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.
Wednesday, July 28, 2010
Wednesday, July 21, 2010
New Haven Summer Social - 20 July 2010
Another warm muggy night, but not nearly the oven that the last couple of weeks were. Thank you lord.
Once again 12 dancers were present and, once again, thank you lord, 'cause that meant I could teach a 12-some reel by Barry Priddey that I have wanted to do for some time now - since the day the book arrived in the mail.
Thank you Susan and Ed for the lovely drippy watermelon, thank you Deborah for the veggie chips and thank you Bill and Alice for the seltzer.
Tonights dances were:
The Solway Reel (48 R 4) Carlisle & Border Anniversary Bk.
Monadh Leath (32 S 3) John Drewry
Twelvesome Reel (32 R 6 square) Barry Priddey
Unnamed Dance (32 R 3) Bob Gregg
Bratach Bhana (32 R 3) John Drewry
**********
The Solway Reel - One of my favourite dances. And, contrary to the commonly held myth, some of the dances I like really are simple. I have found only one recording for this dance and it isn't very good so I continue to use Jimmy Blair's recording of Lady Sophia Anne of Bute. Good upbeat march tunes and the dancers respond to them.
It is interesting to note the difference that 9 years makes. (I last taught this in May 2001 and I know that it has been taught at least once by another New Haven teacher). Tonight dancers were on time - and what a difference that makes!
Monadh Leath - figure of note: balance in lines of 4 with Highland Schottische setting, dancers facing in alternate directions, into half reels of four. Lovely. The hardest part of the dance: getting the dancers to take hands and remake that line of four whenever possible, especially just before the entry into the half reels.
Twelvesome Reel - Oh my. I had NO idea. I have been trying to diagram (pilling style) this dance since the book arrived. Usually, translating a dance's written directions into diagram form teaches me the dance - I get to see it as a whole pattern. Not this time. So I finally just taught it from the book which I hate to do. And it was a delight to do. The last 8 bars are the only difficult part because the progression happens so quickly.
Formation - 4 couples in a square with 2 couples in the center ( #5 facing up to #1 and #6 facing down to #3) all proper (men on left, ladies on the right).
Heart of the Dance - parallel reels of four with head couples then with side couples. What makes the dance special is this - couples 5 & 6 do NOT pass left shoulder on bar 8 but cut the reels a little short, and the men get to do a twirl and really flip their kilts (ladies - enjoy the view!).
What follows is unique in my experience - there are four "teapots" - Right Hands Across for 3 dancers at each of the four corners of the set flowing into 1/4 chase while #s 5 & 6 dance half LHA into: heads & centers change places with half RHA.
Bottom Line: Do it. Dancers were struggling but almost all of them had smiles on their faces even though it never quite came together for the full six rounds. Now #52 on my Top 50 Reels list.
Bratach Bhana - coming up soon - on Brooklyn's Drewry Night program. Great music if I can get my iTunes files read by Windows Media Player. The best version I have is by Andrew Rankine but it is way fast. I could slow it down with Windows Media Player if only Windows Media Player could find it. I really hate the Microsoft Windows world.
I like the dance as it is being done, but I like it better the way John originally wrote it. After the diagonal promenade to change the corners he had 1C and corners turn into place, as couples, with pas de basque! I love it that way. The current style, to open out with skip change of step, is easier but has no soul, no panache. John must have taken a whole lot of grief because he almost never knuckles under to outside pressure.
Once again 12 dancers were present and, once again, thank you lord, 'cause that meant I could teach a 12-some reel by Barry Priddey that I have wanted to do for some time now - since the day the book arrived in the mail.
Thank you Susan and Ed for the lovely drippy watermelon, thank you Deborah for the veggie chips and thank you Bill and Alice for the seltzer.
Tonights dances were:
The Solway Reel (48 R 4) Carlisle & Border Anniversary Bk.
