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Natural Handing for 3 Hands Across
Oberdan Otto
July 31, 2008, 12:21 a.m. (Message 53277)
Hi All,
It has been some time since I commented to the group, and on this
topic I am substantially in retard.
First I must disagree with some on the list who would like us to have
long memories of what has been discussed in past years and consider
such things no longer worth discussing. Although, thanks to Anselm
there is an Archive to which one can refer, I believe this is a
discussion group that exists primarily for the entertainment of those
currently participating. Sometimes useful information is exchanged
and sometimes it is just banter. But this list does not NEED its
Archive or long memory in its participants to serve its purpose.
Now to the reason for my post. First SCDancers are not robots who
always execute figures and danced the same way every time. In
addition SCD figures RARELY have perfect transitions from one to the
next. There is almost always small adjustments needed to make
transitions. So, for example, 3 Hands Across rarely begins or ends
with the dancers perfectly arranged 120-degrees to each other.
Perhaps during the execution of the figure they get somewhere close
to that because it is natural for the dancers to want to be evenly
spaced.
Suppose we have a set arrangement like this (first couple has
progressed to 2nd place and 2nd couple has moved up):
W2 W1 W3
top
M2 M1 M3
Now they are asked to dance: First couple dance Right Hands Across
once round with the couple on the right passing through the sidelines
to dance Left Hands across once round with the other couple (on the
left) ending in the sidelines (i.e. teapots--no wonder this is a
popular term!).
How should the hands be given? What often happens is that they arrive
in a clump and you get what you get. Two people will get there first
and the third tries to fit in somehow. We have heard about the
hooking technique (nesting curled fingers). That technique is very
effective for dances like Alison Rose where dancers are continually
joining and leaving the figure. But for a simple 3 Hands Across I
feel that is mechanical, contrived and quite unlike the hands given
for other turns.
When two people turn, they give a symmetrical fingers-to-
fingers&palms shaking hands grip (not a full handshake with locked
thumbs!). Similarly in 4 Hands Across we reach Across to the opposite
person giving the same kind of grip and then press it to the grip
made by the other two opposites. Should we do something completely
different for 3 Hands Across? I think not. I think we should continue
to join hands the same way, but with an accommodation for the fact
that there are 3 hands in the grip instead of 2.
Consider M1, M3 and W3 in the figure above. Both the men are looking
across to the woman not at each other. She is the "special" one in
the arrangement. She could offer a (right) shaking hands grip to
either of the men. Why not offer it to BOTH? If both men responded
then M3 would have his hand nested on the back M1's hand, with the
lady holding both of theirs. The entry is simple and natural with
BOTH men acting as though they were giving a shaking hands grip to
the lady. It works the same way for W1, W2 and M2, with M2 being the
"special" person offering the shaking hands grip to the other two. As
they dance around, they arrange themselves to be comfortable,
probably closer to 120-degree intervals. The Left Hands Across works
the same way.
For as long as I can remember, I have taught this method, which is
why I was surprised to see no mention of it in the current discussion.
Cheers, Oberdan.
Excuse me for being thick, Oberdan, but it's late in the evening here and I am puzzled. If your 1st couple are going to dance three hands across as mentioned in your example of teapots (personally, I hate that term!!) why, later on, are you talking about 1W dancing with 1M and 3M when 2M is going to be in the way? (Or is he a very small man with the others resting their hands on his head? - I told you it was late!) As I understand it, I think you agree with the "Mercedes" grip or the Isle of Man shape or whatever else it was called when it was discussed recently. Helen Helen C N Brown York, UK
Hi Helen, It is indeed late for you! (4pm PDT = midnight in Britain) My discussion was of W1 doing RHA with W2 and M2 (the couple to her right), with M2 being the "special" person. But I had a really good chuckle visualizing hands across on the mans head! That method never occurred to me--I'm such a stick-in-the-mud. Sorry, I don't know what a Mercedes grip is. Sounds expensive but well engineered. Oberdan. :)))
Oberdan writes: "Sorry, I don't know what a Mercedes grip is. Sounds expensive but well engineered." As I recall the discussion we had a few months ago, the hands would meet somewhat like a "triskele", which is familiar to people in the UK as the symbol for the Isle of Man. This hold may be contrasted, for example, with the one where two of the dancers take hands first, and the third one plops their hand on top. As Helen said, it sounds like it's the triskele hold that you have in mind. But I may be completely wrong! Chris, New York. **************Get fantasy football with free live scoring. Sign up for FanHouse Fantasy Football today. (http://www.fanhouse.com/fantasyaffair?ncid=aolspr00050000000020)