3)  –  Drewry
Orpington Caledonians –  (32 R 3)  –  Bk 49
Eggemoggin Reach  –  (32 J 3)  – Price
Dragonflies  –  (32 S 5dancers)  –  Lataille

**********

Sla'ine's Fancy:- aka The Spinning Wheel. Nice baby dance. Thumbs up.

Un-named dance:- written to make Set to Corner-Partner the only issue. It worked. I suspect it has been written before and more than once.
RA ; LA :: set, cast ; dance between 3C cast up to corners :: Set C-P :: 6 hands round and back ::

Da Rain Dancin':- Golden Gillie! This is an ok dance to fabulous music and that makes it a hit.
With the correct music I would dance it anytime anywhere. Any other music -  forget about it.

Driving Through Eutaw:- By Deborah, while driving on the long stretch of Interstate highway in Alabama. We were playing the Marian Anderson CD  of Robert Burns dances and tunes. The dancers in her head came up with this.  A nice little dance but with a bit of asymmetry that makes for a little more thinkum than usual for a simple jig. The last time it was taught it was fairly ugly. This time much much nicer.

Drumduan Cottage:- Look it up (Canadian Book). I asked afterwards if there was any redeeming social value to the dance. I got a  yes - it keeps the dancers thinking out of the box. That is not a resounding positive response.

Me, I liked the Corners Pass & Turn in this dance. The usual track has corners dancing in, turning RH half round and dancing back out to place. The actives dance round, pass right shoulders in the middle and dance on. Nice but there is not much spice to it. Here the figure starts facing 2nd corners, the active couple dance round and have a very zesty turn to face first corners. I like! He uses this pattern in Miss Florence Adams (Bk 38). I like it there too. No one else seems to adopted it and I have to wonder why. It ups the level nicely and pleasantly but not by too much.

Orpington Caledonians:- Another thumbs up from the floor. I like it enough that I put it on The Kilts and Ghillies program for this May. The Fair Haven Heights class gave it a Golden Ghillie.

Eggemoggun Reach:- I did it again here because I really need a fair test. The dancers in New Haven are too good. I needed it done by a set of representative dancers.

It is trickier than I thought and needs careful/thorough teaching. For some reason the 4 bar turns following the half reels seems to short circuit the brains.

Emphasis - four bar turns start on side lines, end on side lines. Don't hold hands too long!
Stay with the music. When the dancers are on it shines! When they are even just a little off it gets ugly.

Dragonflies:-Oh I just love this one! I use Susie Petrov's 5x32 set of strathspeys from her album Hold the Lass Till I Get Her. The music is lovely and the tunes work with the dance… the room seems to get quieter for some reason. In my top 10.

30 November 2015 – Scotia Party

Party Night!

Gloria's Wee Jig  –  (32 J 3)  – McMurtry
Bedrule  –  (32 S 3)  –  Bk 33
Hamilton Rant  –  (48 R 3)  – Bk 22

Welcome to Ayr  –  (32 J 3)  –  Bk 47
Auld Springs Gees Nae Price  –  (32 S 3)  – Treble
Sleepy Maggie  –  (32 R 3)  –  Bk 11

The Lady Wynd  –  (32 J 3)  –  Goldring
A Summer Meeting  –  (32 S 3 set)  –  Bk 48
Red House  –  (40 R 2)  –  Bk 7

Mrs Stewart's Jig  –  (32 J 3)  –  Bk 35
Braes of Breadalbane  – (32 S 3)  –  Bk 21
Deil Amang the Tailors  –  (32 R 3)  –  Bk 14

23 November 2015 - Dancing on the Heights (NHFM)

This evening was about prep, but not completely.
Drewry night was coming Real Soon Now and The Kilts and Ghillies Tea Dance is coming in May.

The latter program is more varied than the usual ball program. It is about half RSCDS and half out society. This is deliberate. The couple of years before I took over the class and the ball programing fewer than half the dances had been from RSCDS and sets were breaking down on a regular basis. I chose to ease the difficulty level while trying to keep the flavor of those programs.

The end result: unfamiliar dances (not necessarily hard dances) that require prepping.