Monadh Leath (32 S 3) John Drewry
Twelvesome Reel (32 R 6 square) Barry Priddey
Unnamed Dance (32 R 3) Bob Gregg
Bratach Bhana (32 R 3) John Drewry
**********
The Solway Reel - One of my favourite dances. And, contrary to the commonly held myth, some of the dances I like really are simple. I have found only one recording for this dance and it isn't very good so I continue to use Jimmy Blair's recording of Lady Sophia Anne of Bute. Good upbeat march tunes and the dancers respond to them.
It is interesting to note the difference that 9 years makes. (I last taught this in May 2001 and I know that it has been taught at least once by another New Haven teacher). Tonight dancers were on time - and what a difference that makes!
Monadh Leath - figure of note: balance in lines of 4 with Highland Schottische setting, dancers facing in alternate directions, into half reels of four. Lovely. The hardest part of the dance: getting the dancers to take hands and remake that line of four whenever possible, especially just before the entry into the half reels.
Twelvesome Reel - Oh my. I had NO idea. I have been trying to diagram (pilling style) this dance since the book arrived. Usually, translating a dance's written directions into diagram form teaches me the dance - I get to see it as a whole pattern. Not this time. So I finally just taught it from the book which I hate to do. And it was a delight to do. The last 8 bars are the only difficult part because the progression happens so quickly.
Formation - 4 couples in a square with 2 couples in the center ( #5 facing up to #1 and #6 facing down to #3) all proper (men on left, ladies on the right).
Heart of the Dance - parallel reels of four with head couples then with side couples. What makes the dance special is this - couples 5 & 6 do NOT pass left shoulder on bar 8 but cut the reels a little short, and the men get to do a twirl and really flip their kilts (ladies - enjoy the view!).
What follows is unique in my experience - there are four "teapots" - Right Hands Across for 3 dancers at each of the four corners of the set flowing into 1/4 chase while #s 5 & 6 dance half LHA into: heads & centers change places with half RHA.
Bottom Line: Do it. Dancers were struggling but almost all of them had smiles on their faces even though it never quite came together for the full six rounds. Now #52 on my Top 50 Reels list.
Bratach Bhana - coming up soon - on Brooklyn's Drewry Night program. Great music if I can get my iTunes files read by Windows Media Player. The best version I have is by Andrew Rankine but it is way fast. I could slow it down with Windows Media Player if only Windows Media Player could find it. I really hate the Microsoft Windows world.
I like the dance as it is being done, but I like it better the way John originally wrote it. After the diagonal promenade to change the corners he had 1C and corners turn into place, as couples, with pas de basque! I love it that way. The current style, to open out with skip change of step, is easier but has no soul, no panache. John must have taken a whole lot of grief because he almost never knuckles under to outside pressure.
Wednesday, July 14, 2010
New Haven Summer Social - 13 July 2010
Last night was very warm and very sticky and still 12 dancers showed up. All but one regulars of the New Haven or Woodbridge classes and no one, regretfully, from another CT class. That other was from New Jersey.
Tonight's dances were:
Reekie Linn (32 J 2) Jean Attwood leaflet
Rose and Woodbine (32 S 3) SF 2
Mill of Fortune (32 J 4) Jean Attwood leaflet
Gordon of Straloch (32 S 3) Peter Price
It is Time (32 S 3 set) Wouter Joubert
The Cashmere Shawl (32 S 3) Iain Boyd
**********
Reekie Linn - I like the dance. I am not sure that anyone else did but that could be because I used it as a warmup and no one had a functioning brain at that point.
Rose and Woodbine (aka Asilomar Romantic) - Still one of my favourite dances. Definitely on my top 50 and maybe even on my top 10 list.
