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Miss Gibson's Strathspey

Oberdan Otto

Oberdan Otto

Sept. 27, 2001, 7:50 a.m. (Message 27545)

>...the same sort of question for Miss G's Strathspey:
>I would like to know what folks think about "staying in the middle" as the
>1st Cpl finishes corner-partner turns before dancing three-hands-across with
>the supporting couples.  I find it satisfying to finish the left-hand turn
>with my partner at the set lines and then surge forward toward the 2d cpl
>for the hands across figure; staying in the center defeats this, to my mind.
>
>I should add here that I don't have the original/official instructions for
>this dance; the cheat sheet for Ramblewood specified doing in that way.
>
>Pat

I also don't have the instructions available, but my recollection is 
that the "ending next to your partner in the middle" ready for the 
right hands across is how the dance is written.

However, the question is WHEN do you actually reach that position? 
The way I phrase it, I do not reach that position until the downbeat 
of the next phrase as I urge into the right hands across. If it is 
phrased that way, then the difference between THAT and "at the set 
lines and then surge forward" is very small. My focus though is not 
on ending the turn on the sidelines but on beginning the hands across 
with all three dancers balanced. To my way of thinking, that is 
arriving there just in time and NOT early. If I arrived early, I 
would be pushing my first corner into the figure and leaving the 
other person far behind, because I have been in motion while they 
have not. The idea is to arrive at the starting position picking up 
the other dancers for the formation rather than pushing them into it.

This fits my personal phrasing guideline of (when possible) adjusting 
the ending of one formation to make a seamless flow into the 
beginning of the next formation.

Oberdan.

184 Estaban Drive, Camarillo, CA 93010-1611 USA
Voice: (805) 389-0063, FAX: (805) 484-2775, email: xxxxx@xxxxx.xxx
mlbrown

mlbrown

Sept. 27, 2001, 1:19 p.m. (Message 27552, in reply to message 27545)

Pat wrote:


 >...the same sort of question for Miss G's Strathspey:
>I would like to know what folks think about "staying in the middle" as the
>1st Cpl finishes corner-partner turns before dancing three-hands-across
with
>the supporting couples.  I find it satisfying to finish the left-hand turn
>with my partner at the set lines and then surge forward toward the 2d cpl
>for the hands across figure; staying in the center defeats this, to my
mind.
>
>I should add here that I don't have the original/official instructions for
>this dance; the cheat sheet for Ramblewood specified doing in that way.

Well the printed instructions, both in the original leaflet and in the
Pocket edition, state:

"...... and partner with the left hands, finishing ready for,

Right hands across, ...... "

They also state that
"..... 1st couple pass right shoulders into -
 Left hands across, ......"

This is generally taken to mean, (and I think Derek has been reported as
saying), both the right hands across and the left hands across start with
the dancing couple in the middle of the set. (i.e. he deliberately wanted it
to be different from "The Cuillins of Skye")

What I find slightly harder to be clear on is where the supporting couples
finish the right hand wheel - If it was four hands across and back, then the
dancing couples would stay in the middle to change hands, but "teapots" in
strathspey time gives plenty of time to dance out to the sides (unlike D & D
of E), it balances the start of the right hand wheel, and the instructions
are printed as bars 25 - 28, 29-32. Perhaps it all depends on the width of
the set?

The deviser also often dances the first 16 bars from 3rd place to get to the
bottom, which is fine as long as it doesn't throw the new top couple, and
the bottom couple can cope with dancing the knot and then into "Turn corner,
partner"

Malcolm

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