strathspey@strathspey.org:27545

Oberdan Otto

RE: Miss Gibson's Strathspey

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.

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