Mill of Fortune - This one was my toughie of the night. The conceit of the dance is four sequential and simultaneous half reels of four and right hand turns. It is also a timing dance - all the dancers need to be spot on for it to work and I may have over reached considering the weather and the melting brains. We managed a few clear rounds but I didn't see it coming together and called it quits. That's when I found out that they all liked the dance. So maybe it is a winter dance and not a dog-day-of-summer dance. This one is definitely worth the work.
Ke Nako (It is Time) - A brand new dance from Wouter Joubert of South Africa to celebrate the FIFA World Cup.
I really liked the opening 8 bars into the Hello-G'bye setting. I didn't hear a whole lot of talk after but at least one other person liked it a lot.
The Cashmere Shawl - This one just made it onto my Top 50 Strathspey list. It doesn't read as such but it certainly dances that way. Recommended! I used the Hanneke Cassel and Dave Wiesler recording of Irongray. I sped it up a bit and it worked very nicely.
Wednesday, June 30, 2010
New Haven Summer Social - 29 June 2010
Leslie Kearney taught.
The evening's dances were:
Robert's Reel (32 S 3) Dunsmuir Dances
Hanna's Pride (32 J 3) Dunsmuir Dances
The Fiddlehead (32 S 3) Dunsmuir Dances
Fair Ronny's Reel (32 R 3) Dunsmuir Dances
Outside the Box (32 S 3) Between the Rivers
The Stella Strathspey (32 S 3 set) Bob Gregg - leaflet
Margot's Love (32 J 3) Dunsmuir Dances
**********
The evening's dances were:
Robert's Reel (32 S 3) Dunsmuir Dances
Hanna's Pride (32 J 3) Dunsmuir Dances
The Fiddlehead (32 S 3) Dunsmuir Dances
Fair Ronny's Reel (32 R 3) Dunsmuir Dances
Outside the Box (32 S 3) Between the Rivers
The Stella Strathspey (32 S 3 set) Bob Gregg - leaflet
Margot's Love (32 J 3) Dunsmuir Dances
**********
All the dances but one were from Dunsmuir Dances and Between the Rivers. And what incredible books they are. I don't think there is a boat anchor dance in either book. To put it another way - I am willing to spend money on a dance book if there are 2 good dances in it. In these books MOST of the dances are good, if not great. Mind you I wouldn't do all of them on a regular basis but many of them - oh yes.
From the Dunsmuir book: Maurice is perhaps my favorite strathspey of all time. Other favorites of mine are: Linnea's Strathspey, Miss Jane Muirhead, Mole's Frolic, and The Fiddlehead. I have enjoyed dancing these others too: Crowecombe and Stogumber, Fair Ronny's Reel, Hanna's Pride, Margot's Love, Robert's Reel, The Seamstress, Sleeper's Awake and Sunday Afternoon Jig.
I cannot think of another book that has such a high proportion of good dances in it - other than Between the Rivers. That book has 17 dances and I have danced and enjoyed the following: A Winter's Walk, Holden My Own, On Hudson Creek, Foggy River Reel, Gypsy Weaver, Outside the Box and The Silver Thistle Ball.
I can't speak of most of the other dances because I haven't danced them. The only one I haven't liked is A Wee Nothin' - not because it is a bad dance, it isn't - but it is so basic that it is no challenge at all - and I need to be challenged in some manner to find a dance interesting. (Note: this is a great dance for beginners or for a warm up early in a dance program).
To put all this in perspective: either Leslie or I have programed the following dances on the Kilts and Ghillies Ball:
Maurice, Linnea's Strathspey, On Hudson Creek, Gypsy Weaver, The Silver Thistle Ball, Holden My Own, and Mole's Frolic.
Too both Crowcombe and Stogumber and Miss Jane Muirhead of Dunsmuir have appeared on recent New Haven Highland Ball programs.
So kudos to Leslie for finding these books and being willing to work through them.
**********
The Stella Strathspey is a work in progress by Bob Gregg who taught it. The talk through had me squirming but once the dance got under way I found myself enjoying it. There are real possibilities here. Nice job!
