Tutor’s Notes
Great to see everyone on Monday night. We had quite a few apologies from Club members who weren’t able to come, however with our new people we had nearly 3 sets. We welcomed to new dancers. They were on the catchup track as all the dances we did were either dances we had done in the last 4 weeks or had the formation we had covered. Well done to all our Beginner Class “graduates” who danced very well.
We looked at a new step – strathspey travelling – (dip, close, step and through) and used the same step in a circle. Unlike slip step which we use in the faster tempo dances , we start with the right foot so need to cross our right leg in front.
The dances we did were:
- The Fairy Ring (figures of 8 and grand chain)
- Mr Michael Bear’s Reel https://youtu.be/Aaz1Q_SWG9Q
- Great Expectations (advance and retire, lead down the middle and back, half figure of 8 and circle) https://youtu.be/4azyj8RS61w
- The Rakes of Glasgow (rights and lefts, 3 couple allemande) https://youtu.be/IV7PZ3McOv4
- Scotland’s Gardens (for the experienced dancers)
- Lady Catherine Bruce’s Reel (2 couple allemande, figure of 8 across the dance) https://youtu.be/31quhFV4vgg
A lot of the dances are available on You Tube. Most are of people dancing but these are animations in some cases.
As I mentioned, dancers from the Wellington region participated in a series of videos to demonstrate steps and formations. They can be found here: https://www.scottish-country-dancing-dictionary.com/scd-miscellany.html Look for instructional videos
The Scottish Country Dance Dictionary is also a valuable resource. You can look at information on steps, formations etc and it has links to you tube videos and instructions. https://www.scottish-country-dancing-dictionary.com/https://www.scottish-country-dancing-dictionary.com/
Phew…that is a lot of information. There is no compulsion to watch any of this as we will cover formations and steps at clubs, but I know some people find it useful for revision.
I have been in touch with Elaine from McPhees with the shoe sizes and she will send a selection to Ann who in turn will bring them to club for people to try on and confirms sizes and styles.
Ann and I share the tutoring for the Club and she will be taking the classes for the next couple of months. I am away for a couple of weeks but will see you all after that.