Sept. 13, 2001, 4:21 a.m. (Message 27368)
Richard Goss wrote: >...At the time of publication, "Machine..." had no living tradition as being danced, so the Society had to rely on Rutherford, 1772 for its source of information. Rutherford does not specify how the 2s get to the top. Often, when the seams are a bit ragged in our dances, it is an indication that the Society has misinterpreted the original instructions. My reading of R1772 indicates that this may well have happened in this case. I don't have a copy of R1772 and it doesn't seem to be in the Library of Congress online dance archives. I was wondering, Richard, if you could post the *original* instructions to this dance. The thought occurred to me that, possibly, in the original version, only the 1s dance the track of bars 17-24. The 2s would step up on bars 23-24. The Society, in reconstructing the dance, might have had the idea that letting the 2s follow the 1s would add interest. In a further great speculative leap, I imagine the Society deciding that the 2s should dance straight into place, rather than cast, so as to maintain continuity with what the 2s in 1772 were doing on bars 23-24. Which is why it would be ever so enlightening to read the original instructions..... Pat
Sept. 15, 2001, 1:04 a.m. (Message 27386, in reply to message 27368)
>From: "Patricia Ruggiero" <xxxxxxxxx@xxxxxxxxx.xxx> >I don't have a copy of R1772 and it doesn't seem to be in the Library of >Congress online dance archives. I was wondering, Richard, if you could >post >the *original* instructions to this dance. Hi Pat - I *do* have a photo copy of Rutherford - both I and II - which is 200 dances per book, both dated for that time period. I could not find Machine Without Horses in either book, so perhaps Dick Goss is referring to another Rutherford publication? You'd be amazed at the number of RSCDS dances that do come from Rutherford, by the way. Many people think (with good reason) that Rutherford was the book that Miss Milligan referred to when she was asked the question: "where do you get the dances from?" And she replied: "I have a little book"...:) I'll be away for the next two weeks; I'll send you a list of the dances that we use from Rutherford when I return (unless someone else posts it before then). Cheers, Ken McFarland