The Fiddlehead - This is one where embroidery makes the dance - and I saw many missed opportunities. The secret to this dance is to turn the long way into place when ever possible- and there are many possibles.
The one place I disagree with Leslie's interpretation is on bars 7-8.
The directions read:
... while 1st and 2nd women turn with left hands to
face partners in a diagonal line between 1st man's
and 2nd woman's places.
Note: 1M ends these bars in 2L's place and 2M in top man's place while 1L starts in partner's place and 2L in home place.
Leslie had the ladies turning more than once round in 2 steps which I found busy. If I were to embroider the moment my preference would be to have them turn only half round (1 step) and pivot in place (1 step Lsh back) to face partner. This would be more in keeping with the curly theme of the fiddlehead (IMHO). The simplest interpretation however would be to have the ladies turn halfway in 2 bars and flow directly into the reel of four that follows. A Keep It Simple movement.
Thursday, June 24, 2010
New Haven Summer Social - 22 June 2010
Teachers were: Peter Price (just the warm up) and Leslie Kearney.
The Dances were:
Kendall's Hornpipe (32 J 2) Graded Book #22
Three Quarters = Seventyfive Sense (32 S 3 set) Between the Rivers (Barnes)
The Bonny Heather (32 S 2) Between the Rivers (Ways)
Corrievrechan (32 R 3) Barry Priddey
A Trip to Lorient (32 S 4) RSCDS Leaflet 2008
Silver Thistle Ball (32 S 3 set) Between the Rivers
Sueno's Stone (32 R 3) RSCDS Leaflet 2008
The Dances were:
Kendall's Hornpipe (32 J 2) Graded Book #22
Three Quarters = Seventyfive Sense (32 S 3 set) Between the Rivers (Barnes)
The Bonny Heather (32 S 2) Between the Rivers (Ways)
Corrievrechan (32 R 3) Barry Priddey
A Trip to Lorient (32 S 4) RSCDS Leaflet 2008
Silver Thistle Ball (32 S 3 set) Between the Rivers
Sueno's Stone (32 R 3) RSCDS Leaflet 2008
New Haven Summer Social - 15 June 2010
Summer Social Dancing in New Haven has begun!
Tonight's Teacher was Leslie Kearney and tonight's dances were (in no particular order):
The Seamstress (40 S 3 set) Claudette Sigg
Toad of Toad Hall (32 R 3) Tom Winter
The Stolen Kiss (32 S 3) Claudette Sigg
Sleepers Awake (32 R 3) Tom Winter
Sunday Afternoon Jig (32 J 3) Shari Salis
New Dance by Bob Gregg
Tonight's Teacher was Leslie Kearney and tonight's dances were (in no particular order):
The Seamstress (40 S 3 set) Claudette Sigg
Toad of Toad Hall (32 R 3) Tom Winter
The Stolen Kiss (32 S 3) Claudette Sigg
Sleepers Awake (32 R 3) Tom Winter
Sunday Afternoon Jig (32 J 3) Shari Salis
New Dance by Bob Gregg
Tuesday, June 15, 2010
Dancing on the Heights - 14 June 2010
Summer is here which means heat and humidity and no AC at the Friends. Deal with it. It is far better than having AC and cold muscle injuries. Too, it means I have fewer opportunities to teach and this blog gets a little slow.
We had 5 couples for the first part of the night. It was wonderful! Gold star to the Goldbergs who drove up from Brooklyn just for this class. And another gold star for Deb Leary for the honey-gingerale recipe that is sooo good.
