strathspey@strathspey.org:40302

mlamontbrown

Reel of the 51st

Jan. 14, 2005, 12:10 p.m. (Message 40302, in reply to message 40295)

Jay enquired:

> 
> I've been recruited to participate in a demo which includes the Reel of the
> 51st.  The organizer has expressed a desire to have us perform the original
> version as devised by Lt. Atkinson in 1941.  I've been asked to try and
> obtain a copy of it.  All I know about the original is that unlike the
> current version in Book 13 it was danced in a five couple set.  Can anyone
> provide me a copy or point me in the right direction?  Also, does anyone
> know what footwork was originally used?

As John has already said, when the BBC showed the dance being performed by people in
battle dress and boots they did a sort of scuffling step. But they also performed the
dance the way it is still danced by the Reelers (and I suspect by the army). In their
version the turns, including the one after the balance in line, are done as burls,
going clockwise - despite the apparent lack of speed because they are not using skip
change, there is a lot of speed generated in the turns. - The advantage of performing
it this way is that on the last turn (birl) the dancing couple are moving the right
way into the circle. 

Malcolm


Malcolm L Brown
York