Club Night Monday 23 September

Tutor’s Notes
We had a smaller turn out than normal on Monday night with just one 5 couple set on the floor. Due to Peter being sick we also had recorded music which meant we could not stretch the music to 10 times through but we struggled on.

We danced a couple of dances from Wanganui’s program (it is their dance this Saturday).
The dances were The Captain’s House and Ladies Fancy. The Captain’s House is also on Carterton’s dance program on the 3 November. Ladies Fancy has a quick time poussette in it so we practiced that before we did the dance. It was great to see that everyone managed to keep this a nice square.

We also looked at our strathspey poussette before using it in the dance Bill Little’s Strathspey which is on the New Dancers’ Celebration program. Keeping the diamond shape for the strathspey poussette is a bit trickier but after a few repetitions it was looking good.

The next dance was V and J’s Maggot which is from a book I was given by Lydia Hedge, a lady who lived in NZ for a while but now lives in Halifax, Nova Scotia. I chose this dance partly because of the name. Apparently what we call an ear worm (a tune that gets stuck in your head) is called a maggot in Canada. It is not such a nice thought really! Anyway this dance is a three couple jig danced 6 times through. The first 3 times the first couple only dance the track they would for cross over reels on your opposite side and then on your own side. The last three times through all three couples dance the reels which proved more interesting. The transition between the set and the rotate at the end of the dance and the reels to start proved rather more difficult than I thought.

We finished the night off early with the Reel of the Royal Scots, also on the New Dancer’s Celebration program and then were rewarded with a lovely supper with plenty to spare given the low numbers. Thanks to those who provided the food and kitchen duties.