strathspey@strathspey.org:44675

Ian Brockbank

Official variations/DANCE: Skye Barbecue

March 13, 2006, 2:42 p.m. (Message 44675)

Hi All,

How do you feel about a dance having an official variation included in
the instructions?

I have been revisiting Skye Barbecue, which I wrote a  while back (see
below).  Looking at bars 25-32, I think that the movement as written (an
exact repeat of bars 17-24 for them) is probably the most satisfying for
the 1st couple, and is definitely the most satisfying for the supporting
couples.  However, for a performance, I suspect that a left hand turn
and anti-clockwise chase for the 1s would look better - fitting in with
what the 2s and 3s are doing.

Now I don't have a group of people handy to try this out with, and I
suspect this is something that different groups might have different
opinions on (after my experiences with Gloomy Winter/Gloomy Winter's
Noo Awa').  So three questions:

 - which would you prefer to dance?
 - which would you prefer to watch?
 - how would you feel if the instructions had one option plus a note
   describing the other as an official variation (to be agreed with your
   partner)?

~~~~~
                                 Skye Barbecue
                                 =============

Dance for 3 couples in a 4 couple longwise set			8x32 bar
Reel
1-8	1C cross down (no hands) between second and third couples to start
reels of three on the opposite side of the dance.
9-16	1C cross down (no hands) between second and third couples to start
reels of three on their own sides. Finish with 2nd couple in 1st place and
1st couple flowing into...
17-24	First couple turn right hand, moving down to second place, dance out
through second place on own side and dance clockwise half-way round the set
while 2nd and 3rd couples set, cross over giving right hands and dance right
hands across once round.
25-32	First couple turn right hand, dance out through second place on
opposite side and dance clockwise half way round the set while 2nd and 3rd
couples set, cross over giving left hands and dance left hands across once
round.
	
Repeat, having passed a couple.

Note: The phrasing of bars 17-24 and 25-32 is deliberately left ambiguous
(particularly for 1st couple).

Iain MacPhail played the Alastair Fraser tune "Skye Barbecue" in one of the
sets he played for the RSCDS Edinburgh Branch show "Strictly Scottish" in
August 2001. I was one of the dancers in the show, and was so taken by the
tune that I felt it deserved its own dance. This is the result. It's a
lively dance, as befits the tune.

Tune: 	Skye Barbecue	(Alastair Fraser)
August 2001, revised March 2003.
~~~~~

Cheers,

Ian Brockbank
Applications Software Team Leader
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