The dances I taught were:

Broadway  –  (32 S 3 set)  –  Ronald

Capelthwaite  –  (32 R 2)  –  C. Sigg
Earl of Mansfield  –  (48 R 4)  – Drewry
Richard the Third  –  (32 S 3)  –  Glasspool
Countess of Dunsmore's Reel  –  (32 R 3)  – Bk 49
Ythanside  –  (32 S 3)  –  Drewry
Eggemoggin Reach  –  (32 J 3)  – Price

**********

Broadway:- I had small numbers at the start, this dance worked and besides I like the dance a lot. So do the dancers. The only hard part is knowing who dances the diagonal half rights and lefts. Simple solution - the four dancers who cast during the Set-and-Link3 are the four who dance the Rights and Lefts.

Capelthwaite:- This one also was well liked by the class. I consider it something of a mind bender but the dancers didn't have any trouble with it. And I think I know why. It was on the New Haven Branch's Nutmeg Workshop held on October 17th just a month earlier.
I don't know that I would do it on a regular basis but give it try anyway. Your dancers might like it - perhaps enough to make it a favorite.

Earl of Mansfield:- On the upcoming Drewry Night program.  Not easy. Not even that rewarding when you get it right - low payback for effort put in. It is not going on my favorites list.
My assessment is that while the individual pieces of the dance are not difficult the sum of the parts is.

Richard the Third:- I love this one. The music is a problem though. Terry strongly recommends using the music for Miss Gibson's Strathspey from the CD Memories of Scottish Weekend. This is a recognized name tune and I normally wouldn't use it.

But I do.… and I use another recordings when I teach Miss Gibson's. The music and dance fit so well here that any other music just doesn't cut the mustard. During the Rights and Lefts variation for example a pulse develops that is almost mesmerizing. We often say "Listen; and dance to the music." Here I say "Listen and dance WITH the music." There is a difference.

Countess of Dunmore's Reel:- This is the first time (that I know of) that this dance has been taught by any of the teachers in this area. The class loved it. They gave it a Golden Ghillie.

And that is a relief! I put this on the Kilts and Ghillies program unseen and undanced. It looked good  on paper and now I know that it is good in fact as well.

Ythanside:- One of my top 50 but not a golden ghillie dance. What it does is reward good dancers who anticipate. The expanding turns into circles takes a lot of self control to make them flow. When it flows it is magic. When you are early and stop between each piece the magic just never happens.

Eggemoggin Reach:- The Eggemoggin Reach is a stunningly beautiful stretch of water on the north side of the Penobscot Bay in Maine. The tune this dance wrote itself too is The Penobscot Bay Jig tthe fourth tune in a set of jigs by Peter Macfarlane and Lilian Linden.

I am finding this dance to be 'interesting'. The dancers in my head have no problem with it. The dancers on the floor do. This is the third or fourth teaching of the dance to this group and it is only now coming together.

Where I anticipated difficulty it went well. Where I thought it would be easy it was ugly. This pattern has happened now in several classes so it must be true and the dancers in my head must be very mistaken.

Even before they got it the class liked it. In fact they over ruled me when I wanted to give it a rest and insisted that we keep going until they got it right. This month they still had trouble in the beginning, but when they got it they gave it a Golden Ghillie and were enthusiastic about it appearing on the next (2017) Kilts and Ghillies Tea Dance.

And a huge Thank You to Keith Rose. I put a crib and he wrote a diagram for the dance!

16 November 2015 - Scotia

Deborah was back and it was another week of prep for Drewry Night.

The dances taught were:-

Sla'ine's Fancy  -  (32 J 3)  -  Let'a All Dance 2/Guilbert
John McAlpin  -  (32 S 3)  -  Foss
Deil Amang the Tailors  -  (32 R 3)  -  Bk 14

Gloria's Wee Jig  -  (32 J 3)  -  McMurtry/Devil's Quandary
Earl of Mansfield  -  (48 R 4)  -  Drewry
Ythanside  -  (32 S 3)  -  Drewry

**********

Sla'ine's Fancy:- aka The Spinning Wheel. Nice little dance in keeping with Deborah's other hobby. The joy of this baby jig is that it is not deadly boring like so many others. If you find good music this one is a bit of fun. I think this is a good one to have on call as needed.

John McAlpin:- On an upcoming class party program. A good handing dance and a good vehicle for teaching clean, precise, dancing.

Deil Amang the Tailors:- Good fun! Need to lighten the mood? Need a quick no-thinkum ender for a half or to bring up the energy level of the room? Choose this one.

