strathspey@strathspey.org:40737

Rebecca Sager

Micmac Rotary

Feb. 20, 2005, 6:54 p.m. (Message 40737)

Heaven forfend that Mr Drewry ever comes across a rotary system which
is, I believe, in Hertfordshire, somewhere between my brother's house
in Little Gaddesden and the M25. It consists of six traffic circles
arranged in a larger circle (my directions were - halfway round the
first one, halfway round the second one, three quarters round the
third, if I remember!)
Yes, when he was here some years ago, John Drewry gave our Branch a
set of the dances he was working on that year and allowed us to sell
them locally as The Georgian Collection. I never sat down and compared
these leaflets with the final published versions, except for The
Pentagon which we do here with a modification that he left out of the
version in the Cherry Blossom Book.

Becky

Becky Sager
Marietta GA USA


-- "john.m.sturrock" <xxxx.x.xxxxxxxx@xxxxxxxxxx.xxx> wrote:
John Wood wrote

> When, many years ago, John Drewry taught Mic Mac Rotary to us irate 
> motorists who drove it frequently, that was the way he did it. Hardly ever 
> danced these days.

That is so.

John Drewry long had the habit of issuing  'First Editions'  of his newly 
composed dances on foolscap paper, for distribution to interested teachers 
and dancers  -  often in bundles of a dozen, or so, at a time.  Later, when 
he had enough new dances, they would appear in book form.   Most bundles are 
undated, but  The Micmac Rotary  appeared stapled into a bundle containing 
the reel  Double Triumph  to celebrate Aberdeen winning the European Cup and 
Scottish FA Cup within 10 days.  This occurred in May 1983, so  The Micmac 
Rotary  should be approximately contemporary with that.   It is described as 
a 96 bar reel for 4 couples in a square set  -  which may be why it appears 
as such in references.   Almost the whole of the third foolscap page, 
however, is taken up with a description of the double roundabout in 
Dartmouth, Nova Scotia  -  and how two adjacent sets, dancing a 2x96 bar 
reel, can imitate this, the women changing sets during bars 89 - 96, and 
back again on 185 - 192.

It is clear that that was the way John Drewry hoped it would be danced  - 
and certainly I have never danced it any other way.   Today, however, it may 
fall between a lot of stools, requiring 16 dancers and being neither a 
social dance (too complicated) nor a demonstration dance (too long).  But if 
16 experienced dancers are gathered together, there are fewer better 
centrepieces for an evening.

John M Sturrock
Cupar UK