strathspey Archive: Dances in a square set

Martin wrote:

"On the other hand, these countless 88-bar dances are not easy to
memeorize, as the end of one figure does not often suggest the
beginning of the next (except where side cps repeat whatever top cps
have just done). In the days when I had a good enough memory for
these things, a set I was in, tried dancing Summer Assembly, when was
encored, in reverse order -- it worked just as well."

An easy dance in a square set that I use quite a lot with beginners is
Abbotsford Lassies, by Charlie Inglis (Ottawa).

It's only available as a leaflet, as far as I know, so I've pasted a
"minicrib"-style rendering of the dance below.

Chris, New York.

ABBOTSFORD LASSIES (H4x32) Sq.Set

1- 8 1s+3s set, change places RH up and down, face right, and dance
round the outside of the set back to places (finish in partner’s place).

9-16 2s+4s repeat.

17-20 1L+2M & 3L+4M (each couple taking nearer hands) advance and
retire on the diagonal.

21-24 2L+3M & 4L+1M repeat.

25-32 Circle 8H round & back. Men finish where they began, but with
new partner.

PS. This dance would be well worth a place in the new graded book, IMHO.

Hi all,

One I have used many time for beginners around week 2 or 3
is the Illabo Rant by Shiela Gradon. It is not exactly
88 bars but 64 bars (R) done twice.
It is from the very nice collection ``Beyond the Black Stump''

1-8 8 hands round and back

9-12 Head couples (ie 1' and 3's) take both hands and slip past each other
(travelling towards and past the other couples place) men's backs passing.

13-16 Return to place this time the women's backs pass.

17-24 Side couples repeat.

25-32 Ladies dance 4 hands across and back and finish facing corners.

33-36 Ladies turn corners with right hands and finish facing partners

37-40 Ladies turn partner with left hands.

41-48 Men dance 4 hands across and back and finish facing parters.

49-64 half grand chain with claps. in two bars pass partner with right
hand, stop
and clap on the first beat of the next two bars
pass the next person with left hand (2) and clap (2) etc.
You will meet your partner on bar 62, half way round the circle.

repeat from the new position.

as the dancers get better you can substitute (as Shiela suggests)
pas de basque for the claps.
I often do this when teaching pas de basque, having done it with claps
earlier.

I use ``The Reverend John MacFarlane'' or
``The Shetland Fiddler'' as both tunes suit the dance.

later you can also do the last half grand chain with only one bar per hand
and no pas de basque and then use a tulloch turn etc as we do in the
eigthsome.

This reminds me of the Cumberland Square Eight, an English country dance.

Except the Cumberland Square Eight has a basket. Too bad SCD doesn't have
baskets....

Chris, New York.

On Wed, Apr 15, 2009 at 7:27 PM, Rod Downey <Rod.Downey@ecs.vuw.ac.nz>wrote:

>
>
> Hi all,
>
> One I have used many time for beginners around week 2 or 3
> is the Illabo Rant by Shiela Gradon. It is not exactly
> 88 bars but 64 bars (R) done twice.
> It is from the very nice collection ``Beyond the Black Stump''
>
> 1-8 8 hands round and back
>
> 9-12 Head couples (ie 1' and 3's) take both hands and slip past each other
> (travelling towards and past the other couples place) men's backs passing.
>
> 13-16 Return to place this time the women's backs pass.
>
> 17-24 Side couples repeat.
>
> 25-32 Ladies dance 4 hands across and back and finish facing corners. Etc.

I was at a ceilidh in January where we did Cumb. Sq. 8 - the girl I was
dancing opposite and I looked at our partners and decided that the only safe
way to do a basket was if we 'carried' the gents. :>)

Pia

-----Original Message-----
From: Chris Ronald [mailto:cjr878@gmail.com]
Sent: 16 April 2009 02:12
To: strathspey@strathspey.org
Subject: Re: Dances in a square set

This reminds me of the Cumberland Square Eight, an English country dance.

Except the Cumberland Square Eight has a basket. Too bad SCD doesn't have
baskets....

Chris, New York.

On Wed, Apr 15, 2009 at 7:27 PM, Rod Downey <Rod.Downey@ecs.vuw.ac.nz>wrote:

>

We danced The Cumberland Square at the Space Coast Spring Fling four weeks ago, and James Kutzner (THE Space Coaster) taught it at the Atlanta Branch weekend in 2006. He credits the SCD version to Duncan Keppie - Burns Night in the Annapolis Valley. Great fun when the sets are lined up so you can interact with the next set during the slipping. Slippery palms are my problem in the baskets, specially nerve-wracking after a long hot evening of dancing.

Becky

Becky Sager
Marietta GA USA

---------- Original Message ----------
From: "Pia" <pia@intamail.com>
To: <strathspey@strathspey.org>
Subject: RE: Dances in a square set
Date: Thu, 16 Apr 2009 08:37:45 +0100

I was at a ceilidh in January where we did Cumb. Sq. 8 - the girl I was
dancing opposite and I looked at our partners and decided that the only safe
way to do a basket was if we 'carried' the gents. :>)

Pia

-----Original Message-----
From: Chris Ronald [mailto:cjr878@gmail.com]
Sent: 16 April 2009 02:12
To: strathspey@strathspey.org
Subject: Re: Dances in a square set

This reminds me of the Cumberland Square Eight, an English country dance.