Gloria's Wee Jig:- IMHO the end chase is sweet. It has just enough of a surprise element that it gives the dance a dash of spice. I give it a good hearty thumbs up!
I can't tell you how many times I have read it over and shrugged. Then I danced it...

Earl of Mansfield:- It just shouldn't be this difficult. I look at the pieces of the dance and they aren't particularly hard.

Then I look again at the leading and casting figure - and realize that 3rd couple have to know where third place is and go there - precisely. This is called Set Awareness and it is, I am realizing, a very esoteric skill. I call it the "birds on the wire" syndrome. You have seen it. A flock of birds sitting on a fence or a wire, all evenly spaced out. Then one bird leaves and all the birds shift just enough to close up the gap and once again they are all evenly spaced.

Dancers do that in this dance. Active dancers are 1st and 3rd couples so there is already a gap between 2nd and 4th couples, then 2nd couple steps up to top place doubling that gap and third couple is supposed to cast into 3rd place creating the proper space in which 1st couple face 1st corners. It rarely happens. What do 3rd couple do instead? They cast into the middle of the double gap created by 2nd couple stepping up and leave no clear cut obvious gap to define who and where the corners are. Poor 1st couple. They get no help, no clue, and the onus of keeping the dance together falls on them.

Ythanside:- I love this one! It takes some teaching but it rewards you far beyond the effort required.

The dance has two 'moments' where care is needed. On bars 7-8 1C change places up and down the set by RH and end between 2nd or 3rd couples. They *must* pull right shoulder back and face one another. This sets them up for the reels of 3 across - 1M to pass 2M and 1L to pass 3L by Rshoulders. There is a tendency to make the change and stay facing up/down out of the set. This gives a "wrong" entry into the reel and into the next figure and that breaks the flow, and John is noted for the flow of his dances.

The other 'moment' - bars 23-24:- 2L and 3L turn with BH half way opening up to face 1L who has cast; 2M 3M similarly turn BH half way and open up to face 1M. These turns merge into circles of three merging into a circle of 6 ending on own sides. This is a lovely sequence of assimilation - 2s into 3s into 6 - and it requires anticipation and planning and control and when you do all of that the flow thrills. Therefore it is critical, well that is a bit of an exaggeration, that the turning dancers end closely back to back with partners and keep dancing on, flowing into the circles of three. In the teaching, that moment between bars 24 and 25, is a *artificial* stopping point which dancers take to heart and all these artificial moments of stoppage where we place them so we can teach the sequence or provide landmarks unfortunately become part of their dancing.

Thank you Leslie Kearney (New Haven, CT) for finding it, teaching it, and putting on a ball program. I would have continued to pass it by.

9 November 2015 – Scotia

Deborah couldn't make it this evening so some switching around was in order. I stood in for Deborah and took the first "teaching" portion of the night and Sue Ronald stood in for me and took the second, social, half of the evening.

My emphasis was pas de basque and poussette. And I was thorough. Very thorough.
I had a warmup dance and then Flowers of Edinburgh. Not much for a bit over an hour. So in the final consensus I would say I was too thorough, even painfully so.

The dances taught were:-

The Kissing Bridge  -  (32 R 3)  - Bk 47 (Butterfield)
Flowers of Edinburgh  -  (32 R 3)  -  Bk 1

Chase Court  -  (32 R 2)  - C. Ronald/Big Apple Coll.
Silver City Strathspey  -  (32 S 3)  -  Drewry
Bratach Bana  -  (32 R 3)  -  Drewry
Roselath Cross  -  (32 J 3)  -  Bk 41

**********

Chase Court:- A nice little dance with Left and Rights (starting LH on the sides) into poussette. And right in keeping with the theme of the first half.

Silver City:- Prep for the upcoming Drewry Night hosted by the Brooklyn (NY) class. Question - why is it so difficult to get dancers to lead when in promenade hold. A good promenade hold and strong lead here really helps the 'outside' person get around the ends of the reel but so many dancers around here dance all scrunched up with their hands close to their chest. Looks ugly and dances ugly. And I know that the proper technique has been often mentioned in class. This is not news to the dancers despite what they say.

Bratach Bana:- Good music good dance. This one has a Golden Ghillie and deservedly so. Also on the Drewry Night program. And I don't care that it has been on the last four, or is it five, programs. This one doesn't get old. Two thumbs up!!

The Roselath Cross:- Sue said it was done just for fun. It was. A thumbs up.