strathspey@strathspey.org:69484

Anselm Lingnau

Re: small favor: Arthur's Seat 31-32

Feb. 27, 2018, 11:08 a.m. (Message 69484, in reply to message 69483)

Andrew Smith wrote:

> The light-hearted
> attitude to chaos of the other three was disapproved of so vigorously that
> the atmosphere became really poisonous. It sticks in my memory solely
> because it cast such a shadow over the rest of the evening.

Yes, but as you note this has nothing to do with ambiguity in the 
instructions. It is really more of an “informal dance police” issue.

It is probably upon us as teachers to (a) note that competing versions exist 
in certain dances – and I can agree that the end of Bonnie Anne is one of the 
places where there is at least a danger of people colliding –, and (b) stomp 
down hard on people who take it upon themselves to give other people a bad 
time on social occasions.

We don't seem to do Bonnie Anne as much as we used to, so the idea that there 
are competing versions and that a set might agree in advance on which version 
to do is not established as firmly in people's minds. But I have certainly 
been in situations where a set went into a brief huddle to figure out whether, 
e.g., to do a three-couple poussette at the end of every other turn of 
Muirland Willie to make life easier for 4th couple becoming 3rd couple. I 
contend that this is a much more positive approach to the issue of “ambiguity” 
than to ask the TAP (or a similar body for non-RSCDS dances) to declare which 
way is “correct” (what do you expect them to say, anyway?) or tsk-tsk-ing at 
dancers or sets who prefer the convenient (and considerate) method over the 
official one in the RSCDS book.

> Incidentally, I was checking my spelling of 'poussette' in my 2006 edition
> of the Society's "Index to Formations and Movements ...", and 'Bonnie Anne'
> does not get a mention. A quick random selection of titles I have danced
> socially seems to indicate that MacNab dances might be beyond the pale as
> far as this 'Index' is concerned?

I can't speak for whoever did the 2006 edition of the Index to Formations and 
Movements, but the 2018+ edition, once it is finally ready, will probably not 
cover the MacNab dances, either, simply because most of them are really 
speciality items that don't show up that often, and they include weird stuff 
that appears in no other dance. I'm open to debate from the other side (under 
a new subject heading please, or in direct e-mail to xxxxxxxx@xxx.xxxxx.xxx).

Anselm
-- 
Anselm Lingnau, Mainz, Germany ......................... xxxxxx@xxxxxxxxxx.xxx
Anyone who creates his or her own cryptographic primitives is either a genius
or a fool. Given the genius/fool ratio for our species, the odds aren't very
good.                                                        -- Bruce Schneie