strathspey@strathspey.org:61073

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• 

  Iain Boyd July 8, 2011, 1:52 p.m. (Message 61073)

  Re: Tandem Reels (was Re: Reels in Bishop of Columbus)

  Greetings all,
  
  Been there, done that!
  
  All of this has been discussed extensively already.
  
  On this occasion the RSCDS got it wrong. We have to live with it, but, we do not 
  have to agree with them.
  
  As far as I am concerned, reels where one dancer follows another closely without 
  overtaking are "tandem reels" - because that is how they were first described 
  when I learnt them. "Shadow reels" is an acceptable alternative, but, not one I 
  intend using.
  
  On the other hand, reels where one dancer follows another closely and 
  'overtakes' them at the end of the reel are "swap over reels" - because that is 
  the name I gave them when I first published a dance which included this type of 
  reel. "Swap over reels" can be 'single' (when dancers change places at one end, 
  only) or 'double' (when dancers change places at both ends).
  
  I have no intention of calling them 'dolphin' reels because Barry Skelton did 
  not create this type of reel. They were created by Barry Priddey, and, if we 
  must give them a colloquial name then it should be 'falcon' reels, although, I 
  have no intention of calling them that either.
  
  Regards,
  
   Iain Boyd
  
  
  Postal Address -
  
  P O Box 11-404
  Wellington 6142
  New Zealand
  
  
  
  
  ________________________________
  From: Heiko Schmidt <xxxxx.xxxxxxx@xxxxxx.xx.xx>
  To: xxxxxxxxxx@xxxxxxxxxx.xxx
  Sent: Fri, 8 July, 2011 11:22:42 PM
  Subject: Re: Tandem Reels (was Re: Reels in Bishop of Columbus)
  
  Hi,
  
  >> Never understood why anyone would call them "tandem" reels.  You don't see 
  >>couples riding tandem bicycles getting off and changing seats every time the 
  >>road curves.  Nor, to change the subject, have I ever understood the term 
  >>"barn-door" turns for the figure in which one partner turns another person by 
  >>right hand and the other partner turns another by the left hand.  Barn doors 
  >>don't and can't revolve 360 degrees.
  >> 
  >> Mike Briggs
  > Yep - illogical!  That name assignment happened in 2005 when the RSCDS updated 
  >the manual.  Having published Pelorus Jack as an RSCDS dance, the Society seems 
  >to have decided they needed to name what I'd usually heard called "double 
  >switchback tandem reels" (two wordy) as simply "reel of three in tandem."  What 
  >I think of as a "tandem reel" is what we do in bars 9-16 and 17-24 of Ferla Mor 
  >- 1M following 1W throughout with no change of lead.  Had the RSCDS published 
  >Ferla Mor, I suspect we'd have gotten more logical formation names:  "Reel of 
  >three in tandem" being what we do in Ferla Mor, and "reel of three in tandem 
  >with change of lead" for Pelorus Jack.
  > 
  > "Shadow reels" is a new term for me; it's certainly not in the RSCDS lexicon 
  >(but neither are the more commonly used "mirror reels" a.k.a. "reflection 
  >reels").
  
  "Shadow reels" is the name Terry gave it in the dance's description. In my 
  imagination, one dancer is following her/his partner like a shadow, i.e. dancing 
  as one item.
  
  Chris Ronald gives a nice overview over the history of the terms shadow, tandem, 
  dolphin and falcon reels in his book "12 Scottish County Dances".
  According to that Barry Skelton used the term "tandem reels" first in the 
  publication of "Pelorus Jack" in RSCDS Book 41.
  
  I also stick to Chris' decision to use "shadow reels" when the partners do not 
  change lead and "dolphin reels" in case they do. The latter term I had learned 
  quite a while before hearing the term "tandem reels", which I agree is not 
  logical for a movement changing the lead... a hilarious picture to imagine on a 
  tandem, but I do not want to be part of the experiment.
  
  Differently to this, in "petronella in tandem" the term is more intuitive as 
  there is no change of lead.
  
  I have never heard of "barn-door" turns yet (is there an example?). The term 
  "revolving doors" seem to be more abundant here, e.g. to describe the turns at 
  the end of the "Tournee".
  
  
  If you are interested in an electronic copy of Chris Ronald's book "12 Scottish 
  County Dances" which contains the text on those reels, he offered to send it on 
  request in his post on "Re: The Strathspey Anniversary Challenge (8 years 
  later)" (26.5.2011).
  
  Cheers,
  Heiko
        

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