Help with An' thou wert my only Dear

Tim Harrison

Oct. 16, 2001, 11:26 p.m. (Message 27905)

I'd appreciate some help with bars 33-36 of
	An' thou wert my only Dear
RSCDS Book 21 #4.

1st and 2nd couples are in their original positions, then in bars

33-36 First woman sets to and turns second man with right hand,
while first man sets to and turns second woman with right hand,
all returning to places.

How do 1W-2M and 1M-2W avoid each other during the turn?

It almost looks like the turn should be right hands across, but there
isn't time for that in two bars.

-- Tim Harrison
-- Austin, TX

Brian Charlton

Oct. 17, 2001, 12:59 a.m. (Message 27907, in reply to message 27905)

G'Day,

The Manual is silent about this one, but TAC Notes say "1st woman passes in
front of partner across and back. 1st couple dance short way into places on
bar 36.

Note that the 1st couple set advancing towards the 2nd couple, passing
across the top of the set. The right hand turns mean that the 1st couple
pass right shoulders back to place. A long way in a wide set!!

Brian Charlton,
Sydney, Australia.

Tim Harrison

Oct. 17, 2001, 1:11 a.m. (Message 27909, in reply to message 27907)

Thanks, Brian. I thought there'd be a simple explanation. And I can't
seem to locate my TAC Notes today.

-- Tim Harrison
-- Austin, TX

mlbrown

Oct. 17, 2001, 1:38 p.m. (Message 27915, in reply to message 27905)

Try teaching "Tibbie Fowler......." first - it is a Strathspey that has the
same "simultaneous turns". Whatever you do, do not practice one couple at a
time turning in the middle - the turns can only take place on the sides! So
on the setting the 1st lady dances down diagonally while 2nd man advances up
the side, 2nd lady moves in slightly while 1 man dances across - then the RH
turns allow the 1st lady to dance across the top into place while ! man
dances up diagonally from 2nd lady's place. (We spent two sessions on this
dance in the teacher's class at St Andrews one year, and one of the major
problems was caused by the teacher making us practice the turns
independently in the middle!)

Malcolm

Tim Harrison

Oct. 17, 2001, 4:53 p.m. (Message 27916, in reply to message 27915)

Thanks, I might add "Tibbie Fowler..." to next week's class.

I taught "An' thou wert my only Dear" last night. We worked through
the simultaneous turns with little difficulty, thanks to the help I
got on the Strathspey list. The greatest difficulty turned out to be
the transition from the rights and lefts at the end of the dance to
the reel with 1st lady and 2nd couple at the beginning of the next
repetition. For some reason, the new 2nd lady and 2nd man had
difficulty remembering which of them should be involved in the first
reel of the dance. Sometimes both of them would start and other times
neither of them would start. 1st couple seemed to easily remember that
only 1st lady was involved in the first reel.

-- Tim Harrison
-- Austin, Texas

Priscilla M. Burrage

Oct. 17, 2001, 7:21 p.m. (Message 27917, in reply to message 27915)

On Wed, 17 Oct 2001, Malcolm Brown wrote:

> Try teaching "Tibbie Fowler......." first - it is a Strathspey that has the
> same "simultaneous turns". Whatever you do, do not practice one couple at a
> time turning in the middle - the turns can only take place on the sides! So
> on the setting the 1st lady dances down diagonally while 2nd man advances up
> the side, 2nd lady moves in slightly while 1 man dances across - then the RH
> turns allow the 1st lady to dance across the top into place while ! man
> dances up diagonally from 2nd lady's place. (We spent two sessions on this
> dance in the teacher's class at St Andrews one year, and one of the major
> problems was caused by the teacher making us practice the turns
> independently in the middle!)

It was a certificate dance in my day. . .
_______________
Priscilla Burrage       Vermont US
(xxxxxxxx@xxx.xxx.xxx)

Tim Harrison

Oct. 19, 2001, 2:18 a.m. (Message 27936, in reply to message 27905)

Eric,

You're right. I had some typos in there. My statement should have been
"The greatest difficulty turned out to be the transition from the
rights and lefts at the end of the dance to the reel with 1st couple
and 2nd lady at the beginning of the next repetition. For some reason,
the new 2nd lady and 2nd man had difficulty remembering which of them
should be involved in the first reel of the dance. Sometimes both of
them would start and other times neither of them would start."

I'm guessing that one or both partners in the 2nd couple were either
asleep when their turn came or they had forgotten how the dance
started. If the new 2nd lady doesn't move, she's asleep (or forgot
what comes next). If the new 2nd lady starts correctly, her partner
starts also (because he's asleep), thinking he forgot to start.
Perhaps I had already taxed the dancers' minds with the previous dance
I taught. Or maybe it just wasn't a thinking night.

-- Tim Harrison
-- Austin, Texas