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Dance cards - a defence
Edward Fryer
March 3, 2006, 1:39 p.m. (Message 44453)
First, thanks for pointing out that the Country Life article was coming out - I can't see exactly who it was at the moment who posted that, I'm afraid, because the strathspey.org website is down (at least for me). I'm a little annoyed by the errors in the article - (we're London Reels, not Scottish Reels, for one!), but I'm glad the Mr Palmer had a good time. I must go and buy myself a copy. Second - Aberdonian. Just to clarify, it's where every second couple starts. A long set is counted off "One, two, one, two...etc". Every couple numbered "one" starts at the same time. Very common at reeling events, particularly for dances like the 51st and Inverness Country Dance. It also works with other dances - I danced the Clansman Aberdonian style last weekend. Does mean that everybody is quite busy - for instance no sooner have you been someone's first corner than you become someone else's second corner. Third - dance cards. They're very common at reeling balls, which differ from RSCDS-style events in a number of ways. There is no equivalent for the RSCDS for reeling, so there is no umbrella organisation under which a ball is organised. This means that there is no equivalent to a branch network - a place to find people to come to an event. Therefore, the common organisational structure for these events is simply a committee whose sole purpose to organise the ball. As the easiest method to sell/advertise is by word of mouth, generally each member of the committee will take a party. By pre booking using dance cards, it makes sure everybody in your party gets to dance with everybody else in the party. "What about dancing out of party" you ask - well, it's a little frowned upon. The host/ess has done a lot of work to assemble an amenable group of people, quite likely fed them dinner, and wants them to have a good time. Having one of your party wander off and dance with someone else out of party, leaving one of his/her party without a partner is a little annoying. It's sort-of OK if you clear it with the host/ess, and arrange for someone to come in and take your place. I realise that this sounds a little draconian, and it's not supposed to be (and it's not) - it's just a different system, one with its own mores and graces. One other thing to consider is that at reeling balls, there are generally far fewer dances than at SCD-style events - normally somewhere around 10 dances for the evening. This is offset by each dance taking longer than the SCD norm - 6 couple sets for most dances, and full repeats - i.e. 12 times through twice.
Edward Fryer wrote, "I'm a little annoyed by the errors in the article - (we're London Reels, not Scottish Reels, for one...." Edward, I did warn readers that I copied the article as written. Your group's name was not the only error - the most glaring was the mis-naming of the "Royal Scottish Country Dancing Society", and someone else pointed out that a URL was mis-spelled as well. However, the article was good publicity for SCD in general, and made the point that the reason it is so popular is that it is such enormous fun. Your explanation of dancing 'Aberdonian' was much clearer than mine. Other Strathspeyers will understand how I get in such a muddle if I don't entirely understand the method myself <grin> As I think I pointed out at in my copy, Mark Palmer's item was in last Thursday's issue of Country Life, so you'll need to order a back-issue from your newsagent. David Berkeley, Gloucestershire, UK
David Berkeley wrote : - > As I think I pointed out at in my copy, Mark Palmer's item was in last > Thursday's issue of Country Life, so you'll need to order a back-issue > from your newsagent. As I found out - the original post came a couple of hours after the issue for 23/02 was replaced on the shelves by that for 02/03! On a similar topic, I believe that a recent Best Seller in America ; The Guynd, by Belinda Rathbone, contains a similar description of an Angus (Hunt?) Ball. Has anyone seen a copy? John M Sturrock Cupar UK
Our vintage dance group dances the Petronella this way! Somehow I wasn't told that was happening and only well into the dance did it dawn on me! My wife and I had started as the very first couple! Petronella turns all the way down the ballroom! My legs felt as if they were going to fall off! Tom Mungall Baton Rouge, La, USA