Oct. 4, 2001, 6:28 p.m. (Message 27748)
Harry wrote; > My copy of 101 (reprinted January 1957) has: > 13 - 16 First couple lead up the middle to the top of the set, then cast > off one place > on their own sides of the dance and cross over to face 1st corners. > This has to be an error, since they started this on opposite sides and are > not told to cross over at the top. And it would be a long way to go if they > did. Very interesting! (As someone used to say) - I have just looked again at my 2 copies of 101, and one is "January 1960", and the other is "October 1957 (with corrections)". Both editions state in the words that the dancing couple cast off on the wrong (opposite) side of the dance - presumably one of the "corrections", but the diagram in both editions still show the dancing couple casting off on their own sides to face corners! Perhaps that's another of the drawbacks to the teacher training process - it stops us having a relaxed attitude to the dance "details" ? Malcolm
Oct. 15, 2001, 10:50 p.m. (Message 27897, in reply to message 27748)
On Thu, 4 Oct 2001, Malcolm Brown wrote: > Very interesting! (As someone used to say) - I have just looked again at my > 2 copies of 101, and one is "January 1960", and the other is > "October 1957 (with corrections)". > > Both editions state in the words that the dancing couple cast off on > the wrong (opposite) side of the dance - presumably one of the > "corrections", but the diagram in both editions still show the > dancing couple casting off on their own sides to face corners! OK, I've returned from a lovely holiday, read the nearly 400 emails waiting for me, answered the easy ones, and collected the bits and pieces I needed to address this quandry. I didn't learn the dance from a book. I learned it from Miss Milligan in the late 1950s on one of her visits to North America. I learned: Bars 1-4 1s set and cast off one place. 5-8 1s cross and cast off one place. 9-12 3s and 1s circle once round So far the dance is the same -- as given in all copies of 101 and Bk 7 although the wording may be different. . . Bars 13-16 1s lead up, cross, and cast round the 2s (on their own side) to finish dancing toward corners and back-to-back in center. Same as the diagram, not the words in later versions. Bars 17-32 Traditional set to and turn corners and reels of three on the sides, crossing to own side on last two bars. The same in all versions. When I was sitting for my teachers certificate, we were given "unknowns" to teach. Well, I went through all twenty books and made notes. Miss Milligan was with us for several months, and I had many opportunities to ask her about those dances in those first twenty RSCDS books. And I took notes on her answers, which I was surprised to find that i still have. When I pointed out the discrepancy in "Braes" between my early copy of 101 and Book 7, she replied that Pattersons owned the copyright on the earlier books and that the Society couldn't make corrections. (I suspect that when they could make changes, they decided not to come out with a second version of any of the dances published so many years before.) Now, why do I cling to the "cross and cast to face corners" version? Because I've been teaching insecure and intimidated adult newcomers for years. They have a good chance of learning set to and turn corners followed by reel of three on the sides if they learn it in strathspey time first. (Remember, I said adult learners.) And if they approach their corners from their own sides of the dance. And this is a great dance to use to teach them. But not if you ask them 1) as first man to dance around one woman and then at the last minute sharply pull back his left shoulder to face (Who? Where?) his first corner, the woman he has been taught to identify from his own side of the set; or 2) as first woman to dance all the way around a man and then face him, her first corner, which she also learned to identify from her side of the set. And she doesn't have much chance of looking at him if she's just done a wheelie around him. P.S. I listed the dance in the program as "Tullimet" as given in 101. P.P.S. When it came time for my teachers "unknown," Miss Milligan smirked at me and announced that "she had made up some dances as it seemed to be what everyone was doing these days." They turned out to be from Book 21, published a few months later. Hope this gives you a good idea for teaching a basic set of figures. happy dancing, ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ Priscilla Burrage Vermont US (xxxxxxxx@xxx.xxx.xxx)