Tonight's dances were:
The Wee Cooper of Fife (40 J 2) Hugh Foss
Gordon of Straloch (32 S 3) Peter Price
The Land of Oz (32 R 3) John Drewry
Lang May Your Lum Reek (32 J 2) Barry Priddey
Bill Clement, MBE (32 J 3) John Wilkinson
Castle Douglas (32 S 3) Roy Goldring
**********
The Wee Cooper of Fife - I remember this dance with great fondness but have been mildly dissapointed both times I have taught it recently. Personally, the 10 bar phrases are no longer the marvelous oddity that used to be so much fun. And I find the dance to be what I call a "huffin' puffer" - a 2C dance with no let up or resting places build in. Not a problem when I was 30 and in good shape. An issue when 58 and dealing with creaky legs.
Gordon of Straloch - The music makes the dance. The band is Waverley Station led by Liz Donaldson; the CD is First Stop; the two tunes are "Rorate coeli" and "I long for thy virginitie". The latter from the Straloch Lute Book of 1627 from whence the name of the dance comes. The music is sublime. The dance is pretty and is published on the Eight by Thirty Two web site (here).
The Land of Oz - from Drewry's Australian Book. Another Huffin' Puffer! But boy do I like the transition from chase and cross into circle! But I am now thinking perhaps not for a ball program that already includes The Wee Cooper of Fife - too many Huffin' Puffers is not a good thing.
Lang May Your Lum Reek - I have thaught this before and commented on it before. The third 8 bars relies on good, strong, accurate pas de basque steps. In other words you gotta move!
Bill Clement, MBE - Eh. It's OK. But it will never make my top 50 list.
Castle Douglas - I have been teaching this dance since 1995, and it continues to be one of my favourites. Take a special partner for this one.
We had 5 couples for the first part of the night. It was wonderful! Gold star to the Goldbergs who drove up from Brooklyn just for this class. And another gold star for Deb Leary for the honey-gingerale recipe that is sooo good.
Tonight's dances were:
The Wee Cooper of Fife (40 J 2) Hugh Foss
Gordon of Straloch (32 S 3) Peter Price
The Land of Oz (32 R 3) John Drewry
Lang May Your Lum Reek (32 J 2) Barry Priddey
Bill Clement, MBE (32 J 3) John Wilkinson
Castle Douglas (32 S 3) Roy Goldring
**********
The Wee Cooper of Fife - I remember this dance with great fondness but have been mildly dissapointed both times I have taught it recently. Personally, the 10 bar phrases are no longer the marvelous oddity that used to be so much fun. And I find the dance to be what I call a "huffin' puffer" - a 2C dance with no let up or resting places build in. Not a problem when I was 30 and in good shape. An issue when 58 and dealing with creaky legs.
Gordon of Straloch - The music makes the dance. The band is Waverley Station led by Liz Donaldson; the CD is First Stop; the two tunes are "Rorate coeli" and "I long for thy virginitie". The latter from the Straloch Lute Book of 1627 from whence the name of the dance comes. The music is sublime. The dance is pretty and is published on the Eight by Thirty Two web site (here).
The Land of Oz - from Drewry's Australian Book. Another Huffin' Puffer! But boy do I like the transition from chase and cross into circle! But I am now thinking perhaps not for a ball program that already includes The Wee Cooper of Fife - too many Huffin' Puffers is not a good thing.
Lang May Your Lum Reek - I have thaught this before and commented on it before. The third 8 bars relies on good, strong, accurate pas de basque steps. In other words you gotta move!
Bill Clement, MBE - Eh. It's OK. But it will never make my top 50 list.
Castle Douglas - I have been teaching this dance since 1995, and it continues to be one of my favourites. Take a special partner for this one.
Tuesday, May 11, 2010
11 May 2010 - Dancing on the Heights
A wonderful night! I had a full set, I had some music on the new computer and taught dances that I had music for but hadn't prepared. And it went really well.
Tonight's dances were:
Coming Through the Rye (40 J 3) San Francisco 2
Knights' Heys (32 H 3) T. Glasspool
Glencoe (32 S 4) B. Priddey - Tam O'Shanter Book
The Pride of the Murray (32 H 3) I. Boyd - World Around the Corner
Gypsy Weaver (32 S 3) Between the Rivers (A. Peet)
**********
Coming Through the Rye - The first 24 bars are pure dead brilliant. The sequential parallel reels are stunning. The asymmetry gives it spice and when covered it is simply mahvelous. Peanut gallery piped up and declared it a ball dance. Who am I to argue with them? It is now on the short list.