Except the Cumberland Square Eight has a basket. Too bad SCD doesn't have
baskets....

Chris, New York.

On Wed, Apr 15, 2009 at 7:27 PM, Rod Downey <Rod.Downey@ecs.vuw.ac.nz>wrote:

>

Who says SCD has no baskets? Did you never dance Neaps an' Haggis?

Becky

Becky Sager
Marietta GA USA

From: Chris Ronald <cjr878@gmail.com>
To: strathspey@strathspey.org
Subject: Re: Dances in a square set
Date: Wed, 15 Apr 2009 21:11:57 -0400

Yes, I'm glad the basket isn't usually encountered in SCD as it's
potentially dangerous: either the men do their backs in (without being
"traditionally built", if you're 5'8 (1m72) there aren't many who can
lift you safely) or you risk getting struck by flying feet! And
frankly, the safer "group hug shuffling around" version doesn't do
anything for me.

Sophie

>----Original Message----
>From: pia@intamail.com
>Date: Apr 16, 2009 8:37
>To: <strathspey@strathspey.org>
>Subject: RE: Dances in a square set
>
>I was at a ceilidh in January where we did Cumb. Sq. 8 - the girl I
was
>dancing opposite and I looked at our partners and decided that the
only safe
>way to do a basket was if we 'carried' the gents. :>)
>
>Pia
>
>-----Original Message-----
>From: Chris Ronald [mailto:cjr878@gmail.com]
>Sent: 16 April 2009 02:12
>To: strathspey@strathspey.org
>Subject: Re: Dances in a square set
>
>
>This reminds me of the Cumberland Square Eight, an English country
dance.
>
>Except the Cumberland Square Eight has a basket. Too bad SCD doesn't
have
>baskets....
>
>Chris, New York.
>
>
>On Wed, Apr 15, 2009 at 7:27 PM, Rod Downey <Rod.Downey@ecs.vuw.ac.
nz>wrote:
>
>>
>
>

>
> "Yes, I'm glad the basket isn't usually encountered in SCD as it's
> potentially dangerous: either the men do their backs in (without being
> "traditionally built", if you're 5'8 (1m72) there aren't many who can
> lift you safely) or you risk getting struck by flying feet! And
> frankly, the safer "group hug shuffling around" version doesn't do
> anything for me. - Sophie"

Good points, Sophie. I guess it's a figure where you need to choose your
partner and your opposites carefully.

Which raises a host of other questions....

Chris.

On Thu, Apr 16, 2009 at 7:13 AM, Chris Ronald <cjr878@gmail.com> wrote:

> Which raises a host of other questions....

Or a "hoist" of other questions? (Pia's such a bad influence... *demure smile*)

Stasa, Seattle, WA, USA

Moi ??? One has to flexible in life as well as in dancing :>)

Pia

-----Original Message-----
From: Stasa Morgan-Appel [mailto:smorganappel@gmail.com]
Sent: 16 April 2009 21:28
To: strathspey@strathspey.org
Subject: Re: Dances in a square set

On Thu, Apr 16, 2009 at 7:13 AM, Chris Ronald <cjr878@gmail.com> wrote:

> Which raises a host of other questions....

Or a "hoist" of other questions? (Pia's such a bad influence... *demure
smile*)

Stasa, Seattle, WA, USA

Thank you for the crib on Abbotsford Lassies. I tried it last night as a
warm up dance at the beginning of my class. Everyone enjoyed it, both the
experienced and the non-experienced. I also do ceilidh dances for the
uninitiated to scd. I have now added this dance to my repertoire.
Margaret Allan (Clitheroe)

-----Original Message-----
From: Chris Ronald [mailto:cjr878@gmail.com]
Sent: 14 April 2009 14:37
To: strathspey@strathspey.org
Subject: Dances in a square set

Martin wrote:

"On the other hand, these countless 88-bar dances are not easy to
memeorize, as the end of one figure does not often suggest the
beginning of the next (except where side cps repeat whatever top cps
have just done). In the days when I had a good enough memory for
these things, a set I was in, tried dancing Summer Assembly, when was
encored, in reverse order -- it worked just as well."

An easy dance in a square set that I use quite a lot with beginners is
Abbotsford Lassies, by Charlie Inglis (Ottawa).

It's only available as a leaflet, as far as I know, so I've pasted a
"minicrib"-style rendering of the dance below.

Chris, New York.

ABBOTSFORD LASSIES (H4x32) Sq.Set

1- 8 1s+3s set, change places RH up and down, face right, and dance
round the outside of the set back to places (finish in partner's place).

9-16 2s+4s repeat.

17-20 1L+2M & 3L+4M (each couple taking nearer hands) advance and
retire on the diagonal.

21-24 2L+3M & 4L+1M repeat.

25-32 Circle 8H round & back. Men finish where they began, but with
new partner.

PS. This dance would be well worth a place in the new graded book, IMHO.