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The Breakdown
L. Friedman-Shedlov
June 23, 2006, 5:28 a.m. (Message 45642)
I am familiar with and have instructions for a dance called "The Breakdown," devised by John Mitchell and published in the Whetherly Book 4. This dance is definitely a 3-couple set dance with a rather clever progression to get 1st couple to the bottom. I also have Lyle Ramshaw, Susan Worland Bentley, and Michael Bentley's CD of the same name. On this CD, the track for "The Breakdown" is an 8x32 Reel, rather than 3x32. I checked in DanceData, and the dance is also listed there as a 3-couple dance to be done in a 4-couple set. Can someone explain this discrepancy to me? Has the dance somehow changed since it was first published? How did it go from being a set dance to a standard progression? Lara Friedman-Shedlov Minneapolis, Minnesota USA ******************************** Lara Friedman~Shedlov "Librarians -- Like Google, but xxxx@xxxxxxx.xxx warm-blooded" ********************************
On 23/06/2006 05:28, L. Friedman~Shedlov wrote: > > I am familiar with and have instructions for a dance called "The > Breakdown," devised by John Mitchell and published in the Whetherly Book > 4. This dance is definitely a 3-couple set dance with a rather clever > progression to get 1st couple to the bottom. > > I also have Lyle Ramshaw, Susan Worland Bentley, and Michael Bentley's > CD of the same name. On this CD, the track for "The Breakdown" is an > 8x32 Reel, rather than 3x32. I checked in DanceData, and the dance is > also listed there as a 3-couple dance to be done in a 4-couple set. > > Can someone explain this discrepancy to me? Has the dance somehow > changed since it was first published? How did it go from being a set > dance to a standard progression? "Easy one" I thought. Having the complete collection of John Mitchell's works in my cellar it should be no problem to nip down and have a look. Would you believe it! Book 4 has inexplicably vanished. Gone! No idea where. So I'll have to be patient and wait for someone else to reply. Alan
If nobody else provides an explanation I'll ask those guys why they chose 8x for their recording. -Steve Lara wrote: "I am familiar with and have instructions for a dance called "The Breakdown," devised by John Mitchell and published in the Whetherly Book 4. This dance is definitely a 3-couple set dance with a rather clever progression to get 1st couple to the bottom. "I also have Lyle Ramshaw, Susan Worland Bentley, and Michael Bentley's CD of the same name. On this CD, the track for "The Breakdown" is an 8x32 Reel, rather than 3x32. I checked in DanceData, and the dance is also listed there as a 3-couple dance to be done in a 4-couple set. "Can someone explain this discrepancy to me? Has the dance somehow changed since it was first published? How did it go from being a set dance to a standard progression?" -- Steve Wyrick - Concord, California
Old topic, but I finally heard back from Susan (who has been having e-mail problems) regarding their 8x recording for The Breakdown. She says that it was an oversight on Jennifer Kelly's part when planning the recording, which nobody caught until the first time Jennifer taught the dance to it! D'oh! Great music, though; we use it frequently for other things. -Steve
But The Breakdown isn't just a (to many people) obscure Whetherly dance, but is a terrific tune suitable for, among other dances, The Falls of Rogie - a rather less obscure 8x32 reel. I'm a big fan of both the (latter) dance and the recording. Becky Sager Marietta GA USA -- Steve Wyrick <xxxxxxxx@xx.xxxxxxx.xxx> wrote: If nobody else provides an explanation I'll ask those guys why they chose 8x for their recording. -Steve Lara wrote: "I am familiar with and have instructions for a dance called "The Breakdown," devised by John Mitchell and published in the Whetherly Book 4. This dance is definitely a 3-couple set dance with a rather clever progression to get 1st couple to the bottom. "I also have Lyle Ramshaw, Susan Worland Bentley, and Michael Bentley's CD of the same name. On this CD, the track for "The Breakdown" is an 8x32 Reel, rather than 3x32. I checked in DanceData, and the dance is also listed there as a 3-couple dance to be done in a 4-couple set. "Can someone explain this discrepancy to me? Has the dance somehow changed since it was first published? How did it go from being a set dance to a standard progression?" -- Steve Wyrick - Concord, California
On Sun, 25 Jun 2006, Becky Sager wrote: > But The Breakdown isn't just a (to many people) obscure Whetherly > dance, but is a terrific tune suitable for, among other dances, The > Falls of Rogie - a rather less obscure 8x32 reel. I'm a big fan of both > the (latter) dance and the recording. Well, "The Breakdown" *shouldn't* be an obscure dance -- it's really fun! Anyway, usually on an CD of SCD tunes, the tracks are listed by the name of the dance, rather than by the name of the tune, so I assumed the track titled "The Breakdown" was meant for the dance of the same name. Also, I'm still wondering why DanceData lists the dance as an 8x32. Is that just an error based on the fact that there is an 8x32 recording of the tune? / Lara Friedman-Shedlov Minneapolis, Minnesota ******************************** Lara Friedman~Shedlov "Librarians -- Like Google, but xxxx@xxxxxxx.xxx warm-blooded" ********************************
On 26/06/2006 05:59, L. Friedman~Shedlov wrote: > Also, I'm still wondering why DanceData lists the dance as an 8x32. Is > that just an error based on the fact that there is an 8x32 recording of > the tune? No. The music appeared long after the first appearance of this dance in the database. It's odd, because my information on John Mitchell's dances came out of the original instructions. I must have misread. As I wrote earlier, my copy of Book 4 has disappeared, so I cannot check back. Alan
In a message dated 6/26/2006 12:15:07 P.M. Eastern Standard Time, xxxxxxxxxx@xxxxxxx.xxx writes: The Breakdown in Whetherly Book 4 # 13 is a 32 bar reel for 3 couples in a three couple longwise set. # 20 in the same book is "The Chinese Breakdown" and it is a 48 bar reel for 3 couples in a longwise set. Does #20 use Chinese Breakdown for its tune? Sylvia Miskoe, Concord, NH USA