Knights' Heys - Wow! I put this on the 2003 K&G Ball and haven't taught it since. My bad because it is a wonderful, joyous dance and how quickly we forget. It is one of Terry's best dances and he has many very good ones.
Glencoe - Mixed reviews on this one. Positive feedback from several and negative feed back from several. My personal feelings are equally mixed. I will put it this way: not up to the standards of Rakes of Auld Reekie or Maurice, but few dances are. This one is a good solid middle ground strathspey that is a little bit different.
The Pride of the Murray - I liked it in 2006 when I put it on that year's K&G Ball. I still like it and tonight's dancers all liked it. The moving turns and the social warmth of the "invitation" to 3M and 3L to join the turns and form teapots make the dance memorable.
Gypsy Weaver - Oh My Goodness Gracious. What beautiful music and what a beautiful dance. Top 10 contender! It is right up there with Maurice and Rakes of Auld Reekie.
Tonight's dances were:
Coming Through the Rye (40 J 3) San Francisco 2
Knights' Heys (32 H 3) T. Glasspool
Glencoe (32 S 4) B. Priddey - Tam O'Shanter Book
The Pride of the Murray (32 H 3) I. Boyd - World Around the Corner
Gypsy Weaver (32 S 3) Between the Rivers (A. Peet)
**********
Coming Through the Rye - The first 24 bars are pure dead brilliant. The sequential parallel reels are stunning. The asymmetry gives it spice and when covered it is simply mahvelous. Peanut gallery piped up and declared it a ball dance. Who am I to argue with them? It is now on the short list.
Knights' Heys - Wow! I put this on the 2003 K&G Ball and haven't taught it since. My bad because it is a wonderful, joyous dance and how quickly we forget. It is one of Terry's best dances and he has many very good ones.
Glencoe - Mixed reviews on this one. Positive feedback from several and negative feed back from several. My personal feelings are equally mixed. I will put it this way: not up to the standards of Rakes of Auld Reekie or Maurice, but few dances are. This one is a good solid middle ground strathspey that is a little bit different.
The Pride of the Murray - I liked it in 2006 when I put it on that year's K&G Ball. I still like it and tonight's dancers all liked it. The moving turns and the social warmth of the "invitation" to 3M and 3L to join the turns and form teapots make the dance memorable.
Gypsy Weaver - Oh My Goodness Gracious. What beautiful music and what a beautiful dance. Top 10 contender! It is right up there with Maurice and Rakes of Auld Reekie.
Wednesday, May 5, 2010
5 May 2010 - Wilton Class
Another late start and small class. It was also very warm and I was very distracted. My Mac crashed, I lost all my music and the Apple stores don't work on "antiques". I am now the owner of a PC and feeling like I stepped back into the stone age. All very depressing. Which affected the class negatively - and before you ask, no I was not able to leave it at the door.
I had to bring cds - and that is just about as bad as having to use tapes (remember those?).
Tonight's dances were:
The Burn of Sorrow (32 S 2) B. Priddey
Wedding in St. Monans (32 J 3) Mary S. Brandon
The Pride of the Murray (32 H 3) Iain Boyd
Bill Clement, MBE (32 J 3) John Wilkinson
**********
The Burn of Sorrow: Nothing special. I may need to find better music (when I have the new pc up and running and the basic library of SCD music is installed).
Wedding in St. Monans - Needs a four couple set for proper test. Three couples means too much fudging with the progression.
The Pride of the Murray - I like this dance! So did tonight's crew. And so they should, they liked it enough that I put it on the 2006 K&G Ball for them.
Bill Clement, MBE - Again I wish I had the right music, because the music I picked it proved to be nothing special.
I had to bring cds - and that is just about as bad as having to use tapes (remember those?).
Tonight's dances were:
The Burn of Sorrow (32 S 2) B. Priddey
Wedding in St. Monans (32 J 3) Mary S. Brandon
The Pride of the Murray (32 H 3) Iain Boyd
Bill Clement, MBE (32 J 3) John Wilkinson
**********
The Burn of Sorrow: Nothing special. I may need to find better music (when I have the new pc up and running and the basic library of SCD music is installed).
Wedding in St. Monans - Needs a four couple set for proper test. Three couples means too much fudging with the progression.
The Pride of the Murray - I like this dance! So did tonight's crew. And so they should, they liked it enough that I put it on the 2006 K&G Ball for them.
Bill Clement, MBE - Again I wish I had the right music, because the music I picked it proved to be nothing special.
Thursday, April 29, 2010
Wilton Class – 27 April 2010
There was a very full moon that night - I was already distracted and no body else brought their brains. Hard work all around. The evening was also a guinea pig session: I had several dances I wanted to look at in regards to programing them on the next K&G Ball. I need to do these testings because my eye often leads me astray - I think most dances are easy and most people think I am abnormal and need a reality check.
The night's dances (there were only three):
The Wee Cooper of Fife (40 J 2) H. Foss - Song Tunes
Linnea's Strathspey (32 S 3) Dunsmuir Dances a
The 51st Travelers (32 J 3) 44/9 (S. Turton)
**********
The Wee Cooper of Fife – 4 figures of 10 bars each - I love this dance and I am, in fact, so prejudiced that I am having trouble assessing accurately how it will work on a ball program, and yes Virginia, I am already working on the 2011 K&G Ball program. But I love the music for this dance, I really like the dance itself, I think it is total fun. Apparently not everyone agrees with me.
Linnea's Strathspey – Another dance I really like. Last 'taught' 26 April 2008 when it was on the K&G Ball. The dance hangs on the turning couple in the middle of the Half Chain Progression. For some reason the concept of a 4 bar turn going once and a half round was beyond some of the dancers, and getting that concept across was certainly beyond me. Yeuuch.
The 51st Travelers – Ralph Page, an old time contra caller from New Hampshire, had a category of dances that he called "little stinkers" - and this is one. There is no wiggle room, no chance of recovery if the dancers bobble and there is a lot here that can be bobbled. Not a dance for a ball and here I was thinking it was - until I saw it danced by real people and not the shadow dancers in my head. A dance for young legs.
The night's dances (there were only three):
The Wee Cooper of Fife (40 J 2) H. Foss - Song Tunes
Linnea's Strathspey (32 S 3) Dunsmuir Dances a
The 51st Travelers (32 J 3) 44/9 (S. Turton)
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The Wee Cooper of Fife – 4 figures of 10 bars each - I love this dance and I am, in fact, so prejudiced that I am having trouble assessing accurately how it will work on a ball program, and yes Virginia, I am already working on the 2011 K&G Ball program. But I love the music for this dance, I really like the dance itself, I think it is total fun. Apparently not everyone agrees with me.
Linnea's Strathspey – Another dance I really like. Last 'taught' 26 April 2008 when it was on the K&G Ball. The dance hangs on the turning couple in the middle of the Half Chain Progression. For some reason the concept of a 4 bar turn going once and a half round was beyond some of the dancers, and getting that concept across was certainly beyond me. Yeuuch.
The 51st Travelers – Ralph Page, an old time contra caller from New Hampshire, had a category of dances that he called "little stinkers" - and this is one. There is no wiggle room, no chance of recovery if the dancers bobble and there is a lot here that can be bobbled. Not a dance for a ball and here I was thinking it was - until I saw it danced by real people and not the shadow dancers in my head. A dance for young legs.
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